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I think the Republicans would get blamed no matter what. We both know that

Yes, but you don't compromise your principles to accommodate a bad deal. Allowing Obama to frame the issue that he is being forced by the GOP to cut SS and perhaps Medicare is not a winning issue politically. It is lose-lose for the GOP. We are not going to get real entitlement reform and could very well lose the House in 2014 because of it.

Perhaps, and I would lean towards your argument.

The truth is, the GOP had pretty much lost this "negotiation" before it ever started. It lost it the Wed after the election in November.

Period.

The option for the House is to allow the fiscal cliff to happen, which will trigger a major recession, gut the military, kill about 2 million jobs, and will accelerate the economic death spiral.

Look, my hope is in Jesus Christ. I don't put any faith in our government anymore.

I don't think the explanation that "the GOP forced us to cut SS and Medicare" would be accepted and believed by the voters. It looks like the plan is to make relatively modest reductions in the growth rate of spending on SS and Medicare, and the modest political cost has to be shared by both parties. Considering that the democrats control the White House and the Senate, the voters will never believe that the GOP forced them into anything.

At a high level, it looks like Obama and Boehner are trying to get more revenue through economic growth, as the Fed continues to print money and mortgage rates fall below 4%. Actually, with our ongoing oil production boom and robust automotive replacement cycle happening right now, that growth plan just might work. That growth plan could work, if we can negotiate an end to the Iranian nuclear weapons program, or make a quick surgical military strike on Iran that only drives up oil prices for a month or two. We could actually have a fairly strong economy next year in that scenario.

“We are not going to get real entitlement reform and could very well lose the House in 2014 because of it.”

That, my friend is a done deal. We are outnumbered. Period.