"Wolf!"

Several months ago, there was a big fight about Obama's request to raise the debt ceiling to about $14 trillion.  Our faithful federal nannies had maxed out their credit card and needed a credit limit increase, so rather than rein in spending, Obama decided we ough to increase our credit line instead.  What ensued was some of the best political theater one could hope for (if one hopes for political games that dig our fiscal hole deeper).

Historical debt ceiling levels

Obama and his cronies claimed that they needed to borrow more money just this once (in reality, it would be about the 100th time the credit limit would be raised) in order to meet our obligations, avoid a government shutdown, and provide some breathing room to start actually trimming back the size of government.  Anyone paying attention knew right off the bat that this was all total BS.

So here we are, several months later, spending continues unabated, no changes have been made, and we have maxed out the credit card again, this time at $14 trillion.  So now Obama is asking for an increase to $15 trillion.  I ask you, where does it end??  Apparently, it doesn't.  Well, it will eventually when we go broke.

When he was a mere senator, Obama fought GW Bush's attempt to raise the debt ceiling, arguing that Bush was irresponsible and that a debt ceiling increase would be detrimental to the nation.  Now the shoe is on the other foot and Obama's tune has changed - he's all for jacking up the credit line now!  So how do you convince, well, anyone, that it's a good idea to raise the limit...again?

First, you employ scare tactics, one of the staples of liberal political strategy.  "If we don't raise it, a great depression will wash over the land like the Nothing from The Neverending Story, wiping out the entire middle class, burning small businesses to the ground, and erasing the wealth of the nation in a single bound."  You can't prove a negative, so this is always a good tactic to avoid having to justify your actions with any sort of reason or logic.

Next, you use the same old, tired "just this one last time" plea.  We just need to raise it one last time in order to get our fiscal house in order.  The same fiscal house that Obama has been subletting to termites and college fraternities (those are the two best examples I can come up with right now that destroy houses, fiscal or otherwise).

Then, you point to a tepid and tenuous economic recovery (which doesn't exist) being helped along by massive hemorraging of money, justifying the continued out-of-control spending and supporting the need for continued borrowing for continued spending for continued tepid and tenuous economic recovery.

Finally, you show how well the practice has worked in the past.  Last time we raised it, we avoided a great depression by being able to borrow more money, spend more money, and keeping the tepid and tenuous...well, you get the point.  And, again, you can't prove a negative.

I don't know for sure that they want this country''s economy to collapse, but if one had that goal in mind, one would be doing the same exact things this administration has been doing for the last three years.

So here's what's going to happen:  there will be a faux fight over the debt ceiling issue, they'll come up with some faux spending cuts, they'll raise the credit limit, and they'll keep on spending as they have.  And in another several months, we will have maxed out the new credit limit.  Wash, rinse, repeat.