"when both sides want to be seen as the greatest spending cutters in history"

[phantom power]

It's not really about policy, you see. It's about who is perceived to be crying uncle. And in GOP world, no matter how much a Democrat offers up in tax and spending cuts, unless they are capitulating to aRepublican plan to slash spending and cut government without any compromise, it's just not a win.

This is an interesting insight into what they want, actually. And if it weren't for this, the President (and now the Democrats) could probably have mitigated this a bit by fighting like hell for a clean debt ceiling and then giving in at the end instead of constantly "offering" what they thought the Republicans wanted only to have them up the ante:

...

His need to take credit for the greatest spending cuts in history has pushed the Republicans to ever more excessive demands in order to make him cry Uncle -- which is really all they care about. Perhaps if he were just a little bit less accommodating they would have been more inclined to take yes for an answer.

but sadly, when both sides want to be seen as the greatest spending cutters in history it becomes a race to the bottom and that's what happened here.

http://digbysblog.blogspot.com/2011/07/depends-on-what-meaning-of-win-is.html

[TwilightGardener]

1. Problem is, average people out there think spending SHOULD be cut. Just not

whatever they happen to benefit from. No one ever said the American people were logical. The Teapublicans are just capitalizing on popular public sentiment.

[RaleighNCDUer]

2. If you want to be the greatest spending cutter in history

close down our overseas bases and bring the military home.

Stop the wars.

Let other countries settle their own problems.

[damntexdem]

3. Just aspiring to the one thing they can achieve: ;being known as the greatest idiots in history.