It seems only fair to give credit to Joe Biden for having worked through the debt extension with the Republicans. It was hard to imagine coming to a good outcome when there are clearly members of the majority party in the House that were more than willing to let the United States default.

I would like to think that the original strategy of not accepting any negotiation was a ploy, so that in the end, where the inevitable negotiation took place, the Republicans could view that, in and of itself, as a victory even though it had no substantive impact.

I think that in the past when I have pointed out my concerns about the performance of Biden and the administration, much to the dismay of my Democratic friends, I have tried to express the idea, that, on balance, I think they’ve done a pretty good job. Certainly, this was one of their stronger moments, and we should all be grateful that President Biden and his team were focused and steadfast about getting this done.

The same credit should go to House Speaker, Kevin McCarthy. I was very dubious about his capacity to bring a majority of Republicans to do something responsible; and, while I disagree with some of the things they insisted on as part of the package, I do believe that McCarthy showed a willingness to make sure that the country did not default. 

It seems to me he opened the door to look at what the Democrats did back in the 80s when there were Southern Democrats who were too conservative to vote for some of the initiatives of then House Speaker, Tip O’Neill. What O’Neill did was to sit down with the minority leader, Bob MicheI of Illinois, and explain to him how many votes he needed from Republicans to pass a bill. Then the negotiation began as to what the Republicans who would vote for the bill needed to be included, and what they needed to not be included. This led to a more moderate approach to passing legislation and did not involve the current zero-sum game approach that many Democrats and Republicans exercise in Congress. McCarthy could be offering a very different approach, and I think that he may not realize it whatever he does he will be challenged by the Freedom Caucus. Perhaps he will figure out a way to capture some Democratic votes. He needs to not have to keep that ultra-extreme element of his caucus happy if he is willing to try this.

All that said, sadly, his current embrace of Trump after his second indictment does not make it look like the Speaker has learned very much.