There's a time and place to wage the noble fight to rein in the nation's red ink. Digging in against raising the debt ceiling isn't it.

That frequently misunderstood reality bears repeating as another congressional showdown is coming sooner than expected — on or before Nov. 3 — over what should be a routine vote to increase this arbitrary borrowing cap. Raising the debt ceiling does not equal endorsement for future spending. Instead, it allows the nation to pay the bills for spending Congress has already authorized.

Protecting the full faith and credit of the United States by ensuring that it can meet its obligations is responsible financial management — not a giant, reckless step down the road to moral and fiscal bankruptcy, as critics contend. There is nothing to be gained by risking default on the nation's debts. Doing so would rattle the world's financial markets, likely harm the nation's credit rating and undermine the economy.

Unfortunately, time is even more limited than previously thought for lawmakers to take care of this critical business. That's troubling when the U.S. House is already in disarray after the recent surprise resignation of House Speaker John Boehner and the Republican Party's hapless attempts to fill this important vacancy.

Late last week, U.S. Treasury Secretary Jacob Lew moved up by two days the deadline for Congress to raise the debt limit, which currently stands at $18.1 trillion. Previously, Nov. 5 had been the date at which officials predicted the U.S. government would have exhausted emergency measures to continue funding for operations. While some have questioned whether Lew moved the deadline for political reasons, this date is in sync with timelines from the Congressional Budget Office and the respected Bipartisan Policy Center.

The Republican-controlled House has struggled to find Boehner's replacement, which bodes ill for finding votes within this badly divided majority to raise the debt ceiling or to address other quickly looming important issues, such as an Oct. 29 deadline to extend the Highway Trust Fund. Congress will also need to pass another federal government operations spending bill in December after pushing through a stopgap measure recently. The confluence of critical votes isn't just a fiscal cliff, it's a "fiscal abyss,'' said Washington, D.C.-based budget expert Stan Collender on Monday.

Tea Party hard-liners have long been disgruntled with Boehner because the Ohio Republican wasn't sufficiently enthusiastic about using the debt ceiling or other critical operational issues as leverage to undo the Affordable Care Act or defund Planned Parenthood. It is to Boehner's credit that he put the brakes on this brinkmanship. His replacement needs to do the same.

The new debt ceiling deadline and other looming votes are a reminder that the business of governing cannot simply grind to a halt as Republicans try to bridge the bitter divide between the Tea Party and the GOP establishment. Voters entrusted Republicans with majorities in both chambers of Congress. A strong, responsible new House management team (our pick for speaker: either Paul Ryan or Minnesota's John Kline) is needed as soon as possible. If not, the GOP needs to make public its Plan B to keep the nation running smoothly while this ugly intraparty fight is settled.