It has been widely reported (e.g., in the National Review) that in January, Speaker Boehner had to promise his caucus a vote on a budget that balances in 10 years in order to get them to agree to extend the debt ceiling.

According to sources in the room, Boehner made the pledge at a closed-door meeting in the Capitol basement. The speaker said that Representative Paul Ryan of Wisconsin, the budget committee chairman, will lead the effort.

Boehner’s commitment is a signal to conservatives that the speaker is listening to their demands. Behind the scenes, backbenchers have been pushing Boehner and Eric Cantor, the majority leader, to endorse a 10-year balanced budget.

On Wednesday, insiders say, most Republican lawmakers will begrudgingly back a three-month extension of the debt limit. But before Boehner could finalize the whip count, he needed to make this fiscal assurance in return.

It seems to have been a concession that was wrung out of Boehner during the party’s January retreat in Williamsburg.

…Speaker John Boehner reached out to five of his smartest and most influential conservative members—Reps. Paul Ryan of Wisconsin, Jeb Hensarling of Texas, Tom Price of Georgia, Jim Jordan of Ohio, and Steve Scalise of Louisiana—with a simple request: Come up with a plan to unite the conference and hide the ideological cracks that surfaced over the past two years.

Having heard from this Conservative Jedi Council, Boehner met in mid-January with all Republican members at a retreat in Williamsburg, Va. There, after a lengthy back-and-forth over the direction they should take in the months ahead, Boehner extended an olive branch. The speaker promised members that his leadership team was committed to advancing their goals in the 113th Congress. He would uphold the sequester, allowing for reprioritization. He would push a 10-year balanced budget. He would hold the line against further tax hikes. In return, Boehner requested enough votes to temporarily raise the debt ceiling.

So, this is plain and simple, and everyone should be able to understand it. House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan’s column in the Wall Street Journal, announcing his 10-year plan to balance the budget is disingenuous. His budget plan is not serious. The plan is merely a concession that Boehner made to the most conservative members of his caucus to prevent them from forcing the country into default and thereby destroying our credit rating and the global economy. Remember that when you read Ryan explain why he’s trying to balance the budget in 10 years.

Yet the most important question isn’t how we balance the budget. It’s why. A budget is a means to an end, and the end isn’t a neat and tidy spreadsheet. It’s the well-being of all Americans. By giving families stability and protecting them from tax hikes, our budget will promote a healthier economy and help create jobs. Most important, our budget will reignite the American Dream, the idea that anyone can make it in this country.

His budget is a means to an end, all right. It is the price sane pays to crazy to not destroy things. But the rest of us in the real world don’t have to take Ryan’s budget plan (much less the Republicans’ stupid ‘American Dream’ talking points in support of his budget plan) seriously in the least. It is a joke, and nothing more.

People will point out that the numbers don’t add up and that it’s a cruel document and that it’s insane and that it isn’t sound economics and that it relies on gimmicks. True. True. True. True. True. But it’s not even a budget Ryan and Boehner believe in. They aren’t pushing it because they think it’s good policy. I don’t even believe that they think it is good politics. They’re just trying to prevent their own guys from breaking shit.

That doesn’t mean that Boehner and Ryan aren’t responsible for this farce. They could go get the votes they need on the other side of the aisle. Or they could resign. Subjecting us to this mockery of governance and public debate is beneath the dignity of anyone who is worth a damn.