A Big Debt Limit Blunder?

talkingpointsmemo.com — Setting aside arguments about the policy substance underlying the fiscal cliff negotiations (and there’s obviously plenty to argue about), what puzzles me most is the idea that President Obama might shake hands on a deal that raises the debt limit enough to put off another big fight with House Republicans for about a year. It’s easy to see how Obama and John Boehner might reach that compromise. Conservatives want to have that fight with Obama as soon as possible, early next year. Obama wants the debt limit removed from the realm of legislative politics forever. The “compromise” between those two positions is somewhere between three months and four years. And one year allows Boehner to claim that the fiscal cliff deal satisfies the “Boehner rule,” pairing new borrowing authority with concomitant budget cuts. But strategically, it’s hard to identify any upside for Obama here.

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