Outmaneuvered GOP Already Defeated on Budget Battle

Don't be fooled by posturing or rhetoric, Republicans have already lost the fight with President Obama over increasing taxes—the only question is whether they'll admit defeat before the government goes over the "fiscal cliff," writes Dana Milbank in the Washington Post. With Americans ready to blame the GOP if a deal isn't reached, Obama holds a huge advantage. "Republicans are looking for face-saving ways to retreat," says Milbank, and House leader John Boehner can only hope "to lead his fractious GOP to an orderly surrender."

Step one in preparing for the compromise was the GOP leadership reining in the party's more uncompromising hardliners, removing "dissidents" from the House Financial Services Committee and the Budget Committee. Illinois Rep. Pete Roskam said it would be "foolish" to reject an Obama proposal that had a 3-to-1 ratio of spending cuts to tax increases; however, "from a bunch that liked to say they wouldn’t allow a dollar of new revenue even if it came with $10 in spending cuts, this white flag is as big as a bedsheet," says Milbank. Read his full column here. (More fiscal cliff stories.)