Krugman says we're screwed if the repugicans take the House

NYT, Krugman:

Another recent interview by National Journal, this one with Mitch McConnell, the Senate minority leader, has received a lot of attention thanks to a headline-grabbing quote: “The single most important thing we want to achieve is for President Obama to be a one-term president.”

If you read the full interview, what Mr. McConnell was saying was that, in 1995, Republicans erred by focusing too much on their policy agenda and not enough on destroying the president: “We suffered from some degree of hubris and acted as if the president was irrelevant and we would roll over him. By the summer of 1995, he was already on the way to being re-elected, and we were hanging on for our lives.” So this time around, he implied, they’ll stay focused on bringing down Mr. Obama.

True, Mr. McConnell did say that he might be willing to work with Mr. Obama in certain circumstances — namely, if he’s willing to do a “Clintonian back flip,” taking positions that would find more support among Republicans than in his own party. Of course, this would actually hurt Mr. Obama’s chances of re-election — but that’s the point.

But we won’t get those policies if Republicans control the House. In fact, if they get their way, we’ll get the worst of both worlds: They’ll refuse to do anything to boost the economy now, claiming to be worried about the deficit, while simultaneously increasing long-run deficits with irresponsible tax cuts — cuts they have already announced won’t have to be offset with spending cuts.

To which John Aravosis adds:

I think that's the biggest danger, what I bolded above. Obama "leading from the middle" by caving even more on his promises in order to get something, anything, passed by a Republican House.  His goal?  To be seen as "truly" bipartisan by independents come election time.

In order for Obama to pull a Clinton circa 94, Obama has have Clinton's testicular fortitude.  So far, we've seen nothing to suggest that President Obama, as compared to candidate Obama, knows how to pick (and win) a fight.