Still No Fiscal Cliff Deal And Republicans Fear Primary Challenges More Than Harm to Country

Things are down to the absolute 11th deadline and Congressional Republicans still are refusing to cut any kind of deal.  They would simply prefer to severely harm the country, possibly send the nation's economy back into recession, and throw millions of unemployed workers to the wolves rather than stand up to their lunatic base and face the potential of a primary challenge by some knuckle dragging moron such as Todd Akin or Richard Mourdoch favored by the Christofascists and Tea Party.  A piece in the Washington Post sums this phenomenon up well.  Here's the important quote:

Everyone else needs to keep one eye (at least) on their next race.  That mentality means that for the vast majority of Republicans in Congress, a deal is more dangerous than no deal. A deal creates the possibility of a primary challenge from their ideological right in districts and even states that, by and large, went heavily against Obama in November. No deal means they might — with the emphasis on “might” — face some blow back from constituents who want them to get something done for the good of the country and put the partisanship and politics aside.

And so, if you are wondering why congressional Republicans won’t, in the words of Obama, just “take the deal,” now you know. They have every political reason not to.

This is the result of allowing the GOP to be taken over by ignorance embracing religious extremist and veritable Tea Party cretins.  The GOP is now totally unfit to govern and needs to be killed off as a viable national political party.  The ultimate irony is that red states receive more in federal dollars than they send to Washington and will be hit by sequestration spending cuts more than blue states.  Virginia will be particularly hard hit, yet its majority GOP congressional delegation is literally shoving the country over the fiscal cliff. Locally, that means Scott Rigell, Randy Forbes and Bob Wittman will bear direct responsibility for whatever adverse consequences ensue.  Would that more moderates and independents had understood just how lethal the GOP and these three local members of Congress have become this past November.