Raise the debt ceiling? No problem, says Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell. “I made it very clear after the November election that we’re certainly not going to shut down the government or default on the national debt,” McConnell said Sunday. “We will figure some way to handle that. And, hopefully, it might carry some other important legislation that we can agree on in connection with it.” At issue is, yet again, the legal limit on the nation’s debt. Last year, lawmakers opted for a “debt ceiling holiday” instead of a specific statutory limit increase, but the holiday ends March 15. The national debt stands at nearly $18.2 trillion, up from $10.6 trillion at Barack Obama’s inauguration, but it’s still not enough. Instead of putting up a fight after gaining control of both chambers of Congress, McConnell said the GOP would rather just play nice. It’s not that shutting down the government is the desirable strategy every time Republicans disagree with Obama, but they have repeatedly shown deathly fear of the very idea. Obama knows that, which only strengthens his resolve and makes each of these fights more of a farce. Republicans gained exactly nothing last time, and now they appear to be chickening out in advance.