Watch what he did, not what he says. President Barack Obama says he won't agree to spending cuts in return for Republicans' raising the debt ceiling. Yet he did exactly that in 2011. And he should do it again.

more and more of our spending rises on autopilot because of decisions made long ago, and nobody is forced to take responsibility for the gap between revenue and commitments. Bills to raise the debt ceiling are the only occasions when congressmen and the president come close to doing so. They are thus appropriate moments to attack the trends that are driving our rising debt.