Obama's debt-ceiling posturing all about protecting himself in the 2012 election campaign

The president is holding out for a "grand bargain" to solve the debt problem for a couple of years rather than just a few months.

That sounds statesmanlike — until you understand what lies beneath it. If Washington raises the debt ceiling only enough to last a few months, then it will have to revisit the issue next year, during a presidential election campaign.

A good editorial from the Richmond Times-Dispatch