James Fallows and the debt-ceiling fiasco

Regarding the debt-ceiling issue, James Fallows (see here) points to what should be obvious (and, the fact that it isn't says all we need to know about journalism and politics today):

1. Raising the debt ceiling does not authorize one single penny in additional public spending.
2. For Congress to "decide whether" to raise the debt ceiling, for programs and tax rates it has already voted into law, makes exactly as much sense as it would for a family to "decide whether" to pay a credit-card bill for goods it has already bought.