Some debt limit news that's actually kind of good, for a change

You know how House Republicans waved the white flag of surrender on the debt limit and agreed to suspend it until May 19, at which point it will be automatically raised to whatever level it happens to be on that date? Well, it turns out that extending the legal debt limit through May 19 will have the practical impact of giving the administration enough headroom to hold things together until August or so.

The explanation is the same as the explanation for why the debt limit deadline was able to be pushed back from Dec. 31, when we hit the statutory deadline, to mid-February if not March. Once we reach the statutory deadline, the treasury department is able to use extraordinary measures to avoid default for several more weeks. So once May 19, rolls round, we should be able to get through June and July, taking us into August.

So I guess all things considered this is actually good news. But the fact that this is good news is a pretty sad commentary on just how pathetic House Republicans are when it comes to playing their part in governing this country.