They Don't Really Want To Cut Spending

I think the largely unacknowledged bit of all of this nonsense is that most Republicans in Congress don't really want to cut spending, or more specifically they don't want to own cutting spending. Their main concern is tax cuts for rich people, spending is secondary, and the deficit matters not at all to them. Sure they want to be seen as wanting to cut spending, in the abstract, because that's their brand, but they don't actually want to be responsible for the spending cuts. Their position is: give us the cuts and don't make us vote for them. Their problem is that while the crazy teabaggers in Congress would generally be happy to vote for all kinds of spending cuts,they won't vote for them if they're attached to the debt ceiling. So that means Republicans more concerned with elections will have to vote for them, along with some Democrats.