Reposting of editorial in the Baltimore Sun, includes “… Based on the historical pattern, a debt ceiling increase in a time when the White House and Congress are controlled by one party should be easy, with some predictable, cheap political point-making by the opposition party that reflects no real conviction but merely opportunism. Recall, for instance, Illinois Sen. Barack Obama opining in 2006 that raising the debt limit under President George W. Bush represented a “failure of leadership,” and President Barack Obama called Republicans “dysfunctional” for their refusal to pass a clean debt ceiling increase in 2011 and “reckless” when they did the same thing in 2013.  But bizarrely, this time it is the party in power in Congress and the White House that is engaging in the brinkmanship. …”