MALLORY FACTOR: Republicans Don't Have The Backbone For A Debt Ceiling Fight

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Right-wing powerbroker Mallory Factor said Wednesday that the GOP should use the debt ceiling to force immediate government spending cuts, joining a growing chorus of Republicans who say they are not worried about the possibility of default should Congress fail to raise the debt limit.

"President Obama says that if they don't raise the debt ceiling, we could only provide essential services — that sounds like a good idea to me," said Factor, a conservative author and co-founder of the Monday Meeting conservative confabs. "Why in the world should government be doing non-essential services?"

In an interview with Business Insider, Factor dismissed default panic as a manufactured crisis; if the U.S. breaks the debt ceiling, he argued, the Treasury Department can simply prioritize U.S. obligations to make sure bondholders are paid.

"These are scare tactics from the left to try and continue to get more money from government," he said. "You can by law schedule what you want to pay first."

Although popular among Movement conservatives, Factor's position has faced increasingly vocal opposition from other Republicans, who have warned the party to abandon the debt ceiling fight and focus on other upcoming budget battles, like the sequester.

And despite political posturing from House Republicans, Factor said that he believes the party ultimately lacks the political will to force dramatic spending cuts.

"The fundamental goal of Republicans and Democrats is to get themselves re-elected," Factor said. Republicans, he added, "haven't lost their way — they know their way, they have a map...The question is will they have the intestinal fortitude?"