The whole debt-ceiling routine was just a farce, a sort of Kabuki ritual that for various bureaucratic reasons is expected. It is not fooling anyone, because everyone knows that the dollar is toilet paper. But it would be an insult to China to just come out and say "Look, we're never going to pay you back, but you need us to buy your junk, so just cough up suckers." The debt-ceiling act was a kind of stage-play designed to make it look like we're a serious nation and trying to reform ourselves, but it's too late for that and everyone knows it. Nevertheless, protocol is protocol, diplomacy is diplomacy.
As for Boehner and Obama, as long as they are being photographed, all is well in their silly little worlds. Boehner is a real ham. I'd say this guy missed his calling in Hollywood and that he could have been the second coming of Robert Duvall. But politicians are basically actors, so maybe not.
Back to the debt ceiling... Reagan, considered by some to be a fiscal conservative, raised the debt ceiling seventeen times. This is normal for America, and we got away with it for so long because we tricked the world into believing we were an invincible superpower who was always good for our debt. America is sort of like a barfly who coaxes free drinks out of the bartender, because he's always dressed nice and looks like he's good for it. But in reality, he lives in a squalid cockroach-infested dump and just puts on his one nice suit when he goes out, because he wants free drinks. In other words, America is a grifter.
Part of the grift is that we own all the credit-rating agencies. If Moody's was independently operated, our credit rating would be F-. Everyone knows this as well. It is laughable yet tragic to see us treating Greece as if they are fiscally irresponsible. This is sort of like a leper being disgusted by someone with a pimple on their nose.
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