[Guest post by Matthew Zeitlin]
In this exchange with Tim Pawlenty, conservative economist Larry Kudlow points out that failure to raise the debt ceiling means economic disaster, and that it will be impossible to get the Senate to pass an ambitious “cut, cap and balance” plan. In light of these facts, would Pawlenty still back a debt ceiling hike?
Pawlenty responds that the best strategy is to “draw some lines in the sand”:
One interesting part of this is that Pawlenty eventually backs a last-ditch plan that has Obama requesting a raising of the debt ceiling every one or two months, instead of every six months as McConnell’s plan calls for. Besides the “double Gitmo”-esque level of pointless policy amplification, it is noteworthy that even Pawlenty can envision eventually supporting a plan that would raise the debt ceiling in exchange for now-major policy concessions. What’s even more interesting is that Pawlenty’s approach to negotiation on the debt ceiling is strongly reminiscent of Walter Sobchak’s:
And as for how Pawlenty plans to get 5 percent GDP growth every year for ten years? If you will it, it is no dream.