The GOP’s debt ceiling game of chicken House Republicans led(?) by Speaker Kevin McCarthy refuse to raise the debt ceiling without conditions. Given their lax attitudes toward punishing insurrection and attacks on their own legislative chambers, it hardly seems beyond the pale that asking “Would they or wouldn’t they?” regarding defaulting on the national debt seems as quaint as asking if the Bush administration would torture prisoners. It would throw markets and the economy into chaos. But then, their party is now defined by that condition. “His caucus is willing to allow the United States to default on its debt to force budget cuts,” the Washington Post Editorial Board notes: It is foolish to gamble with the full faith and credit of the U.S. government at any time. It’s madness to do so now, at a fragile moment for the financial system. Have lawmakers learned nothing from the 2011 standoff that resulted in higher borrowing costs and a lower U.S. credit rating? Back then, the two sides got close to the edge and there were hefty costs. Republicans are performing their regularly scheduled handwringing over the debt their servicing of financial elites has run up. Once a Democratic administration retakes the White House, a Republican’s thoughts turn to which Americans’ lives they might immiserate in the name of personal responsibility and budgetary restraint. They were never serious (in an adult sort of way) about deficits when in power. What they are serious about is ensuring government spending flows only into the right pockets.…