Make no mistake, shutting down the government has always been part of the plan. Not on ideological grounds, and not to appease the Tea Party. But as a strategy to weaken Obama's re-election chances in 2012.
Incumbent Presidents facing re-election during a good or improving economy almost always, regardless of their popularity for the previous four years.
Reagan, Clinton, Bush Jr., Eisenhower, Truman...
Incumbent Presidents facing re-election during a weak economy or one in recession, also regardless of popularity in the previous four years, always lose.
Bush Sr., Carter, Hoover
With the current state of the economy, with its tepid recovery, it is predicted that a shutdown will have a negative impact on the economy. An extended shutdown could plunge us into another recession, a recession that would likely still be impacting us during the 2012 election.
The calculation on the Republican side is that a shutdown and another recession will improve their electoral chances in 2012. So yes, they want to shut down the government, but not because they want to cut the deficits. Not to appease the demands of ideological purity from the Tea Party. No, the reason that they want to shutdown the government is because they want to politically damage Obama by damaging the economy.
Because the media is not calling the Republicans on this economically destructive stratagem, it is our job to. Talk to your friends and your family and paint the picture for them... let them see the GOP strategy for what it is. The GOP is leveraging our jobs and our future as a tool to win an election.