I believe that the original intent of the debt limit was to curtail the tendency of congress to rack up debt in order to provide "pork" for their voters without much care for where or how the bills would get paid.

It didn't work out the way it should because congress acts like the debt limit is like a credit card limit and spends up to the max & only pays off the minimum payment... increasing the total debt of the nation thanks to interest.

The conservatives regard "entitlement programs" as charity... forgeting, by choice, that Medicare & Social Security are paid into by the receipents for themselves or their dependents. Their fat cat supporters would just LOVE to get a piece of the $$$$, so they support the wingnuts because it suits their agenda.

So the answer is that greed & avarice disguised as social agenda are the reason why things are this dysfunctional. Create an artifical money crisi for the Postal Service - then watch to see who "volunteers" to take on the so called money loser. Smoke & mirrors... shell game... it's con artists making their moves.