It's not what he feels. As a simple analysis, it's not that hard. Do you want the debt downgraded?
What the hell does that have to do with the topic? First, negotiating for something in exchange for a debt limit increase is nothing new. Second, there's not going to be a downgrade from an effort to lower debt spending. That's the political argument of the left. This article is saying that government is so big and the politics of any real reforms so unlikely that the cause is all but lost. My argument is that Pat has spent an entire career going against the system and conventional thinking, and now he basically says that battle can't be won. It's uncharacteristic.