So where are we on the fiscal cliff - essentially 'O' to GOP - put up or shut up

[janedrake]

So, the meeting at the WH is over, no comments from the participants... and this is the WaPo headline:

Obama urges GOP leaders to back his ‘cliff’ plan or offer acceptable alternative
President Obama called on Republican leaders Friday to support his plan to let taxes
rise on income over $250,000 a year or to offer a clear alternative for averting the
year-end “fiscal cliff” that could win Democratic support.

As congressional leaders from both parties gathered for a high-stakes meeting at the
White House, Obama laid no new offers on the table, according to people familiar with
the meeting. The president’s stand dashed the expectations of Senate Minority Leader
Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), who said repeatedly Thursday that he was expecting a new
offer and was prepared to review it.

Instead, Obama insisted that the package he outlined in a news conference Friday
would pass both the House and the Senate if Republican leaders would stop blocking
the legislation and put it to a vote, permitting a majority of lawmakers in both
parties to work their will. In addition to extending tax cuts for 98 percent of
Americans, that package would keep unemployment benefits flowing to 2 million
unemployed workers, protect millions of unsuspecting taxpayers from the bite of the
costly alternative minimum tax and make other urgent policy changes.

If McConnell and House Speaker John A. Boehner (R-Ohio) fail to offer a reasonable
counterproposal, these people said, Obama planned to demand that they permit an
“up-or-down vote” on his proposal.

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I for one am "up to here" with watching Republicans live a good life on the taxpayer dime for doing absolutely jack-all to help the nation, and everything in their power to damage it. I'm so sick of it. But I'm proud of Pres. Obama for not budging in this case. Let the GOP sweat it.

[pappy]

I believe that Obama is keeping Section 4 of the 14th Amendment in his back pocket ready to pull out when (not if) the Republicans prove immovable.

As a reminder that section states "The validity of the public debt of the United States, authorized by law, including debts incurred for payment of pensions and bounties for services in suppressing insurrection or rebellion, shall not be questioned."

This was added to the Amendment to keep the repatriated Confederate States from using their votes to keep the war debts from being paid. In other words its intent, in a broader sense, is to keep politicians from holding the threat of default on the debt as a means to a political end.

The President, of late, as been totally unequivocal about Republicans doing an encore of the debt ceiling hostage crisis of 2011. "I will not play that game", he said.

We know Boehner is powerless, in no small part because he seems to value his job as Speaker more then he values his Constitutional responsibility. Without a powerful leader the Teapublicans will take us to the brink again at which time I expect the President to take action and, if necessary, let SCOTUS sort it out later.

[janedrake]

Sounds about right to me, Pappy.

What gets me about this whole thing, though, is how much the GOP depends on the MSM to make the false equivalency argument for them every time. If my only source of news was my local news channel, all I would know about this is that "neither side will budge" and the GOP's constant lie that "the President has offered no detailed plan."

Further, Republicans keep pushing the talking point about how "amazed" and "stunned" they are over the President's position throughout these talks -- every time one of them says so, what I hear is, "I'm amazed the President is not actually going to do our work and take the political risk for us. He always has!"

A pox on the GOP. So tired of their utter uselessness.

[72ptheriot]

I thought a deal would have been made but I was wrong. Boy will pay for this in the long run. It will cost them seats.

[SeattleGirl]

I heard today on one of the talk shows I listen to that Boehner has said that he would not put anything up for a vote until after January 3rd (when he hopes he will be re-elected Speaker). I don't know how true this is (but it does sound like something he would say), but this totally pisses me off. Boehner cares more about his own backside than he does about the country. For that matter, so do the rest of the freakin' Republicans.

I, too, am absolutely sick of them and their stupid, hateful, harmful games.

[Brewman_Jax]

Time to play hardball with these lying, disrespectful, racist, uncaring servants of the Top 1%. The first time in history there was a fight to raise the debt ceiling (after it had been done without a fight 100+ times before since Eisenhower) was when the repubs did it to PBO. Now, they act shocked that PBO is not going to let them have their way. Boehner can't do much since his fellow repubs hung him out to dry some days ago. PBO beat the snot out of Rmoney and the GOP lost seats in 2012 and it hasn't sunk in yet--it will. I hope they know that playtime is over and they will get the clubbing they have so richly earned.

[72ptheriot]

They can't even put up anything that they can agree on between themselves. How in hell will they be able to compromise with Obama. Boehner needs to put on his big boy pants and get his party together.