Why do we have a debt ceiling?

If every time we get close Democrats automatically raise it?
If Republicans threaten to keep that limit that was just raised last year- the tax cheat that Teh Won put in charge of our money- is crying about defaulting on our loans.

Gee Timmy and yes you too Ben Bernanke- if you're so concerned about our debt, maybe you should ACT like it- instead of borrowing even more.

Geithner said a failure to raise the ceiling in a timely way would lead to hardship for many Americans as government payments would stop, pushing interest rates higher and sparking "a financial crisis potentially more severe than the crisis from which we are only starting to recover."

Both Geithner and Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke have said a failure to raise the ceiling could have "catastrophic consequences."

But wait!
Did I just see a way to NOT have a catastrophic failure when the ceiling is hit?

As the government nears the debt ceiling, the Treasury has authority to take certain extraordinary measures to postpone the date the United States would default on its obligations.

But that means that Little Timmy Geithner might actually have to make some hard decisions- that he may even be held to. You know, actual consequences that blaming the Republicans can't fix.