[sickoflibs]

RE :”If he takes a very hard line and forces the showdown to a collapse in discussions, several potentially positive (for him) results are baked into the cake. He can claim that Republicans refused a “balanced approach” and it’s their fault that everyone’s taxes went up. He then has the Democrats force a vote on a bill to only lower taxes on the middle class and the poor and just dares the GOP to vote against it. (They won’t.) At this point he has the tax / revenue increase he promised without giving up a single thing. Now the negotiations start anew to talk about “spending cuts” but the GOP’s major bargaining chip is gone.”

Very simple solution here. Let the automatic spending cuts expire without doing anything. and forget about entitlements for now. Why give that to Obama?

So lets say Rs give in under pressure the tax increases on the rich after holding out a bit and making a fuss about it , and then the automatic spending cuts go into effect too.
Will that be enough to put the country back into recession? If so (and I don't know if it is) then what will Obama’s big win on tax increases buy Dems? What will be the lesson for the country? What will Republicans make it?
"See we tried to warn you" ?

[stephenjohnbanker]

” Very simple solution here. Let the automatic spending cuts expire without doing anything. and forget about entitlements for now. Why give that to Obama?”

Bingo!