Reply #7: At a minimum, worth floating just to see the Republicans sputter about it.

[Jim Lane]

As a serious proposal? It would certainly have a strong air of gimmickry, but Obama could go on TV and say, "Look, the Republicans won't make the rich pay their share, and I won't go along with their demand to abolish Medicare, so this is the only way to avoid a default, unless I fire all the air traffic controllers." I think the general public would accept a bit of gimmickry if it were the only way to avert a partial government shutdown.