The republicans are in a no win situation. If they do not give in, the press just trashes them and blames them. The idiotic american public believes everyhting they are spoon fed from MSNBC. It's a loser no matter how you look at it.
Obama is going to try and get unlimited power to raise the debt ceiling. Republicans will block it and the press will say they are obstructionist, trying to starve the elderly, club baby seals, shoot the mentally disabled etc. it's a loser and doesn't matter if bohner is an idiot, he very well may be but no matter what, the republiicans lose.
Let's say you are right. So why not drag Obama down with them? Why hand him a win and get nothing in return? They should offer to defer the cliff for six months, but tell Obama if he refuses, they will not raise the debt ceiling.
It's because Obama will come out of it looking like a hero, he fought off those evil republicans who are trying to tax the poor to keep the rich tax cuts. Secondly, I believe obama wants to go over the cliff, that way he can justify spending and grab more power for himself. I have been wondering why the last for years obama has done pretty much everyhting he could to spend and keep the economy weak and it's on purpose. He wants to weaken the country. Just think, if the financial crisis never hit, he NEVER would have been elected Shitheads like obama only get elected during times of turmoil like Hitler. Obama was at best a lazy senator and nobody knew who the hell he was.
Obama is planning a $1.04T deficit for next year. Raising $82B additional taxes from the rich is a drop in the bucket. There is, in every practical sense, NO BENEFIT FROM RAISING TAXES ON THE RICH. If Obama wants to do something for the country, STOP DEFICIT SPENDING! Obama campaigned with, "if we could just get the rich to pay a little bit more, the economy would take off and we'd be OK"... total hogwash. The $900B+ deficit remaining after the tax increase is a HUGE problem by comparison. If taxes on the rich must be raised, Republican House members should hold out for a BALANCED BUDGET... or "no deal" on tax increases. Obama's tax increase is just a power play... rubbing the "Republicans' (and successful peoples') noses in it".
Years ago, maybe they would have. It's insane how much money flows through that city nowadays. When the GOP recently had control, they spent like drunken sailors. You can't look to the GOP as the party that spends responsibly any more. The Dems have convinced the country that the GOP wants to cut anything to do with blacks and old people so they can buy extra yachts...and these occupy loving, Prius driving liberals have soaked it up. The fiscal cliff pressers are just rhetoric soundbites playing to their bases. The media eats it up too. CBS had some chick on the national news last night telling the reporter that if the GOP cut some program that "I won't survive". That helps to frame the discussion in a responsible manner. Should be quite productive from here forward.