We've already established what they are

Now we're just haggling over price:

Geithner said that Republicans have told President Obama they "recognize we have to [raise the debt limit], and we're not going to play around with it."

"There's no alternative, and they recognize that," Geithner said...

But Republicans appearing on the Sunday talk shows demonstrated how tough a fight the White House might be facing just weeks after a near-shutdown of the government spurred by debates over fiscal 2011 spending.

How tough the fight might be? Simple question for those watching Sunday talk shows*: are the Republicans willing to forgo a debt-limit increase, throwing the government into a cost-cutting panic for which spending*** would have to be immediately cut to match revenues?

I wish, but no, they will not do so. They won't even shut down NPR.  And if they will not hold the line on debt, then there is no 'fight' going on in Washington any more than Tables, Ladders, and Chairs is a fight.  It's a full-contact ballet, a chaotic yet choreographed production during which sometimes people get hurt, sometimes blood gets spilled, and always final result is no surprise to those in the know.

The GOP will raise the debt ceiling to avoid short-term pain, just like they did when they controlled the White House and both houses of Congress, when the debt was far lower, and when it would have been much easier to do, and when, had they done it, we would be through the crisis with a much improved outlook. Instead, we're still facing a storm and it's about four times bigger than it was when the Republicans were saying the words Geithner is saying today. John Boehner won't be the only one who cries when it finally arrives.


* of which I am not one. The only thing I watch on TV is pro wrestling, which by coincidence is the realest thing on there**.
** Next to a disappointing Vikings season, obviously. 
*** Not budgets. The distinction makes all the difference.