I wonder what would happen if the Democrats and the President just said to the Republicans, “Screw it. You guys won’t raise taxes no matter what we offer, so give us a straight up-or-down vote on raising the debt ceiling. We ain’t talkin’ no more.”

I suspect it would fail in the House, the stock market would drop 1,000 points or more, the bond market would go up 2 basis points (from roughly 3% to 5% on Treasury bills and bonds), and the next day Boehner would bring the measure up for a vote again and it would pass with big margins.