The great irony of this entire conflict, as pointed out by Robert Reich, is that the tea party Republicans won't get what they want even if they do succeed in preventing the debt ceiling from rising.
If the debt ceiling stays where it is, that will stop federal borrowing. But it will not prevent the Fed from printing dollars. To the contrary, it will empower the Fed to engage in money printing, because that will be the only way for us to prevent default.
So while the tea party Republicans are actually fine with devastation of the government or the economy, they are actually not doing that. Instead, they are empowering their least favorite government construct: the Fed. They are legislating something they are very much against: printing money that is unbacked by gold or any other asset.
Not only that, but in this instance they are instating money printing policies specifically to pay off debts the US cannot afford. Unlike QE2, the analogy to Weimar here is undeniable, word-for-word. And Weimar-style money printing is among the tea party's biggest historical whipping boys.
So, when addressing a tea party audience, it's no use bringing up the US economy, because it does not work. This should be discussed instead as a Fed money printing bill, because that is indefensible to them.
When talking to everyone else, the threat of damaging the economy is more powerful, however.
(cross-posted at Gnomanomics)