[Hoot Gibson]

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/...li=BBnb7Kz

I don't believe that he did. He has something else up his sleeve and is just laying a trap for the Dems.

Agreed.  I believe this is a strategic retreat.  The line the GOP tried to use about debt limit and future spending was shot down pretty easily but next time it may not be if Dems can pass infrastructure and start on budget reconciliation.

Strategic retreat? McConnell's move pushes the date that Democrats will be forced to suspend or raise the debt to a ridiculous level as they push an unpopular spending bill closer to the 2020 elections. Cutting a deal now also is evidence of how reasonable Republicans have been, a fact that Republican candidates will use if Republicans play hardball later.

With his job approval rating plunging into the upper 30s, I seriously doubt that Biden is going to get much more of his big-spending socialist agenda through Congress before he is pushed out of office.

How is 
“ok, ok, I’ll pay my bills” reasonable? 

Oh yes. Democrats will push Biden out of office because they are so frustrated. 

Hoot, do you believe what you type?

Nevermind

The difference in you and me, Cardfan1, is that what I type is fact-based and believable and what you type is...not so much. I am telling you how the next few months will play out politically. Republicans compromise with Democrats and agree to a short-term increase in the debt ceiling. At some point, if Democrats find the votes to pass their proposed $4.5 trillion in new spending bills, Republicans will force Democrats to provide all of the votes for the spending bills and to raise the debt ceiling.

The G.O.P. will point to this "compromise" as evidence that they have been more than reasonable on the debt ceiling issue. It is an attempt by McConnell to reclaim the fiscal responsibility crown for this party. In other words, McConnell did not retreat on this issue at all. He never intended to have Democrats raise the debt ceiling without Republican votes this far in advance of the elections. There have to be many Democrat incumbents in red states that are not going to be eager to be blamed for a government shutdown or for voting for $trillions in new spending in an election year.