It’s down to the wire. Weeks of debate, marathon meetings at the White House, and hundreds of press conferences have all led to this. The House vote on the debt limit is about to happen. Then there’s a pause…“Pursuant to clause 1(c) of rule XIX, further consideration of S. 627 is postponed.”

Whaaaaa? Postponed?

“Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill ( H.R. 2548 ) to designate the facility of the United States Postal Service located at 6310 North University Street in Peoria, Illinois, as the “Charles `Chip' Lawrence Chan Post Office Building.''

If you were on the edge of your seats watching C-Span last Thursday—you know we were—that’s what you saw. After months of haggling, with partisans on both sides declaring the debt ceiling vote would determine the future of our country or the fate of the world economy, we instead got a discussion on renaming a Post Office in Peoria, Illinois. Then renaming one in Geneva, New York. Then Iuka, Mississippi. Instead of voting on the – like it or not – consequential House debt ceiling deal, lawmakers spent hours “debating” bills naming post offices, eight different ones in fact.

Shirking the tough decisions and instead debating feel good legislation is a time honored tradition. The House revised the rules so we don’t have votes on things like designating July National Watermelon Month , but renaming of Post Offices is still around. (The Senate is a different matter, the same day they passed the debt ceiling deal they also designated October 8th National Chess Day). Since 2000, more than 700 bills proposing the renaming of a Post Office have been introduced. And more than 400 of these have been signed into law. While some may think this is a good use of Congress’s time, we can think of about 14.6 trillion reasons why it’s not.

Congress’s relationship with the Postal Service is also emblematic of lawmakers inability to make tough decisions. The Postal Service is in a bind. Recent reports indicate it will lose $8 billion this year, after losing more than $8 billion last year. And in an uncanny resemblance to the federal government, it will max out its $15 billion line of credit (debt ceiling) from the Treasury. Even though in recent years the Postal Service has shed 130,000 employees and is now contemplating closing nearly 3,700 of its facilities, falling mail volumes and rising personnel costs mean a plan for economic viability is nowhere on the horizon.

Yet, for the most part, Congress stands firmly in the way of reform. The Postal Service is an independent executive agency that’s supposed to be self-sustaining. But Congress just can’t keep from meddling in the day to day operations to the detriment of the USPS and taxpayers. Eliminate Saturday delivery to save $3 billion a year – legally prohibited by Congress since 1983. Close one of the 3,000 retail post offices that generate less than $27,500 a year while often costing close to $100,000 to operate—Congress won’t allow the closing of traditional brick-and-mortar post offices on purely financial grounds. And even mention the possibility of closing a postal facility that sees less than 50 people a day or generates a loss, and Congressmen get up in arms .

Taxpayers cannot afford for Washington to “mail it in” and avoid tough decisions by focusing on inconsequential legislation. Congress has raised the debt ceiling and shifted the hard work of finding $1.5 trillion in future deficit cuts to a “super committee” of 12 members. But the 523 others need not sit on the sidelines. Forgetting about renaming post offices and developing a plan to avoid a future Postal Service bailout would be a good start. It’s time Washington have an open and honest debate about the hard choices we must make to right our fiscal ship.

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TCS Quote of the Week

“It’s true that I turn 50 tomorrow, which means that by the time that I wake up I’ll have an email from AARP asking me to call President Obama and tell him to protect Medicare.” President Obama, on Wednesday, discussing his 50th birthday. (Wall Street Journal)