Looks like the GOP leadership's preparing to cave on that big plan to refuse to raise the debt ceiling

n. Lisa Murkowski hinted that her colleagues were shying away from debt ceiling threats earlier this week. “If you incur an obligation, you have a responsibility to pay for that,” Murkowski said in an interview.
Sen. Susan Collins expressed a similar sentiment to the Washington Post, saying she “recognizes that the debt ceiling is going to have to be raised because the U.S. cannot default on its obligations to pay for spending that has already occurred.”
It’s a big change from what Republican leaders wanted as recently as Sunday, when aides told Politico that “more than half” of House Republicans were prepared to shut down the government if they didn’t get their way.
Even Vice President Joe Biden predicted the impending deal. During an address to the U.S. Conference of Mayors earlier Thursday he said expects “cooler heads will prevail” and Congress will reach a deal to raise the debt ceiling and avoid default.
What’s changed since Sunday? Perhaps they caught wind of the polling that showed most Americans don’t support using the debt ceiling as a leverage tool to make spending cuts. A Washington Post poll released yesterday found only 36% of Americans thought raising the debt ceiling should be tied to spending cuts, while 58% saw them as separate issues.
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The Dems’ tongue-in-cheek advice for the GOP
Maryalice Aymong
6:41 pm on 01/15/2013

House Republicans have a lot to discuss when they head to Williamsburg, Virginia, on Wednesday for a three-day retreat. With President Obama beginning his second term in just a few days, there is no shortage of major debates in the coming months: the debt ceiling, gun-control, and immigration policy.
House Republicans have a post-mortem agenda to grapple with as well. The 113th Congress did not get off to a smooth start. Turmoil was underway even as members put forth their votes for Speaker of the House. Kansas Congressman Tim Huelskamp attempted to rally his colleagues against Boehner. Two members even cast their votes for Allen West, who lost his bid for reelection.
Immediately after being re-elected as speaker, John Boehner was blasted by Northeast Republicans like New Jersey Governor Chris Christie and New York Congressman Peter King for failing to put the Hurricane Sandy relief package up for a vote before the House was adjourned. The backlash was renewed when the vote finally did happen, and 67 House Republicans voted against it.
Then there are the party weaknesses that the 2012 election exposed. As Alec Baldwin said, “You know your party’s in trouble when people ask, ‘Did the rape guy win’ and you have to ask, ‘Which one?’” At the close of 2012, it was just Todd Akin and Richard Mourdock on the list of choices, but as of last week, Georgia Congressman Phil Gingrey entered himself into the mix.
Along with their poor performance with women voters, Republicans did badly with minority voters.
Enter the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, with a list of “suggested agenda items” for the upcoming retreat.
The classics include trust falls and big-picture thinking. But how about “coup d’etat prevention and planning,” or “Science 101”? Those options also made the list, along with several other reminders of the afflictions of the House GOP.