The problem is with this negotiating tactic you have diminished the Tea Party. A bill will get passed. Bills are passed by the fringes. Establishment republicans will pass a bill with a majority of Dems. Will that bill have any tea party influence if establishment republicans team up with Dems?
That is what will happen. We may have the same principals but I am for getting the best deal possible. I do not believe a divided party will get us a better deal.
Time will tell.
If such a bill were to pass without the votes of 80 or so conservative GOP congressmen, it would effectively divide and destroy the party. We are talking about the long term not one vote. It will be a Pyrrhic victory for Boehner and the GOP and a real victory for Obama and the Dems.
Currently, the GOP enjoys a margin of 242 to 193 in the 112th Congress. That declines to 234-200 in the 113th Congress. The GOP controls the House and needs to assert its authority rather than acting as though it has no leverage or defense against what Obama and the Dems want.
That is what will happen. We may have the same principals [sic] but I am for getting the best deal possible. I do not believe a divided party will get us a better deal.
If it means compromising basic principles, then there should be no deal. We need to get away from this mindset that we must make a deal to postpone the next crisis and start dealing with the macro issues that are sending this country into a cosmic economic wormhole.
Obama intentionally creates this crisis atmosphere that forces Reps to accept these last minute deals without any real discussion of the long term effects. He did it with Obamacare --you have to pass the bill before you can find out what is in it--, raising the debt limit coupled with sequestration, and now we have the fiscal cliff crisis that has an articificial Dec 31 deadline. The Reps will again be stampeded into "getting the best deal possible." But this will not address our spending problems and entitlement reform, the real drivers of debt and deficit. Now is the time to dig in our heels and force a national conversation on where this nation stands on our fiscal problems. The increased taxes on everyone, the plunge in the stock market, and a return to a recession (which may have happened anyway) should get everyone's attention and lend some urgency to the discussions.
Getting the best deal possible will divide the GOP not unite it. Again, the only reason that Obama is pushing this narrative that the rich must pay their fair share is to destroy the GOP. It raises very little revenue in the grand scheme of things. And the "rich" (those earning over $250K) will already see large tax increases due to Obamacare. And Obama has already positioned himself as the defender of the entitlement programs with the GOP being the mean-spirited grinch that wants to take away benefits for the old and poor children. Even if there were some small changes to entitlements in any proposed deal, the Dems and Obama would say they were forced into it by the Reps.
Time will tell
Time is running out for the US of A. The longer we fail to address our long term fiscal problems, the more painful and draconian the solutions will become.