Don't be fooled: Boehner is not trying to raise the debt ceiling.

Ezra Klein (WaPo) writes that Boehner's been running in the opposite direction that he needs to be, if ever the debt ceiling crisis were to be resolved.

"Lately, Boehner has not been governing. After he failed to pass a conservative resolution to the debt crisis without Democratic votes, he should have begun cutting the deals and making the concessions necessary to gain Democratic votes. That, after all, is what he will ultimately have to do. It’s what all this is supposed to be leading up to."

I think he's correct: Boehner's only real option has always been to find a compromise bill that was palatable for everyone, not just conservative Republicans.  But this illustrates to me, that the premise is all wrong.

As I have written many times, Boehner's actions are not towards raising the debt ceiling, but to absolve Republicans from any blame: we passed OUR bill, if you don't support it, it's YOUR fault that the debt ceiling wasn't raised.

It may sound cynical, but it's actually quite realistic.  Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell even put forth his own idea - that Majority Leader Senator Reid has incorporated - that would allow Republicans to vote against a debt ceiling increase while actually allowing the debt ceiling to be raised.  It is political posturing to assign all blame to Democrats while wiping their own hands clean.

And by the way, I'm not the only one who thinks Reid's idea of incorporating McConnell's ideas is wrong.  Come on, why bail out Republicans if they don't have the political courage to stand up for what's right?