Forget the 'Grand Bargain'

Republicans still hold the House (even though Democrats appear to have gotten more votes in this election), so everyone is now wondering how far the triumphant President Obama should go to placate them and avoid the fiscal cliff. "My answer is, not far at all," writes Paul Krugman in the New York Times. "This is definitely no time to negotiate a 'grand bargain' on the budget that snatches defeat from the jaws of victory."

Yes, the cliff is dangerous. But this is the third time in Obama's presidency that Republicans are using "economic blackmail" to get their way. The whole fiscal cliff crisis is the result of the last such outburst—the debt ceiling debate. "Well, this has to stop—unless we want hostage-taking, the threat of making the nation ungovernable, to become a standard part of our political process." Obama must be willing to go over the cliff if need be. "No deal is better than a bad deal." Click for Krugman's full column. (More Paul Krugman stories.)