there are some fun things to unpack in what john boehner said. first, boehner sounds like he believes democrats are willing to go off the cliff, as i have been urging them to do, since that is the only way to bring republicans to the negotiating table quickly and get any kind of reasonable outcome. boehner's use of the phrase "tank our economy," is also important, because he's accepting cbo's description of what would happen. boehner is admitting that the spending cuts that will be triggered on january 1st, unless congress negotiates some other agreement, will help tank the economy, along with an increase in the income tax rates. but, remember that republican orthodoxy now, which is to say the republican lie now, the republican economic insanity now is that government spending does not affect jobs in any way. doesn't create jobs. but there's boehner saying that cuts in government spending will