Because those are the only two options. Extortion or completely rolling over. Anyway, other egregious mistakes in this essay you've posted:
How better to force Republicans to produce a budget, which will contain unpopular policies, the better to run against?
Well, Republicans did produce a budget, it has made almost no difference in the short term, they remain committed to engineering a recession while lying about the contents of their budget legislation, and the White House is left whining that industry trade groups and corporate-funded advocacy shops have not ridden to the rescue.
Yes, they did produce a budget and it was wildly unpopular. With talking points that were hit daily until people decide to promote more #WalkAway stuff rather than keep hammering them home. The Student Loan argument alone has galvanized a shit ton of people. Clawing back money from Veterans? We're not using that as a talking point? Because it's been everywhere.
The truth is, it was never savvy. It was always cowardice—and through that cowardice, a lack of imagination about how to transform something that can be framed in an unpopular way (tax-and-spend Democrats voted for unlimited debt!) into something like a confident, winner’s move (we refuse to be pushed around, and Republicans won't hurt the country on our watch. FAFO, motherfuckers!)
Literally what's being done right now.
More generically, we need Democrats who will stop treating the Republicans' serial default threat as a prompt to outmaneuver them, and instead simply overturn the game board; who will say it doesn’t matter if they pass an extortionate debt-limit bill or not, because there’s nothing to negotiate.
Literally what's being done right now.