re: #633 RogueOne

I believe Bush raised it 8x and Obama 3. You probably won’t be surprised to learn that the repubs supported those under bush and the dems did not and they’ve managed to switch sides since the election. They’ll kick and scream for the cameras (and to get some of their pet issues funded/de-funded in a compromise) but they’ll vote for it. They always vote for it.

This is why many commentators have said the whole concept of a dept ceiling is stupid and pointless. An increase is always going to pass. It has to or the result would be utter disaster. It’s just a force recurring vote that’s 100% purely political, with the party in power voting yes and the one in the minority getting to show how ‘serious’ they are about the debt by voting no. It might be somewhat different now, with the GOP needing Democrats to make up for Tea Party no votes, but it doesn’t really change the overall situation. The hole silly concept should just be scrapped.

If anything, it’s a bad place for the GOP to be, since the leadership probably realizes that if the Democrats actually hold tough on not making major concessions, they need to raise it anyway or risk the country falling into depression. This will not play well with the base.