Will They Pay?

Analysis: Republicans risk backlash in 2012 - chicagotribune.com

They began this year vowing to slash spending and reduce government.

Republicans in Congress can boast that they have done just that: As 2011 ends, they have wrung $2 trillion in spending cuts from Democrats without conceding a penny in tax increases.

But the bare-knuckle tactics and brinkmanship that congressional Republicans have used to achieve several victories could come at a big cost for the party in next year's elections...