Congressman Barrasso, Wyoming Republican, said on âFox News Sundayâ that the White House isnât interested in finding a solution to avoid having the American economy go over the âcliffâ â the automatic tax increases and spending cuts that kick in in 2013 if Washington lawmakers canât reach a long-term budget deal. âI think the president is eager to go over the cliff for political purposes,â Mr. Barrasso said. âI think he sees a political victory at the bottom of the cliff. âHe gets all this additional tax revenue for new programs; he gets to cut the military, which Democrats have been calling for for years, and he gets to blame Republicans for it,â Mr. Barrasso said. In fact, Obama told Boehner he plans to blame Republicans in his Innauguration and State of The Union speeches. Obama's has his trunks on and he's ready to go diving for months, if not longer. http://hotair.com/archives/2012/12/23/dont-let-your-january-paychecks-make-you-too-optimistic/
Good for this congressman. they need a few people who have some backbone, which would seem to exclude Boehner. Republicans need to take a page from the obama playbook. Target some of his important constituencies and make them feel the pain. The 99 week unemployment gravy train is an obvious example of low hanging fruit. Obama claimed during the election the economy is roaring back, so why do we need it? Similarly the cut in FICA tax withholding. That is money that has to come from somewhere. Instead of targeting their most loyal supporters, well-off seniors, republicans should be demanding cuts in bloated federal departments. Certainly they could cut billions for Education, Labor, EPA, etc and not hurt anyone except some government employees. They shouldcut Justice funding to punish Holder for his contempt of cpongress over Fast and Furious. Of course, that would mean they would actually have to go out and make the case for spending cuts, which they seem incapable of doing. Instead, they are mesmerized by Paul Ran's ego trips, whcihonly scare people and lose elections.