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I found several things interesting about the recent shutdown of the government – debt ceiling crisis.

As noted here some time ago, I am opposed to the debt ceiling.  I assume that it was a well intended proposal to hold down the growth of government or the debt.  The Congress and President pass laws without adequate funding and therefore, without admitting it, they raise the debt.  The debt ceiling is, I suppose, intended to lay in the background and control the growth of the debt. It doesn’t work.   Partly because the propaganda around holding fast to it is just too great.   Partly because the argument that when a bill is passed that itself suffices to raise the debt if the bill is not paid for in some other way.  What might work would be  to require that a newly passed bill must include a funding provision specifying how the bill will be paid for before it takes effect.  This would have to be done a)  regardless of actual cost or else they would just claim that it would cost very little and b) even if debt was the way it would be paid for.  This  wouldn’t hold down debt, but it would be more honest.

The ridiculous right with its attempt to delegitimize Obama – eg birthers - has now been joined by the lunatic left in its efforts to delegitimize the Tea Party with references to the Confederacy - Andrew Sullivan, Jesse Jackson, and Eleanor Clift.   Ms. Clift based it on seeing someone with a Confederate flag.  I do not recall hearing a similar response when immigration marchers waved Mexican flags some time back.  Bill Maher thinks Obama is so tentative in his governance because of a fear of assassination.   Before next year is over I expect that these four will view any opposition to Obama as simple racism.