Who Will Blink First?

During the campaign the Dems frequently warned voters that the GOP planned to "shut down the government" if they got into power.  Legal Insurrection thinks it won't be the GOP stopping the government from functioning, but the Democrats:

The Republicans in the House will pass a budget which extends the current marginal tax rates and contains budget cuts, and will vote to lift the debt ceiling in conjunction with such budget. The Republicans in the Senate will vote for such legislation.

It will be up to Democrats in the Senate to reject the legislation which would prevent a shut down of government or a default.

And if, by some long-shot, the measures made their way through the Senate, it would be up to Obama to veto the legislation.

There will be no Republican decision to shut the government or default on debt. It will be a Democratic Party decision, taken out of ideological commitment to raising taxes and refusing to reign in spending.

However, the Republicans will be blamed for any shutdown that occurs, just as they were in 1995. It helped Bill Clinton win reelection in 1996 and Obama is hoping the same will happen for him in 2012.