It seems Boehner's Big Plan "B" has been torpedoed by the right wing of his own party.  He envisioned Plan "B" as a way to show Republicans wanted to avoid the fiscal cliff.  It was, from the beginning, insincere political theater designed to put pressure on the Dems.  Fine, both parties have done that.  It contained Boehner's big concesion: a tax increase on incomes above $1 million.  Even that sop to common sense failed to meet the crazed righties' sniff test.  The votes were not there, Boehner cancelled the vote and has slunk off in defeat, his credibility shattered with both parties.
What now?  Does he have the muscle to negotiate anything with Obama and the Dems?  Probably not.  Will we now go over the fiscal cliff?  Perhaps.  But if we do it will be clearer than ever to all Americans it's courtesy of an out-of-touch Republican Party that's a slave to its extreme right wing.
My best guess about a way out is for Boehner to work out a compromise that can deliver the center of his party along with sensible Democrats.  It will be his last act as Speaker because he'd never be re-elected to that post.  But at least he'd be showing some political courage.  And it would serve the Tea Party crowd right to be hoist by their own petard. We shall see.....

to stand up to his own party!  

And why wouldn't he? First of all, the consequences of The Cliff are over estimated.  Second, the RepubliTards will be blamed.  He has no downside.  He will get what he wants, whether you agree with it or not.
PS: The Republicans are also stiffing him on gun control,which most Americans want.  They are sealing their fate as a permanent minority party.  Can you spell irrelevent?

-- Modified on 12/21/2012 12:50:53 AM

Obama does one the cliff. To be honest, the Dems want more tax revenues for their programs. They are also smart enough to know that taxing the rich will not get them enough money to do what they want, they will need to hit the middle class just like Bill Clinton did.

The cliff gives them the chance to raise taxes across the board and blame Republicans.

My .02, take my approach, forget about worrying about the country and the masses, let them run it the way they want. We are already 16 trillion in debt, it will not be much longer before REAL REFORM will no longer be an option, does not matter who is in charge.

The one beauty is it is a self correcting system, the laws of conservatism will always eventually come be. You will run out of money, you either have to slash spending or print.

And when the cuts do come, guess who gets hit the worst, you got it, middle class and the poor.

And you know this...how??? Actually, no, Obama does not want to go over the cliff.  But he's always had the stonger hand and is playing his cards right.  He never has to run again for re-election and he's sticking to his guns.  The only question is the exact form of Republicans' capitulation.  Whatever they do, we'll end up with a balanced package of revenue increases and spending cuts, which, I hope, will be real cuts, not just reductions in increased spending.
In the end, the only way to get out of the deficit spending mess is to grow our way out of it.  And growth is getting stronger.

I am all for going over the cliff. Let the tax rate go up on everyone. This is overhyped BS by blow hard talking heads on TV. How else would you get $500 billion cut in defense spending?

It was knee jerk reaction at best