RE :”
There was no doubt in my mind that it would end that way. Boehner said there would be no default. He sent those signals long before as did most of the Reps in the Senate and the House. The only way to be credible is to make it known that you are willing to accept the consequences of not raising the debt ceiling. Once you let your opponent know that you are unwilling to accept the consequences, you have lost” No doubt true, but think of this. Everyone knows who Bohner is and what he would do.
No-one had-has the guts to challenge him as Speaker, meaning to replace him knowing they would ritual blame him and ritual fantasize here that he will be gone soon, just like January.
Yet they went ahead knowing they would lose.
No plan.
Dems fight to win and get their way, at least in this case.
Boehner was just giving the Tea Party caucus what it wanted. He knew it would fail and probably helped it to fail. Thus, he weakens the conservatives and diminishes their influence. Boehner and the GOPe have never had the stomach for confrontation. They just prefer symbolic acts that have no consequence.
A real opposition party would not have blinked.