Holy Cow! Republicans Pass A Clean Debt Ceiling Bill. No....really!

When republican didn't add on, this is how I felt.

The debt ceiling debate is front and center again.

I wrote this first sentence a few weeks ago because I knew that the deadline had arrived for something to happen. When Paul Ryan and Patty Murray got together months ago and drafted a sequestor relief bill, the obstructionist could be heard across America.  How dare Ryan and Murray remove the opportunity to conduct a sit down strike in congress?

Their bill was functionally a whole lot of nothing designed to save congress from themselves.  Plummeting approval ratings were at the risk of sinking lower if another shutdown of government occurred, but too many of these revolutionary representatives did not come to improve their approval ratings. In fact, the district they came from is so perfectly gerrymandered that these dogs only respond to one master.

Have you ever entered a room with lots of people all engaging in separate conversations, and none of them with a hope in hell of seeing eye to eye?  When republicans got together to determine how they would use the debt ceiling vote to force the hand of the democrats and president Obama, that is what the room became.  Obama has made it clear that he would not play this game and  made republicans blink first the last time they tried this approach.

This time, the fight never even came to a death defying game of chicken.  No one ever got around to taking that deep breath just before you would collide if someone didn't give in at chicken.  Republicans have waved the white flag to avoid the damage of "so called" friendly fire. From the various reports, they got tired of arguing with each other and just decided to test the vote to see if the debate was even worthwhile.  When the test vote found the debate to be futile, the party leaders chose to simply move on.

If you listen to the news, you might get a feel for how that room of angry republicans sounded, because the debate is raging on, only this time the media is delivering the message.  John Boehner delivered his own message when he made it clear that if you don't have a majority vote, "you don't have nothing".

And so nothing it is.  Both branches of congress have voted to pass a clean (nothing attached to the bill) debt ceiling bill.  In some ways I understand what is going on with this party, but I can only decipher things that happen with intention. You know, like Boehner growing sick of arguing and forcing the bill to a vote on the floor.  Everything else is a haphazard result of a kite with one damaged wing.  They will hit the ground soon, but no telling what the journey to the bottom will look like.