What The McConnell Plan Means

Yesterday, the entire course of the ridiculous debt ceiling debate changed radically, and without warning. As Hurley noted yesterday, Mitch McConnell (R-KY) offered a surprising plan to sidestep the entire issue entirely, at least for the next little while. But this offer changes a lot of things, and it sheds some light on the internal workings of both the debate between both parties, and within those parties as well. So it deserves a second look, even if it means I have to talk about the stupid, stupid, stupid debt ceiling again.

Wisconsin Wins, Today

So as some of you might remember, Wisconsin Democrats attempted a number of recalls against Republican members of the state legislature. This was in response to Gov. Scott Walker (R-Jerkville) and his particular brand of 21st Century union-busting, which it turns out, a lot of people didn't like! What a surprise! Anyway, in keeping with the Wisconsin GOP's style, they inserted a bunch of "fake" Democrats to create contested primaries against the initial Democratic choices (Chicago Tribune/AP). This was viewed by experts as "seriously not cool," in technical terms.