PORT WASHINGTON, N.Y. (MarketWatch) — Red ink is preferable to a dead economy.

For the second time in two years, the U.S. economy is in danger of being unable to borrow money to meet its obligations. Yes, fans, once again the pols are about to subject we the people to what is fast becoming an annual battle over raising the debt ceiling.

You may recall the brouhaha that developed last summer when the two parties dug in their heels, threatening the U.S. with default. Although that never happened, it was enough to cause a downgrade in the country’s formerly pristine credit rating.

Congress’s rating was downgraded as well — by the voters who told pollsters that they would sooner trust a used-car salesman than their rep in Washington. To no one’s great surprise, many people said they would vote to throw incumbents of both parties out of office, if the elections were held last year.

Guess what, some people never learn. Although the government is not likely to hit the debt ceiling until early next year, pols in both parties have already begun to ratchet up the rhetoric.

The Republicans say they won’t vote for raising the debt ceiling unless spending is cut. For their part, the Democrats oppose cutting spending, preferring to raise taxes instead.

In my view, this fracas is entirely unnecessary. It’s simply a way for the pols to posture for their constituents — in other words, play politics. What makes this especially weird is that it is Congress that does the actual spending; the president can’t decide on his own how much to spend and on what.

At the very least, the debt ceiling should be raised when each year’s budget is passed — unless, of course, the budget contains a surplus. Better yet, this debt ceiling should be eliminated altogether.

Understand a couple of important facts.

Anti-Obama campaign ad asks: 'Is justice for sale?'

First, debt is nothing new. The United States actually began with a substantial debt — the cost of the Revolutionary War. At the outset, the government’s debt outstanding amounted to more than 30% of the fledgling nation’s gross domestic product.

In most years following, federal spending has exceeded revenues. The result was that the government had to borrow to make up the difference. Since the government takes in only 57 cents out of every dollar it spends today, Washington visits the credit markets often.

The second fact is that even though the Congress was largely responsible for the resulting accumulation of debt, it decided to limit how much the government could borrow by enacting this debt ceiling back in 1917. Why, you might ask? Simple: This provided an opportunity for the party outside the White House to criticize the one inside.

Both parties played this silly game, implying that the president alone had crafted the budget and was trying to convince a tight-fisted Congress to spend. The public at the time took this battle seriously.

Now you would think that, after having raised the debt ceiling nearly 100 times since 1917, the pols would be tired of this charade. Certainly the public is.

But unlike past episodes, today’s standoff revolves around two basic issues: (1) the role of government in our economy and (2) the need to live within our means.

The first item is not going to be resolved anytime soon — and certainly not under the gun of lifting the debt ceiling. The second implies that austerity is the way out of our so-called mess.

As we have seen across the pond, austerity doesn’t work; it only makes things worse. What is more, it has led to regime changes across Europe.

Thinking austerity is good for us is similar to the ancient belief that bloodletting was the way to cure what ailed people.