As the battle starts to heat up between President Barack Obama and Congressional Republicans on the deal to avert the so-called "fiscal cliff," two influential conservative writers provide the GOP with a dose of reality today.

Matt K. Lewis writes in The Daily Caller that Republicans are "screwed" in the talks, and the notion they have any leverage is "silly." In The National Review, meanwhile, Ramesh Ponnuru says that House Republicans would be unwise to pass a bill extending all the tax cuts.

Here's an excerpt of Lewis' column:

The fix is in. Democrats control the presidency, the senate, and the mainstream media. Elections have consequences; they hold the cards. Republicans control the House — just enough levers of power to allow them to be blamed for obstruction.

Republicans are so screwed.

Ponnuru suggests another option — pass the middle-class tax cuts, which Democrats would also pass, and live with the fact that taxes on incomes above $250,000 will go up.

"That way at least Republicans wouldn’t get blamed for middle-class tax increases," Ponnuru writes.

Their arguments make sense. Polls have consistently shown that the majority of Americans support the type of increases President Barack Obama is proposing as the key element of his plan. And if no deal is reached, the vast majority say they would blame Republicans for the failure.