The Same Old Song And Dance

We've seen all of this before:  Republicans start out with the catastrophic (destroy Obamacare or plunge the country into instant depression with a debt default) and then everybody acts relived when their demands drop down to merely ruinous (the hundreds of billions in cuts that slowed down the economy in 2013, aka sequestration).

We're seeing it again now.  NRO's Robert Costa floats yet another House GOP Grand Bargain style round of austerity cuts:

But details are floating to the surface as the leadership reaches out to internal power brokers about what’s within the realm of the possible. What I’m hearing: There will be a “mechanism” for revenue-neutral tax reform, ushered by Ryan and Michigan’s Dave Camp, that will encourage deeper congressional talks in the coming year. There will be entitlement-reform proposals, most likely chained CPI and means testing Medicare; there will also be some health-care provisions, such as a repeal of the medical-device tax, which has bipartisan support in both chambers. Boehner, sources say, is expected to go as far as he can with his offer. Anything too small will earn conservative ire; anything too big will turn off Democrats. 

This in return for not blowing up the country's economy.  Sure it's extortion, but it's not a depression, right? Until the next budget shutdown/debt ceiling fight, that is.  And this will continue forever until somebody stands up to these clowns and says no more.

Will President Obama do it?  Hell, will the Tea Party just scuttle the deal anyway?

We'll see.