Shutdown Scorecard. Who won?

Hard to tell.  I haven't seen any real post shutdown polls yet.  Democrats say the Republicans lost, Republicans say the Democrats lost.  Objectively they kicked the can down the road two or three months.  Right now, the Republicans re opened the government with a two month time limit and boosted the debt ceiling enough to get thru Christmas.  The budget was referred to a committee, standard Washington ploy to sweep something under the rug.   The Republicans didn't get any relief on Obamacare.  So for this round, the Republicans didn't get anything and the Democrats didn't give up anything.
   Will the fight continue after  Christmas?  Who knows.  The Republicans certainly are not satisfied with the status quo.  The Democrats like things just the way they are.  The real issue is next year's election.  This whole shutdown/debt ceiling brouhaha was run off in order to influence the voters for next year.  And Obama wanted it just as much as the Republicans.  If either side thinks renewing the fight will do 'em good in the election, they will. If both sides  figure the public is sick of the squabbling, they won't. 
   Obama certainly looked ineffective.  Congress did all the headline grabbing.  By crying "Default" Obama spooked the international currency markets and weakened T-bills.  He did this because without a debt ceiling hike, he would have to chop $1 trillion a year out of federal spending.  A lot of people are feeding off the federal gravy train, and shutting off the flow of gravy would cause a lot of angry takers, who would mostly blame Obama. 
   The shutdown didn't have much effect outside the Beltway.  Up here we hardly noticed.  Son reports North Dakota did just fine.  Thoughtful taxpayers ought to be wondering if we could solve the spending problem by just closing stuff down.  Thoughtful civil servants ought to be scared. The monument closings were an attempt to make the shutdown more painful, so people would care more about re opening government.  It sparked outrage and civil disobedience, but not much political support.
   I'm beginning to think the only group hurt by the shutdown were the civil servants who missed paychecks.  And they are all democrats anyhow.  And they will get back pay for 16 days off.  The government contractors will probably play catchup as they accomplish the work that didn't get done for 16 days. 
   The other thing, we managed to convince the Europeans and the rest of the world that the United States is coming unglued.  That is a bad thing. 

So what do we Republicans want, REALLY?

The fiscal cliff bill, which kept income taxes the same for those making under $400K (most of us) was better than doing nothing and having everyone's income taxes go up.  Raising taxes in a depression is a downer leading to more Great Depression, more layoffs, and less hiring.  
  And 150 Republicans voted FOR doing a cliff dive.  What did they want?  And did their constituents agree with their vote?  Did they think going all the way over the fiscal cliff was better than a taking half-a-loaf?  Taking more money away from working stiffs and giving it to Obama to fritter away on Solyndra is better?  I haven't heard any of these fiscal cliff divers explain what they want to do. Possibly they don't know themselves.
   The Republicans need to figure out what they want and where they are going.  And then push laws thru the House getting what they want.  If they want Paul Ryan's plan for Medicare, they need to pass it thru the House.  If they don't have the votes to go that far, nobody will think they are serious.  You gotta vote your plan into law or you are just a bunch of whiners.
  "Negotiating" with Obama is a non starter.  Obama likes federal spending, wants more of it, and wants more taxes to pay for it.  He will spend any extra revenue he gets, he won't use it to pay down the US debt. And he is a lousy negotiator.  Obama's idea of negotiating is "my way or the highway".  Don't negotiate with this turkey, just vote your plan into law.  If you can't do that, then you don't have a plan worth talking about.
  We are bumping up against the federal debt ceiling.  If not raised, the US will be unable to borrow more money to keep federal spending going.  Which means a lot of feeders at the federal trough will go hungry.
   The Republicans are talking about playing chicken with Obama, give us our spending cuts or no debt ceiling hike.  Unless they get together and agree just how far they are willing to go, Obama will call their bluff and the wimpier RINO's will fold.  And unless they can vote their desires thru the House, nobody will believe they mean it.
  So what do we Republicans want?  How bad do we want it?  Are we willing to cut off borrowing and force a massive reduction in federal spending.  Like right now, not ten years from now?  How much metaphorical blood are we willing to spill?  How much do we dare spill?