The recent debt debate was not politics at its worst or most dysfunctional. It worked exactly as American politics was designed to work. “Our system is about posturing, fighting, dealing and eventually compromising,” said Dr. Lara Brown, a Villanova University political scientist. “Overall, House Speaker John Boehner and Senate Minority leader Mitch McConnell did what Henry Clay did –they structured a compromise, which gave Democrats time and Republicans principle.” Clay was at the center of the Nullification Crisis of 1833, rooted in two bills placing high tariffs on imports; it protected Northern manufacturers but left the South unable to sell...