Democrats’ failure to raise the debt ceiling is yet another self-inflicted crisis

So, by their own admission, Democrats are choosing to create a new crisis. Why? First, because, as Yarmuth explained, if they use the reconciliation bill to raise the debt limit, “we actually have to specify a number” — and they fear Republicans will use that number against them in the 2022 midterms. And second, because Democrats can’t agree among themselves on the size and scope of the next reconciliation bill. Progressives want $3.5 trillion in spending, while moderate Sens. Joe Manchin III (D-W.Va.) and Kyrsten Sinema (D-Ariz.) say they won’t support anything close to that number. If Democratic leaders use the bill to raise the debt limit, and then fail to pass it because of intraparty divisions, they can’t blame Republicans for the resulting fiscal crisis. It would be yet another catastrophe born of their own incompetence.