That could be the headline tomorrow if the House Democrats vote against this debt ceiling plan and put the pressure on Boehner to get 216 votes from his own caucus.
I do not wish to see the nation default. I fully expect the Senate to pass the bill tomorrow with bipartisan support. Both Reid and McConnell have control over their caucuses and this will go through. A failure in the Senate would be the responsibility of both parties because of the 60 vote requirement - but it won't happen.
Boehner on the other hand has no control over his caucus. If the bill fails the house it is all on Speaker Boehner. He has 240 members in his caucus and he only needs 216 votes to pass. Therefore, he can do this entirely with Republican support. Given that the bill is slanted almost entirely toward tea party Republican demands, it should be their responsibility to pass it. House Democrats cannot be blamed for default if it fails to pass the House because tea party extremists still fail to go along.
If I were Pelosi I would not whip any votes for this plan. She doesn't even necessarily have to encourage her members not to vote for it. Saying she cannot support it will go along way as the Progressive Caucus and Congressional Black Caucus will also probably not support it. Even if a few Democrats, say 20 or so support the bill, that still makes Boehner work to get the votes.
If Boehner needs Democratic votes to get it passed, then he should offer them something in return like normal people do in negotiations - like an extension of unemployment benefits or something.
It seems to me that the House Democrats are in a good position if they wish to use it. They can either absolve themselves of this nonsense bill or get something in return.