How this turns out will be a precursor of many things to come
The House, led by McCarthy (who conceded many things to garner the speakership) appears to be the only ones looking to fight for much of anything here. The Biden Administration and Democrats are calling or a "clean" raise of the debt ceiling, demanding that anything short of that will lead to the apocalypse. McConnell is acting like McConnell, simply suggested that "we will not default". This, of course, is akin to suggesting that he will roll over in whatever form he is told to...
This leaves things up to McCarthy to hold together enough of his caucus to fight a "clean" increase in the debt ceiling. There is obvious "fear" that any sort of defaults or Government shutdowns will be blamed on the GOP (as they were back when the GOP squared off with Clinton and others). But I would argue that in 2023, there is no more "one media" that caters directly to the talking points of the Democrats. Today there are always two side to every story even if most people only hear one. I don't believe it is an argument that is quite as easily won for the Democrats.
I am hoping that McCarthy sticks to his guns and that there are enough Republicans in the Senate to step up and demand that they are unwilling to back a clean raise to the debt ceiling. Perhaps they can even pull off a Democrat or two (Manchin, Sinema) that are willing to stand up to the massive overspending that we have done over the past three years or so. It is not an exaggeration to suggest that we cannot keep spending like this and it is not or hyperbole to suggest that if we do, we may never recover fiscally as a country. I, for one, sort of want to see my social security and Medicare some day (as I have pre-paid tens of thousands of dollars for it). Maybe that is wishful thinking given I am probably still 8-10 years away from retirement.
But ultimately, now this battle goes is likely how the next couple of years are going to go. Either the GOP will do something with their power in the House or they will roll over and disappoint all those who voted for them. If they cannot stop the Democrats from simply raising their credit limit so they can spend more, then what was the use of voting them into power?
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