It all started with a simple bad idea. The idea is seductive. If we’re going to solve our long-term deficit problem, the first thing we need to do is stop going further into debt. The easiest way to do that is to refuse to raise the debt ceiling. Only a small handful of countries have a statutory debt ceiling, but we’re one of them. If the Republicans took advantage of this strange quirk, they could force massive cuts in government. As a fallback plan, they could at least insist that any increase in the debt ceiling be matched dollar-for-dollar with spending cuts. That way, we really wouldn’t be increasing our debt at all.

There are several problems with this line of thinking. First, anyone not blinded by anti-government ideology can tell you that cuts in government spending cause unemployment to go up in both the public and private sectors, at least in the short-term. Any economic reward we might reap from smaller government would only show up far down the line. So, cutting the budget dramatically when we have historically high levels of unemployment is bad timing. Second, creating doubt about whether the U.S. government will pay its bills on time and in full puts our credit rating at risk. This is something that the Republicans probably didn’t consider back when they came up with their simple bad idea. Third, the Republicans only control one branch of Congress, and they cannot expect to dictate to the Senate or the White House. In refusing to compromise, they broke how our government is supposed to function and introduced uncertainty about its ability to take care of even the basics of governance. This contributed mightily to Standard & Poor’s decision to downgrade our country’s credit rating and it hurt our reputation, perhaps irreparably, with the countries that finance our debt.

This crisis arose out of simplistic ideological thinking, but it grew worse because of basic irrationality. If the idea was to force the government to live within its means, the Republicans needed to be realistic about what they could accomplish when they controlled only the House. They needed to accept the fact that the Democrats would not go along with a bill that had no revenue. (The bill they got has no guaranteed revenue, but will trigger massive cuts to the Pentagon and Medicare providers if revenue is not part of the SuperCommittee’s plan). If the idea is to stop deficit spending and control our debt, the president made a generous offer. A refusal to consider any tax revenues, even those restricted to eliminating tax subsidies, signifies that the Republicans really care more about tax-levels than deficit spending. And, that is actually the truth of the matter, as evidenced by the records of both Ronald Reagan and George W. Bush. Dick Cheney neatly made this point when he said, “Ronald Reagan proved that deficits don’t matter.”

The Washington Post article (cited above) shows how this process works. When the Republicans lose the White House after running enormous deficits and creating incredible deficits, they have a little meeting to consider what went wrong. Watch.

In January 2009, on a night aglow with inaugural balls and Democrats celebrating their newly-elected president, a gathering of Republican lawmakers picked at their dinners in the Caucus Room restaurant off Pennsylvania Avenue. They felt anything but cheerful.

The original Young Guns —[Eric] Cantor, Kevin McCarthy of California and Paul Ryan of Wisconsin — were there, along with disconsolate colleagues from the House and Senate.

The evening started as “just another conservative bitch session,” Ryan later recalled. “It was basically, ‘What just happened?’ ”

Excuses mingled with a search for explanations. Some around the table argued that Republicans had simply fallen victim to the crumbling economy. Others suggested that their presidential nominee, John McCain, simply hadn’t stirred enough enthusiasm among voters.

No, said Ryan and others. The problem was deeper. A “fundamental rot” had set in, as party leaders had adopted bloated budgets, chased pork-barrel spending and worried too much about getting reelected.

Did it occur to them that that is exactly what Republicans do every single time they’re entrusted with power? They always come away thinking, “Gee, what happened? Why’d we spend all that money when we’re supposed to be about balanced budgets and small government.”

The solution is obvious. Pretend you’re not responsible for the wrecked economy and start screaming about the spending required to fix your mess. This time, the Republicans regained their footing quite quickly, although not in time to prevent the passage of the thing they’ve feared the most, a health care plan that provides access to all Americans.

However, in ramping up the hypocritical crazy rhetoric to stratospheric heights, they unleashed an untamed beast that they cannot control. The result is a House Caucus that is functionally insane and a U.S. Senate that is as stuck as a stegosaurus in a La Brea tar pit.

If this were no more than a cynical ploy to ruin the economy and destroy Obama’s presidency, it would be less concerning. It’s actually something worse. It’s the crack-up of a formerly great country.