One might ask why the $1.7 trillion spending package, rammed through Congress without reading and signed into law by President Biden, did not automatically raise the debt ceiling.

I don't get the debt ceiling and the panicked nature that both parties use to shove these monstrosities through Congress at the last possible moment. Threatening dire consequences like a government shutdown or, heaven forbid, a default on our government obligations.

Because, essentially, Congress is fighting to pass the authorization to spend deficit dollars for legislation they have already approved and signed into law.

To me, it seems like this is a total scam designed to screw with the public rather than any serious attempt to implement prudent and fiscally responsible spending. Political brinkmanship and gridlock to gain leverage, rather than as a means of controlling government spending.

If  Members of Congress were honest, and most assuredly this is not the case, they would include the spending approvals -- automatically raising the debt ceiling for the legislation they have already approved and avoiding this last-minute Kabuki theater.

Of course, this would bring unwanted exposure to the necessity, priority, and cost of each program and a real debate over the issues instead of last-minute shenanigans. Shifting the argument from who to blame for this pig with lipstick to why we are wasting high-interest borrowed money on these unnecessary items. 

The way I think about the debt ceiling is that it is a plea to the national credit card company to raise our credit limit after we have bought the merchandise by promising that any debt, no matter how outrageous, will be paid by future taxpayers. This is a position sometimes used to justify providing amnesty to the invading hoard of illegal aliens -- unmindful of the fact that, on balance, they take more in entitlements and other assistance from the government than they return to the government in the form of taxes.

Bottom line...

It appears that the fight over the debt ceiling is a psychological ploy to allow Members of Congress to openly advertise, once more, that they are "doing something" to justify their existence while plundering the treasury to buy votes, donor support, and feathering their own nests.

The debt ceiling is not a viable instrumentality to re-negotiate programs that have already been passed and signed into law. So what's the game? If anyone has a good answer, let me know.

When you hear about the government's need to service the national debt, think about how a bull "services" a cow. Yes, it's the very same process.

We are so screwed.

-- Steve