Precisely. Congress is simultaneously demanding that the executive branch collect X taxes, and spend Y on programs, while also demanding the executive branch do it while somehow putting a total halt on paying outstanding debts it made because since X<<Y.
They collectively want to save their cake for later and eat it now, and somehow it's always someone else's fault that there's just one cake.
Anyway, this leaves the executive branch with nothing by bad options. Here are the ones I can think of, from least-bad to worst:
1. Ignore the debt-ceiling because it is weird self-contradictory nonsense compared to business as usual, fight it in federal court system as Congress Being Impossibly Stupid. (I prefer this one.)
2. Proactively ignore some spending laws while enforcing others of the President's choice. (Unconstitutional, President can't line-item-veto.)
3. Specifically ignore laws around Federal Reserve and its nominal independence, so that the President can arbitrarily print more money for everything. (Similarly unconstitutional as #2, will severely spook markets and leads to a slippery-slope of inflation since it's no permanent fix.)
4. Raise new taxes of its own choosing. (Explicitly unconstitutional, only Congress can do that.)
5. Cease to honor its debts. (Explicitly unconstitutional, also major financial/economic/diplomatic crisis.)
They collectively want to save their cake for later and eat it now, and somehow it's always someone else's fault that there's just one cake.
Anyway, this leaves the executive branch with nothing by bad options. Here are the ones I can think of, from least-bad to worst:
1. Ignore the debt-ceiling because it is weird self-contradictory nonsense compared to business as usual, fight it in federal court system as Congress Being Impossibly Stupid. (I prefer this one.)
2. Proactively ignore some spending laws while enforcing others of the President's choice. (Unconstitutional, President can't line-item-veto.)
3. Specifically ignore laws around Federal Reserve and its nominal independence, so that the President can arbitrarily print more money for everything. (Similarly unconstitutional as #2, will severely spook markets and leads to a slippery-slope of inflation since it's no permanent fix.)
4. Raise new taxes of its own choosing. (Explicitly unconstitutional, only Congress can do that.)
5. Cease to honor its debts. (Explicitly unconstitutional, also major financial/economic/diplomatic crisis.)