Well, I totally agree with your overall point here, which frankly is a fiscally conservative point that is unusual here on progressive leftwing Medium.com, so I wasn't expecting it. What you're saying is that long-term, increasing the debt ceiling will require budget cuts. My original pushback was because the whole point of raising the debt ceiling is to not have to make budget cuts in the short-term. We apparently agree, though, that raising the debt ceiling is irresponsible behavior that will require very painful budget cuts in the long-term.