Parties play with political fire around debt ceiling: The Note

On Wednesday, barring a major surprise, Senate Republicans will block an effort by Democrats to suspend the debt ceiling through next December.

The TAKE with Rick Klein

The disconnect between what’s being said about handling the debt ceiling and what’s likely to have to get done is as wide as ever -- and it’s not for lack of honesty from congressional leaders about what they intend to do.

On Wednesday, barring a major surprise, Senate Republicans will block an effort by Democrats to suspend the debt ceiling through next December. Democrats will accuse them of hypocrisy and worse, with less than two weeks of borrowing left before the Treasury Department runs out of cash.

They’ll be right on the merits, up to and including the financial calamities that could come if the United States can’t pay its bills. But that won’t change the governing reality -- even aside from the fact that talking points and even voting strategies on the subject have reliably flipped along with control of Washington.