Govorning By Crisis

American voters may or may not like the particular fiscal cliff deal reached Tuesday night - and probably most do, given that many economists thought another recession could be triggered if we went over the cliff.

But one thing apparent to all voters was the depths of dysfunction to which their representatives in Washington, D.C., have sunk.

It's reached the point where Congress governs almost exclusively by crisis. Negotiations can't get anywhere until dire consequences are hanging right over their heads, with scissors poised to cut the line and let the consequences fall.

A deal to avoid the cliff was reached, but only after the House and Speaker John Boehner threw up their hands, and the White House and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell had to save the day.

The stock market is rallying and the economy is out of immediate danger. But the deal - a small one that's nothing like the grand bargain President Obama and Boehner have flirted with a couple of times - sows the seeds of the next congressional crisis, which will arrive around the end of February.

The fiscal cliff deal put off the deadline for deciding what spending to cut by two months, and that's about the same time U.S. government borrowing will hit its debt ceiling again. There will be a huge battle over raising the ceiling, combined with one on trimming the deficit.

And it was the last battle over the debt ceiling that was settled by putting the fiscal cliff in place - essentially, Congress holding itself hostage to make sure some future deal would be made. Now the deal is in place, but it sets up another debt ceiling battle.

Congress and the White House have come full circle. Or, more accurately, they have run around in circles and find themselves right back where they were.

So, get ready for the next fiscal cliff, er, debt ceiling fight. By now we know better than to get worked up about it until the deadline arrives; Congress certainly won't.