Frequently forgotten facts about the debt ceiling, according to Michael Grunwald

FREQUENTLY FORGOTTEN FACTS: Of which Michael Grunwald would like to remind you. "Starting with: President Obama inherited a $1.2 trillion budget deficit.   And: Republican leaders supported the tax cuts and wars that (along with the recession, another pre-Obama phenomenon) created that deficit. Also: Republicans engineered this crisis by attaching unprecedented ideological demands to a routine measure allowing the U.S. to pay its bills.  Finally, Obama and the Democrats keep meeting those demands—for spending cuts, then for more spending cuts, and even for nothing but spending cuts—but Republicans keep holding out for more." (via TDD)