Anthony Randazzo on a Debt Ceiling Lesson from Europe

American progressives are fond of gazing across the pond at Europe and wishing the U.S. would emulate it. So as soon as President Obama started announcing from all reaches of the country that Congress "must" eliminate the debt ceiling, progressive cheerleaders echoed his demands, pointing out that most European countries did not have a debt ceiling.

But Europe worshippers are drawing the wrong lesson from across the Atlantic, explains Anthony Randazzo. Despite public protests against austerity cuts, many European countries are instituting constitutional reforms requiring balanced budgets in the form of "debt brakes"—a far stronger way to control the national debt than a debt ceiling.