Giving a Wet Snap

Scoop: Hank Paulson & Steven Mnuchin talked privately w/ McConnell & Yellen about debt ceiling bomb, concerned by enormous danger

After talks, both ex-treasury secretaries warned Biden aides that McConnell is NOT BLUFFING about GOP position on debt limithttps://t.co/4xfBl99kT2

— Jeff Stein (@JStein_WaPo) September 22, 2021

I'm a little curious about this, because I don't know the answer (as if the answer or my opinion would sway matters in Congress right now).

Can the Democrats pass a debt ceiling increase with 51 votes?  If so, what's the problem?  Manchin?  Sinema?  A group of "moderate Democrats" to be named later?  Do any of those parties want to be responsible for the U.S. defaulting on its debt obligations?

Can the debt ceiling increase be filibustered?  If so, do the Republicans want to be responsible for the U.S. defaulting on its debt obligations?  Because McConnell is not trying to force a default; he's just trying to hold to an ideological standard the GOP can use in 2022 (if you don't see what that "standard" is, I can't explain it to you.  I'm too lazy.).  He loses that "standard" if the GOP is tarred with blocking the debt ceiling increase by a filibuster, thus being the cause of the default.

So unless McConnell or his party actively oppose raising the debt ceiling (which, yes, is a dumb thing; though I'm sure Sinema and Manchin and a group of moderate Democrats to be named later cherish it like they do the filibuster, another dumb thing), they don't want to force the U.S. into default.

They just want to make the Democrats responsible for increasing the debt.  Which I am convinced only a handful of extreme right-wing sugar daddies to the GOP, give a wet snap about these days.