What am I willing to give up so that Congress will follow through on its constitutional obligation to protect the credit of the nation? Exactly what I'm willing to give up to ensure that the sun rises, that water is wet, and that Republicans will toady to the rich. Nothing, that's what I'll give up.
No matter how many times it may be said, and no matter who says it, there is no "unique opportunity" here. There's no opportunity at all. There's not even any here, here.
The idea that we're facing some critical inflection point of the American system in the next few weeks is entirely artificial. If the debt ceiling is raised it will cost nothing. It will not obligate the government to spend one penny more. Allowing the GOP to turn this into a time to negotiate is nothing less than agreeing to deal with kidnappers, and just as likely to be productive.
The debt ceiling was raised seven times under President Bush. Seven. Each was treated as an opportunity for a couple of sanctimonious speeches, a spurt of fresh hypocrisy about overspending from the people who were doing the spending. Then they signed it and went on. The only thing different this time is that the press and this president are treating the sanctimony and the hypocrisy as if it's worth listening to. It's not.
The deal I want is no deal. I want a clean bill; a flat agreement to raise the debt ceiling with no other obligation. If that means waiting for Mitch McConnell to write his Pontius Pilate Official Hand-Washing Act of 2011, I'm fine with that.
Just don't get confused. There is no compromise on this ground. The Congress has simply chosen this moment to refuse to do its job. That's not something to be honored with negotiation. It's something to be dismissed out of hand.