The most powerful IED on the road ahead is timed to explode some time this spring. Last February, Congress raised the ceiling on the national debt from $12.4 trillion to $14.2 trillion. Since then, the debt has risen to $13.7 trillion -- which means Congress will have to raise it yet again within a few months.
A failure to approve one would, technically, bar the government from borrowing more money. In other words, we would not have the cash to pay our bills.
And yet Tea Party candidates and their fellow travelers in the GOP have vowed to oppose further increases in the legal debt ceiling.
Are they going to stick to that idea when faced with the reality of default?
Fineman's article approached this, and a number of other challenges in governance looming on the horizon, in terms of "booby traps" the Democrats may "leave behind" for incoming Republicans, most particularly (I presume) in the House.
But I'm thinking in terms of the Senate. And why wouldn't I? The Senate puts itself first in most things, anyway, constantly demanding the House bend to it's will, and leaning on the antiquated cloture rules to do it, insisting the House pretty much has to accept whatever the Senate hands it, since nothing else could possibly clear the 60-vote threshhold. And in the Senate, the odds are still against a Republican takeover.
Still, all signs point to the Senate Democratic caucus shrinking in the 112th Congress. And things being as they are, that's got to mean that it'll be harder than ever to get cloture on bills and nominations of all kinds. Including the always-controversial (though ordinarily non-partisan, believe it or not) bill to raise the federal debt limit.
As Fineman notes, the consequences of a failure to pass such a bill would be dire. A government shutdown. Possibly default on federal debt instruments. And hey, maybe a little global financial meltdown. You never know.
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