>


That was until Newt discovered that he could use it as a political weapon

Which is f'n stupid because that's literally what the 14th Amendment was to prevent when it says that "public debt...shall not be questioned".
This, like so many of the political problems we have, all started with Newt Gingrich.  Before 1995 the debts ceiling was increased as a mostly pro-forma procedure, there were occasional complaints about it, but it always passed.  That was until Newt discovered that he could use it as a political weapon then it has became a regular rolling crisis.