Boehner just keeps repeating his goal – tying an increase in the debt limit  to cuts in spending.

In other words, he has announced plans to keep doing the same thing over  again expecting different results.

Meanwhile, Treasury Secretary Jack Lew held a press conference two weeks ago  in which he laid out the very specific and clear demands of the administration:  There will be no negotiations with Congress over the debt limit issue. Obama,  too, evidently plans to keep doing the same thing over again, understandably  expecting the same results he has achieved before – capitulations by Republicans  to hand over to Obama all the borrowed money he needs to implement Obamacare and  other wasteful, counterproductive and unconstitutional spending programs.

So what can Republicans who control the House do to get themselves engaged to  end Obamacare, as they claim to want, and radically reduce spending?

First, I  would refer you to my previous commentary on this issue titled “Not defunding is  defending.” It is an important premise to understand before moving  on to a Republican strategy and slogan for winning the debate.

Second, it’s clear that Obama thinks he has the upper hand because he is a  better poker player than Boehner. It makes sense to bluff when it has worked  over and over and over again. Now it’s time for House Republicans to offer up  their own non-negotiable demand.

Notice what Lew, speaking for the Obama administration said. The debt limit  must be unconditionally raised for the following reasons:

• to protect America from defaulting on its debt, a development that would  hurt the economy;
• to ensure Social Security benefits are uninterrupted;
• to ensure that veterans benefits and support for the U.S. military  continue;
• all negotiations about entitlement reform and taxes are to take place in  formulating a budget rather than in the context of a debate over the debt  limit.

There’s a simple way for Boehner to trump Obama on the debt limit that will  force him to negotiate – if that’s the speaker’s real goal.

All he needs to do is to approve a continuing resolution to fund all payments  on the debt, to pay Social Security benefits, to pay veterans benefits and to  fund the military. That would effectively kill Obama’s implicit threats to cut  spending on programs that have popular support.

Boehner needs to do this tomorrow – or Republicans will once again lose the  battle to cut spending in a meaningful way, including defunding Obamacare.

At that point, Obama would at least have to invent new rationalizations to  prevent a government shutdown. And Boehner would be in the driver’s seat knowing  that he has removed the political hammer from Obama’s hands.

Will House Republicans do it?

Not without pressure from you.

And there is an easy and inexpensive way for you to get through to Boehner,  who is facing a mutiny from his own caucus.

It’s called the “No More Red Ink”  campaign.

It allows you to utilize an effective, high-tech, grass-roots lobbying tool  to save your country from going off the fiscal cliff – which will happen only if  the borrowing-and-spending merry-go-round is finally stopped.