I'm sorry to have to state the obvious. But now that Obama has announced a "deal" with the GOPers, does anybody actually think that they'll go ahead and pass something? Who wins and who loses if nothing gets done? Take the poll and let's see where we stand.
Either Congress passes some sort of "deal" (involving tax rates, payroll tax holidays, unemployment insurance extensions, and credits for buying a Slap-Chop) or they don't. Let's pretend that nothing gets done before the GOPers in the House claim the majority. Do the GOPers win or lose? I think it's pretty obvious that they win. First, they can claim that Obama and the Dems are completely out of control... they can't even agree on something that they think is The Most Important Piece of Pending Legislation. Second, with a majority in the House, they'll be able to dictate the terms of the debate... no more counter-punching.
On the other hand, what happens if something gets passed? Well, it'll all be on Obama's shoulders. And if anything about the "deal" ends up being a complete boo-foo, then it'll be his fault. In addition, other folks have mentioned the difficulty he'll be in after the "temporary" measures expire. Either way, it looks to me that the GOPers cannot possibly be the losers here.
But why would the GOPers want to take the chance of handing Obama a possible victory? They aren't anywhere near as stupid as the Dems in Congress appear to be.