Conservative firebrand and controversial radio pundit Rush Limbaugh has some interesting advice to the GOP regarding the “fiscal cliff.” Walk away, don’t deal, and let President Obama drive the country off the cliff .
Progress on the “fiscal cliff” is just left of nowhere, and Rush Limbaugh said on his program Thursday that the GOP should just withdraw from the problem altogether. The strategy behind this, according to Limbaugh, is to “find out just how willing [Obama] is to take the country over the cliff.”
“The way to handle that, the way to call his bluff on this is to not negotiate with him and leave it up to him what happens,” he said. “Very publicly walk away from the talks so that whatever happens vis-à-vis the cliff is perceived to happen — well, the real point will be to flush Obama out, find out. I would suggest to people who really believe Obama is concerned about his second term and his legacy — he doesn’t want a recession — the only way to flush that out is to come dangerously close to allowing it all to happen.”
Limbaugh is actually not terribly alone in this. Former GOP House Speaker Newt Gingrich advises Republicans to “back out of all of this negotiating with Obama,” and conservative commentator Charles Krauthammer said that they should “simply walk away” from the table.
Yet everyone is still missing the point. The mutually-assured destruction guaranteed by the fiscal cliff, as Jon Stewart put it , is an “asteroid” of our own design. It doesn’t hurt Congress. It hurts us. It’s targeted constituent suffering from both sides. Maybe everyone should walk away from the table. What do you think?
Here’s Limbaugh’s advice, for whatever it’s worth: