Blog of BigFanny4

As this page said in 1961 — not remotely for the first time or the last — the “debt limit does not limit the debt.” It’s an illusion of a law, instituted in World War I, to persuade gullible taxpayers that Congress is exercising responsible oversight over borrowing. Congress already controls spending and taxation, and if it wants a smaller debt it can cut spending or raise taxes at will. To allow the deficit to rise, and then refuse to pay for it months later, is the definition of financial irresponsibility.

But being irresponsible worked for Republicans this time. They refused to raise the limit without cuts in spending and won $2.5 trillion in cuts in the deal wrapped up on Tuesday. Now they want to make permanent the arbitrary and simplistic standard devised by Speaker John Boehner — a dollar of cuts for every dollar in the debt increase.

Senator Mitch McConnell, the Republican leader, said on Tuesday that no president of either party should ever be allowed to raise the ceiling “without having to engage in the kind of debate we’ve just come through.”

Mr. McConnell may call it a “debate,” but what his party really did was threaten the economy with catastrophe in the blind pursuit of huge spending cuts with no tax increases. He admitted that he saw the ceiling as “a hostage that’s worth ransoming.” No president or voter should tolerate that level of disregard for the national good.