As Congress gears up for another showdown over raising the debt ceiling, we are left, as a society, with two choices. The first is to lift the debt ceiling and prevent a worldwide economic catastrophe. The second is to not lift the debt ceiling and leave the world at the mercy of fascist weirdos, with only Kevin Costner to protect us.

Because the second of these two options is unpalatable, reasonable people have called for lifting the debt ceiling.

The problem is that various House Republicans do not want to pass a "clean" debt ceiling bill, and are making various threats, which Jonathan Chait notes here. As most commentators have already written, these threats are unlikely to succeed, and the Obama administration is almost certain to emerge victorious. But this CW actually understates the extent of the whupping that the House GOP is likely to endure.

Misleadingly, much of the media coverage of the debt ceiling has presented the Democratic advantage as a result of disunity among House GOPers. Here is Jonathan Weisman in The New York Times:

“We have to have party solidarity,” said Representative Peter T. King, Republican of New York. “Certainly we are the conservative party. But once consensus is reached, at least we have to allow that consensus to come to the floor for a vote, so John can bargain with Democrats from a position of strength.” That approach has yet to be embraced by House conservatives, many of whom have signaled that they are not ready to simply acquiesce.

Meanwhile, a Politico story on Wednesday, 'House GOP Divided on Debt Ceiling,' explains the Party's debt limit problems as resulting from division: