November 29, 2012 01:45 AM UTC

Boehner's Caucus Needs Caulking

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• by: Colorado Pols

Republican disagreement over the “Fiscal Cliff” is growing by the day, if not the hour. A CNN headline this afternoon says it all: “GOP Divide Over Obama Tax Plan Goes Public.”

A rift among House Republicans on whether to give Obama what the wants became public Wednesday, with two conservatives saying the tax proposal would likely pass if brought to a vote.

House Speaker John Boehner immediately shot down the call by veteran Rep. Tom Cole of Oklahoma for the chamber to approve the Senate measure, saying he disagreed with his colleague. House GOP aides insisted there was no plan to bring the proposal up for a vote.

However, the public call by Cole — which echoed similar statements from conservatives in recent weeks — as well as his prediction that the Senate proposal would pass in the House showed an increasing desire among House Republicans to move beyond an issue that has harmed them…

…”I think right now my advice to the leadership is that they should let the Democrats pass a tax increase because we will see that the economy will stall because of that tax increase, and then they will own it completely,” [Idaho Republican Rep Raul] Labrador said, despite his personal opposition to such a measure.

It’s really hard to see a good ending for Republicans on this debate, and that quote from Rep. Labrador betrays the GOP anxiety. When individual Republicans are messaging around a vote that hasn’t occurred, it clearly shows that there is no appetite to continue avoiding the inevitable.

The cracks in the GOP caucus are too pronounced to mend at this point, and the longer Speaker Boehner delays on a floor vote, the worse it becomes for Republicans.