(Larry Downing/REUTERS)

At the Wonk Room, Pat Garofalo and Igor Volsky take a closer look at the numerous riders the GOP is insisting on in their budget negotiations, and find out how much the ideological crusade the GOP is on in the name of deficit slashing would actually increase federal spending

For example, the CBO analyzed the repeal of the Affordable Care Act, Sec. 4017 of their base bill H.R. 1, and found that even partially defunding the law would increase federal costs by $3.1 billion in 2012 alone. That's just a start. There are more than 80 riders in H.R. 1, the bill they're are using as their "starting point for all negotiations." Here's what just a few of them will cost:

All of which just serves as a reminder: this isn't about the deficit. The Republicans don't care about the deficit, don't care about spending. They care about keeping their extreme base happy. This is purely an ideological fight for the GOP.