“They can’t walk into a room and have President Obama think that they can be blackmailed by yelling the word ‘shutdown,'” he said. “I think they should seek to keep the government open, I think that they should try to find ways to pass continuing resolutions hat can be signed, but I don’t think they can allow President Obama to reject the outcome of the 2010 election and dictate the terms of what they should do.”

But asked whether they should back down from their $61 billion dollar demand, he again suggested that the optics of the final deal are crucial.

“It would be a profound mistake to go for a compromise without forcing the Senate Democrats to prove how liberal they are,” he said. “To whatever degree you get to a negotiated number later it ought to be done in a manner that’s very clear to the country that this is because Obama’s still President and because Harry Reid’s still majority leader, not because the House Republicans are in any way backing off.”