Republicans are seriously considering a Doomsday Plan if fiscal cliff talks collapse entirely. It’s quite simple: House Republicans would allow a vote on extending the Bush middle class tax cuts (the bill passed in August by the Senate) and offer the President nothing more: no extension of the debt ceiling, nothing on unemployment, nothing on closing loopholes. Congress would recess for the holidays and the president would face a big battle early in the year over the debt ceiling.
ABC News
SAY WHAT? That's their grand master strategy? But wait, it gets better.
Under one variation of this Doomsday Plan, House Republicans would allow a vote on extending only the middle class tax cuts and Republicans, to express disapproval at the failure to extend all tax cuts, would vote “present” on the bill, allowing it to pass entirely on Democratic votes.
OWES NOES! Democrats get 100% of the credit for cutting taxes!
Basically, this recognizes that their position with respect to the fiscal cliff negotiations is weak, so they punt and put all their eggs in the economic terrorism basket - give us massive entitlement cuts or we'll cause the United States to default on its debt.
At which point I hope President Obama mints one or more $1T coins and deposits them at the Federal Reserve and tells the House GOP to auto-copulate with a rusty chain saw positioned transverse to their orifices. I can't imagine a worse way for a group of supposed patriots to behave.
8:59 AM PT: As bobinson points out, the GOP are painted into a corner, and need to escape via the ceiling. So, the GOP plan in canonical Underwear Gnomes form:
- Irradiate entire corner in order to mutate nearest spider(s)
- Induce mutant spider to bite
- Escape via ceiling!