What happened here was really much simpler than that. McConnell was able read a calendar and knew full well that Democrats didn't have enough time to pass even an expedited reconciliation bill by October 18. He also knew that if the U.S. defaulted on its debt, the American public would rightly blame his party.
Don't kid yourself, Americans may not be able to tell the difference between the deficit and the debt, but they sure as shit can read a 401k statement. A debt default would send the economy over the cliff and dash any hope McConnell has of becoming majority leader in 2023. Ted Cruz may be too dumb to realize that, but old Mitch isn't. That's why he's the most powerful man in Washington and Cruz reads from Green Eggs and Ham. It's like he's playing three-dimensional chess while everyone else is playing checkers.
Which is why it's incumbent upon Chuck Schumer to not look this gift horse in the mouth. December 3 is only seven weeks away. He needs to stop yappin' on the Senate floor and get to work right now crafting a reconciliation bill that will raise the debt ceiling sufficiently high enough so we don't go through this shit show again until at least 2025. Just raising it for a year simply punts the ball to the midterms, and that's the last thing Democrats should want.
Screw the optics. If Democrats have no problem going it alone on a multi-trillion dollar social safety net bill that Republicans will attempt to bludgeon them with in 2022, then saving the country from economic armageddon for the next four years should be a piece of cake. Whatever the number is - $5 trillion, $8 trillion, $12 trillion - just do it. Republicans will scream bloody murder; let them. Besides, if voters really cared about the debt, 90 percent of the GOP would be pumping gas at Exxon. Wasn't it Dick Cheney who once said that deficits don't matter? Apparently that's only when a Republican is in the White House.
Schumer needs to stop trying to shame this group of miscreants into doing the right thing. Jesus, 147 of them voted to overturn the last presidential election. If that hasn't shamed them nothing will. Accusing an arsonist of being an arsonist doesn't stop the arsonist from burning down the building. If anything, it only emboldens him.
And while we're at it, let's knock off the "End the Filibuster" nonsense. Yes, it's a relic that needs to go away, but as long as Joe Manchin and Kyrsten Sinema are in the Senate and Democrats need their votes, it's here to stay. Deal with it. Count your blessings that Trump screwed his party over in the Georgia run-offs. By all accounts, both Republicans should've won those elections. Had that happened, McConnell would now be doing to Joe Biden what he did so successfully to Barack Obama: making his presidency a living hell. As I've said on several occasions: there are worse things than not getting everything you want; not getting anything you want.
It's time Democrats woke up and learned how to play three-dimensional chess. It's time they stopped the infighting, pass some damn bills and govern the country. The only way to beat the Party of No is by being the Party of Yes.
Boring people to death with meaningless floor speeches is no way to go about it.
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