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BY MALLORY PERRYMAN

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Can Republicans and Democrats get along? Judging from this interview- nope.

And raising the debt ceiling. What’s a couple more billion when you already owe trillions?

Austan Goolsbee- the White House’s top economic advisor- appeared on ABC’s This Week with a dire warning Sunday morning: If Congress fails to raise the debt ceiling quote “the impact on the economy would be catastrophic.”

AUSTAN GOOLSBEE (Chairman of the White House Council of Economic Advisers): "I don't see why anybody’s talking about playing chicken with the debt ceiling. If we get to the point where you've damaged the full faith and credit of the United States, that would be the first default in history caused purely by insanity."

In case you were curious, the legal limit on borrowing is currently $14.3 trillion. Yikes. But while some Republicans are standing by with a “heck no” at the ready.

Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-MN): "At this point I am not in favor of raising the debt ceiling." (CBS)

Others believe that failing to raise the debt ceiling would be- in the words of Senator Lindsey Graham- “very bad for the position of the United States in the world at large.” Still, Graham says he won’t vote to raise it until a plan is in place for he nation’s long-term debt. (NBC)

According to Politico- the debt ceiling argument shows the challenges Republicans will face in the new 112th Congress.

“They'll have to govern and ensure the nation doesn’t default on fiscal obligations, but must dually ensure fiscal restraint to garner votes from [those members] with tea party backing.”

So how will the GOP handle its new majority status in the House? On the Meet the Press panel, Washington Post columnist E.J. Dionne says- with more power comes more responsibility.

E.J. DIONNE (Columnist, Washington Post): “I think you’re going to have a kind of accountability on the Republican side: what are they actually for? I hope progressives and the president challenge Republicans and say ‘All right, what about corporate subsidies, farm subsidies, oil subsidies.”

And on the Fox News panel, NPR’S Mara Liasson agrees- saying- Republicans need to bring their A game.

MARA LIASSON (NPR): “The president is going to try and call the Republicans’ bluff at every turn because they do have shared responsibility now. And the Republicans are going to have to put forward a budget and the last time I checked Paul Ryan’s ‘Roadmap’ did not have a whole lot of cosponsors.”

But if this interview is an indication of things to come- kumbayah is not in the cards for this Congress. This is incoming Republican Representative Mike Kelly - in a shouting match with Democrat Anthony Weiner. (Weener)

REP. ELECT MIKE KELLY (R-PA): “You are very amusing. You have never, in your life, you have never done anything on your own with your own skin in the game.”

At the end of the segment, the pair did shake hands. Meanwhile, over on CNN, Democratic National Committee chairman Tim Kaine says the president is ready to work with Republicans on earmark reform and deficit reduction. He points to Congress’ lame duck accomplishments as evidence that compromise is possible.

TIM KAINE (Democratic National Committee chairman): "He's not going to play mother may I with the Republicans. He's going to govern. But if the Republicans are wiling to work as they did at the end of that lame duck session, I think we will see productive efforts in a number of ways.”

Finally- our running tally on who’s in, who’s out of the 2012 presidential race. This week- Republican Senator Lindsey Graham taps his favorite contender.
 
DAVID GREGORY (Host, Meet the Press): “Who’s the leading contender in your mind?”

SEN. LINDSEY GRAHAM (R-SC): " Probably Romney. Mitt Romney has his problems as a candidate, but so does everyone else.”
 
 Republicans also came out Sunday morning vowing to rip Obama’s health care overhaul apart piece by piece. In order to do that, Republicans would need a 2/3rds majority in the House- enough to override the president’s inevitable veto.
 

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