Are we going to have a governmental crisis on March 27, 2013? [View all]

[dawg]

That is the true date when the government will run out of money.

The debt ceiling has always been a silly gimmick. Congress authorizes spending, and then tries to take it back by refusing to allow the issuance of debt that the spending requires. The President rightly made it known that he refused to play that game again, and low and behold, the Republicans backed down.

But come March 27, they will have the upper hand once more. It won't be a matter of arguing about the debt ceiling or about accounting gimmicks like a platinum coin. Once the current continuing resolution expires, no further funds can be disbursed until both the House and the Senate agree on either an honest-to-goodness appropriations bill or another continuing resolution. My worry is that the Republicans caved on the fiscal cliff and the debt ceiling only because they intend to make their big stand here - where they think they have the advantage.

If the Republicans can hold their House caucus together, and refuse to pass anything other than a bare-bones, austerian budget, I don't see anything we can do to counteract that. Only immense public pressure could prevent them from passing their own budget or nothing.

But perhaps I'm missing something important and worrying too much.

There are lots of people on DU who are much better informed than I about the budget process. If you are one of them, I would love to hear your thoughts about what is likely to happen.

In other words, please talk me down!