What the GOP should demand for raising the debt ceiling

There are, for example, many truly bad provisions in the Dodd-Frank financial-reform law and the president’s health-care legislation that should and could be repealed. The Republicans should target these provisions for repeal and attach them to the bill to raise the debt ceiling. Once the bill containing items to be repealed passes the House, it would likely also pass the Senate. Who among the 21 Democrats and two independents whose terms are up in 2012 would vote against raising the debt ceiling, especially if the legislation also removed the least-popular features of other bills? Once passed by the full Congress, it’s even less likely that Mr. Obama would veto it.

But just because the debt ceiling should be raised on this occasion does not mean that the logic behind Mr. Goolsbee’s argument—that not doing so would be “catastrophic” for the economy—is accurate. On the contrary, cutting spending and cutting it drastically would not hurt the economy. It would, in fact, help the economy, even if done now.