Cave Man

And the parting on the left
Is now parting on the right
And the beards have all grown longer overnight
--The Who

Part of John Boehner's statement rationalizing why he would not stand in the way of a Senate sponsored bill to raise the debt ceiling reads as follows:

"Blocking the bipartisan agreement reached today by members of the Senate will not be a tactic for us. In addition to the risk of default, doing so would open the door for the Democratic majority in Washington to raise taxes again on the American people...With our nation's economy still struggling under years of the president's policies, raising taxes is not a viable option."

Setting aside how taxes can be raised when his party controls the House, Boehner's claim that failure to raise the debt ceiling increases the likelihood of further taxation reveals one of two things. Either he is ignorant, or he hopes that you are.

By voting to raise the debt ceiling, Boehner himself has chosen to raise the tax burden on Americans. This tax confiscates wealth directly via the tax system and indirectly via inflation (printing money to pay off debt).

To the extent that the bulk of the bill falls on our children, yesterday's vote further condemns them to lives as indentured servants.

For those keeping score of who caved and who stood firm, here are the roll votes for both the House and Senate.