Okay, so the Republican House of Representatives held a "symbolic" (I call "theatric") vote not to lift the national debt ceiling today. Raising the debt ceiling is about fulfilling our promises as a nation. Republicans and Democrats have already voted for and passed a national budget that everyone knew and knows would require a raise of the "national debt limit" (what an oxymoron). So the "showdown" is completely hollow. Despite the disastrous effects of defaulting on our debt payments, some of our politicians pretend Congress hasn't already committed to the spending and therefore the debt it incurs. So all of this is political theater. Make no mistake.
Now the "real" debates happen (also theatrics) in which Republicans fight for budget cutting (where was this zeal during the previous Republican administration?) in exchange for raising the "debt ceiling." Please. Watch what they most want to cut. That tells you something about a politician's real motivation.
After all the theatrics, the Congress will vote to raise the debt ceiling to the levels to which they've already committed via prior budget approvals. Without that approval, Armageddon happens. So you can bank on it being approved... and everything else being theatrics.
