Because of the deal made on New Year's Day that averted the immediate impact of the so-called fiscal cliff, America will face a sequel to the debt ceiling hostage crisis that led to the super committee and the sequester and the fiscal cliff and the fiscal cliff solution and the sequel to the debt ceiling hostage crisis that led to the super committee and the sequester and the fiscal cliff and the fiscal cliff solution, et cetera, ad infinitum. The best of all possible fiscal cliff deals would have included a guaranteed de-weaponization of the debt ceiling. Since the fiscal cliff deal did not include any such de-weaponization, America's credit and the global economy are still very much jeopardized by the dangerous lunatics who have threatened another round of hostage-taking.

What can be done about it? Well, what about a magic trillion-dollar coin, wrought from platinum? Would that help?

Actually, in an interview with Capital New York's Reid Pilifant, Rep. Jerrold Nadler (D-N.Y.) suggests that it is possible to mint just such a coin, stick it in the Federal Reserve, and stick a fork in the coming debt ceiling crisis before it begins. "I'm being absolutely serious," Nadler told Pilifant, adding, "It sounds silly but it's absolutely legal. And it would normally not be proper to consider such a thing, except when you're faced with blackmail to destroy the country's economy, you have to consider things."