There Can Be Only One. . .

(There Can Be Only One. . .)

It was on this day, January 16th, 27 BCE, that Octavian, the adopted son of Julius Caesar, was declared imperator, "first among equals," and took the name Augustus, Rome's first Emperor. Augustus' ascension to the Purple ended the Roman Republic and continued the next few centuries as the Roman Empire. Emperor Augustus, and those that followed ruled with absolute power over roughly one-fifth of the earth's surface.

However, beneath what had been referred to as the Glory of Rome, for all its power, a flaw lay in its leadership. Augustus was a strong Emperor. Marcus Aurelius had been a strong Emperor. Honorius, for his part, was not a strong Emperor. Roman history was ultimately consumed by this and that claimant to the Throne and that had the effect of pitting Legion against Legion, fighting several civil wars, sapping the Empire's strength, draining the treasury.

Say the Republican House and the Democrat Senate along with President Biden are rivals seeking the Throne and main points of contention is to who will blink first as it is time to "raise" the debt ceiling. If this is not the tired ritual where Democrats and Republicans are at each other's throats, the end of which is to avoid a government shut-down. As the gimmick goes, the end result is usually an increase, or a raise in the debt ceiling.

But things were supposed to be different this time. The House Republican Conference with Speaker McCarthy has vowed to cut spending so this time, there would be no automatic acquiescence to what the Democrat number might be. There will be negotiations as what Republicans will accept and what Democrats are also willing to live with.

What this will amount to is another game of chicken. The stakes are elevated for both sides and this will demonstrate the staying power of McCarthy's Speakership. That is not to say that Senate Majority Leader Schumer is without risk himself. That being said, both sides have to be willing to close the government. Who actually would be blamed is immaterial because of current reality. The go along and get along mentality that has hitherto been a fact of life has to end at some point. The time has come where that can no longer be afforded.