Just in case the pending political apocalypse of the "fiscal cliff" wasn't enough to satisfyAmerica's attention span, the US Senate on Thursday conspired to remind voters that another equally apocalyptic fiscal issue is looming out there on the horizon.
Yes, the debt ceiling will be making a comeback no later than early 2013, and senators decided to talk about it Thursday.
Not surprisingly, it illuminated the complicated politics and policy that go along with raising the national borrowing limit these days. And also not surprisingly, perhaps, it went nowhere, concluding with the somewhat comical scene of Senate minority leader Mitch McConnell (R) of Kentuckyfilibustering his own proposal.
Welcome to Capitol Hill.
The story begins with President Obama's own debt-ceiling proposal. Essentially, on Wednesday, his Treasury Department asked Congress to cede its power over the debt ceiling to him.
This is how it would work: The president would ask to raise the debt limit and Congress would have 15 days to pass a joint resolution of disapproval. The president could then veto their disapproval and require Congress to override his veto with 60 percent majorities in both bodies.
The proposal was important for two reasons.
First, it mirrored a plan originally proposed by Senator McConnell back in 2011 for raising the debt ceiling, giving Democrats the slim political cover to call it the "McConnell Provision." Second, it would shift effective control of the debt-ceiling debate from Capitol Hill to the White House – and would give Congress a very high vote threshold to block the measure, to boot.
no matter how you frame it it's still playing games they know their obstruction is not going to stand but they have successfully denied for another few months the advancement of "we the people" tired of being stifiled vote 2014 it ain't over.
