Democrats Dare GOP to Provoke Another Debt Crisis

A Senate Democratic aide tells Greg Sargent that they want the debt ceiling lifted for about 9 months — until early summer — with the idea being that the closer to the 2014 elections we get, the harder it will be for Republicans to stage another debt ceiling hostage crisis.”

Said the aide: “The effect of this fight has been to destroy the Republican brand and put their 2014 candidates behind the eight ball. We are not trying to bait them into another fight. We’d rather put it past the election. But it’s really up to them. If they want to recommit political suicide a few months before an election, that’s going to be their choice. We’re going to make sure that if this happens it has real consequences for them.”