The debt-ceiling is “imposed by a Congress that does not have a working knowledge of the monetary system.

I don't agree with this. I believe that almost every member of Congress understands how money is created and distributed, as well as their part in that.

By drawing attention to the debt any spending that improves the lot of the average American can be posited as a "cost" to taxpayers and the spending must then jump over two hurdles, merit and funding, to gain acceptance.

It is hard to deny that many progressive programs would benefit working class and poor (especially as those categories increasingly overlap) but they always get sidetracked into debate about "payfors" and end up dead in committees because the math simply doesn't work when the household model is imposed on the currency issuer. It never will, and that solidifies the status quo of capital's dominance.