When the same old thing seems no longer to be working, it could well be time to try something new.

This kind of thinking has long been employed in many arenas — sports, the arts, politics. And it makes some sense, too, at least theoretically. If what you’ve been doing has repeatedly failed, then it may be wise to try a different tack. Provided, of course, that the new approach isn’t incomparably foolish.

Sadly, there are some in today’s Republican Party, especially those who seem hell-bent on tearing things down without having any serious plan about what might come next, who simply want to break free from the established ways of thinking. Or something equally ill-defined.

At some point later on this year — probably during the spring — the federal government will bump up against its statutory debt limit. As this moment approaches, some will act as though there are actually two choices: either boost the debt limit, or don’t.

But this is wrongheaded in the extreme. Because there’s but one choice: raise the debt limit. Since not doing that would cause the Department of the Treasury to fail to meet its financial obligations for the first time in our nation’s history.

Whatever, some might say. Got to shake things up, don’t you know. Just like Donald Trump said when he was running for president and after he got himself elected.

And how did that all work out?

The full faith and credit of the United States government is nothing to be toyed with. If you understand how things work, that is. Pretty much forever, all understood this. Democrats and Republicans, liberals and conservatives, independents and libertarians and all sorts of apolitical types were effectively on the same page about the functioning of the federal government.

Not today, though. Today, there are some in the once-Grand Old Party who either don’t understand how things work, or who are happy to pretend that they do not.

Every single rational member of the U.S. Congress knows that there is but one answer to questions about the statutory debt ceiling. It must be boosted. Period. Because discussions about the limit and spending are a totally separate matter. Want to reduce spending? Go ahead. After boosting the debt limit, which is how the feds pay the bills. You don’t need to like it, but this is how the federal government works.

— Tribune News Service