If Obama can back the Republicans into looking like they pushed the U.S. off the cliff he will get them to agree his impossible demands baked into a form of Cliff Mutual Destruction Pact, get it delivered, secure a massive rebalance moment and blame the downside on the opposition.
Issuing such demands will be seen to indicate a lack of mutual respect, without which it is impossible to develop the mutual trust that everyone wants to see develop between the two countries.