I’ve said it with regard to Supreme Court confirmations and voting rights legislation, but I have to say it again: “Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) has proved particularly adept at inventing constitutional principles and American history from whole cloth.” So it is again, with raising the debt ceiling. …
Default, triggered by failure to raise the debt ceiling, would be disastrous for the country, but McConnell’s priority is party not country. He operates from a simple, but importantly valid, insight: if things go badly in the country, it hurts the party that controls the White House.
Whether it’s an economy gone sour, a war gone wrong, or even shark attacks gone wild, scores of studies show bad outcomes in the real-world lead to fewer seats for the White House party and more for the opposition. In other words, McConnell’s strategy is politically smart, albeit morally repugnant. CONTINUED
Mark Mellman (Mellman Group), The Hill
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