The Republican's filibuster of the "tax extenders" bill will have severe economic consequences.
Moody's is predicting the loss of 200,000 jobs. Nomura Securities says it will knock 0.4% off of the GDP.
A good 2 million unemployed families will have their last financial lifeline cut by the second week of July. The suffering of these families is about to increase many fold.

In midst of the outcry from the struggling working class, came this statement from Sen. Debbie Stabenow (D-Mich.):

"It is very clear that the Republicans in the Senate want this economy to fail. They see that things are beginning to turn around.... In cynical political terms, it doesn't serve them in terms of their election interests if things are beginning to turn around."

Now I like conspiracy theories more than most, maybe even too much, but I also recognize that describing a political opponent in 2-dimensional terms with evil intent is usually an indication of something missing from your theory.

What is missing here is the concept of class interests.