“Give him what he wants and make him own it in 2014.”
This would be nice if it would work, but it won’t.
This is what will happen:
1. Boehner will take an initial stance that Republicans will not raise tax rates or that Republicans will only allow tax rate increase for the wealthy in return for defined spending cuts.
2. President Obama, Democrats, and the press will talk for weeks about how Republicans are holding tax rate increases hostage for the middle class.
3. As the fiscal cliff approaches, President Obama will refuse to budge on spending cuts, knowing that Republicans will take the blame for the impasse.
4. Boehner will cave, either just before the fiscal cliff, or within a couple of weeks after the fiscal cliff.
5. In the end, Republican intransigence will be blamed for causing a crisis in consumer confidence and the resulting economic slowdown. Note, this will be just like how the Tea Party still gets the blame for the U.S. government credit rating downgrade.
It will not make any difference at all in the economy which will suck for the next cycle (2014) regardless of what is done.
If we don't give it to him then he will campaign to win back the house by arguing that he needs friendly faces to get his tax increase in place.