Lindsey Graham urges GOP obstinance on fiscal cliff, debt ceiling

Lindsey Graham, as helpful as ever. Sen. Lindsey Graham, the guy helping lead the charge to keep the Senate broken, is also urging fellow Republicans to fight any urge to work with Democrats, now or in the future.

Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) said on Monday that it's time for Republicans 'to be quiet for a while' and wait to see if Democrats are willing to negotiate reducing entitlements in the fiscal cliff negotiations.

'I'd put revenue on the table only if they do entitlement reform. Here's what I don't hear: I don't hear any Democrat of note saying, 'Here's what I would do on the entitlement side,'' Graham said on Fox News. 'So if I were Republicans, I would be quiet for a while and see what the Democrats put on the table for entitlement reform.' [...]

'Here is where the President is going to have a rude awakening: We'll get to the end of the year, there will probably be a small deal to get to the end of the year,' Graham said.

He continued: '[But] I can tell you this: there is a hardening on the Republican side. We're not going to raise the debt ceiling. We're not going to let Obama borrow anymore money or any American Congress borrow anymore money until we fix this country from becoming Greece.'

Of course, Graham's a little bit behind in his pronouncements; trying to force Democrats into making a specific offer on entitlement cuts has been the Republican strategy for a few weeks now. As has saber-rattling over the debt ceiling.

But Graham does have 2014 to worry about. Maybe he's trying to make sure the tea party types in South Carolina all converge on the newly open seat that Jim DeMint's retirement creates and bypass challenging him by showing them he can be as crazy and destructive to the country as anyone.