He advocates for the President to simply insist that the Republicans raise the ceiling enough to accommodate the Paul Ryan budget that they all voted for last year. And that, my friends, means another $6 trillion of headroom in the ceiling over the next ten years.
Of course, those who would wield the ceiling for bargaining leverage have to be responsive to shame, logic, and arithmetic for this to work, so it’s far from foolproof. One could also point out that raising the ceiling merely allows Congress to pay for goods and services they’ve already authorized. I guarantee you, that fact resonates with audiences across the land. Deciding not to pay for the meal when you’re tucking into the dessert course doesn’t go down well with most of us.
How convenient that I have mod points today:
+1 Evil
Yes, except the GOP has proven itself totally resistant to logic, practicality, continuity of thought, rationality or even shame.
I _really_ hope that Obama simply ignores the debt ceiling and just continues to operate the government and pay the bills. Imagine their heads exploding!
Nope, sorry: as much as this is indeed quite a clever idea, it would game out to nothing more than a fun way to achieve very fleeting and practically ineffective “gotcha.” “…have to be responsive to shame, logic, and arithmetic for this to work” is indeed the key operative phrase in your post. And the GOP is none of these things, as currently constituted and run.
Here’s how it would play: Obama announces GOP ought to raise enough to cover Ryan budget ($6T by most sane estimates, as you point out). GOP goes on two-day media blitz complaining that Obama is simply playing dangerous games with the nation’s fiscal health instead of dealing in good faith. Depending upon how many Very Serious People are snookered into believing this, the meme may do the typical Grand Wurlitzer sweep from the pages of Drudge and Limbaugh’s show to FAUX “News” to CNN and into the mainstream consciousness, or it may die on the vine. The latter would be the only non-harmful result, and it’s no sure thing.
Along with the fauxtrage, GOP leaders like McConnell and Boehner – and possibly Ryan himself – point out that the President forgot about all the magic asterisks Ryan used to ensure that his plan would actually not cost anywhere near $6T. So there, neener.
They woudn’t even break a sweat.
No, while I like the implied jiu-jitsu of this, due to the GOP’s imperviousness to shame and reality, it would – if actually attempted – amount to only an ineffective gimmick.