On Playing Chicken...
There are a handful of sane people left in the Republican Party. They are deeply cynical, but still sane nonetheless, and they know fully well that President Obama is not going to allow the United Stated to default on its debt. The fallout could trigger a global economic calamity that would make 2008 look tame by comparison. The President will almost certainly invoke the 14th Amendment ("the validity of the public debt ... shall not be questioned"
and direct the Treasury to keep on functioning as usual.
The Republican will go to Def-Con 5 immediately (oh, who are we kidding, the Republicans have taken up permanent residence at Def-Con 5) and will likely threaten to impeach the President for the "high crimes and misdemeanors" of ensuring the solvency of the United States. I personally hope they do -- it would be amusing beyond measure to see the Republicans attempt to criminalize prudent behavior. "Not only did he illegally stop us from defaulting, he also illegally waited two hours after lunch before going swimming!"
J'accuse!
But the point is, Boehner and his gang-that-can't-shoot-straight know that the President doesn't have to negotiate with them because the President is holding all the cards. They can stand firm in their insistence that Obamacare must be repealed (and thus launch a million fundraising e-mails to their lunatic fringe constituents) secure in the knowledge that Obama will never allow them anywhere within shouting distance of their endgame. They can "stand tall" (whatever the hell that means) without ever having to pay the consequences for their behavior.
The fun part? When Boehner eventually presents his testicles to the White House and allows a clean vote.
