January 2, 2013
CHARLES KRAUTHAMMER: It's possible that this is a prelude to a challenge, Thursday, to Boehner's leadership by Eric Cantor. I think it would be quite naked to do it at this late hour as a result of a split over the vote.
Look, there are a lot of conservatives in the Republican caucus in the House who hate the bill, and for good reason. This is a complete surrender on everything. The ratio of tax hikes to spending cuts is 40:1 rather than 1:1, or 1:2 or 1:3. So, it was a complete rout by the Democrats. So it's understandable.
I think what's likely to happen is that the leadership is going to look to get the 218 that it could secure to send the bill back to the Senate with an equal number of spending cuts. If they don’t get it, I think what Boehner will do is have an open vote -- as you say, 'unwhipped.' Republicans will vote as they wish. They'll probably be enough with all the Democrats to pass this.
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