We may be in a bit of trouble here. It seems the raising of the debt ceiling is one of those issues where members of Congress have a choice between doing the widely popular thing or the vastly more unpopular thing that is actually necessary. Because according to a new poll, a mere 27 percent of likely voters support raising the debt ceiling. Their reasoning is obvious: Debt is bad. Raising the debt ceiling must be bad, too. Don’t raise the debt ceiling! Most people probably don’t realize, though, that while debt is generally bad, the alternative to raising the debt ceiling “catastrophic economic consequences that would last for decades,” in the words of Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner is much worse. Maybe what the adults in Congress need to do is challenge prevailing perceptions by reframing the vote with one of their ridiculously named bills “The Prevent Everyone From Losing Their Jobs Again and Having No Money to Spend on iPhones Because You Need It to Buy Cat Food for Yourself Because That’s What You Eat for Dinner Now Act,” or something.
THE HILL POLL: Voters oppose raising the $14.3T debt ceiling [Hill]
Related: The Absolute Moron’s Guide to the Debt Ceiling
