I suspect Warren Buffet's view is shared by rich Republicans too

They just aren't speaking out publicly. I am sure, though, that John Boehner is well aware that he'll be in it deep if he screws them by taking this game of chicken over the cliff. That's why I firmly believe a deal will be reached. The threat is half bargaining position and half kabuki theater for the Tea Party, who really are insane. In the GOP, if it comes down to what the fanatical masses want and what the wealthy want (or when it comes down to what anyone wants and what the wealthy want), always bet on the wealthy winning the day.

Money quotes from Buffett:

"We raised the debt ceiling seven times during the Bush Administration," Buffett told CNBC on Thursday. Now, the Republican-controlled Congress is "trying to use the incentive now that we're going to blow your brains out, America, in terms of your debt worthiness over time."

and

In May, Buffett stated at a Berkshire Hathaway shareholder's meeting that if the Congress failed to raise the debt ceiling, it would constitute "the most asinine act" in the nation's history, reports Reuters.

He also explains why prioritized payments, i.e., a managed default, would be of little help economically:

Some experts, like former Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan, have floated the idea of the Treasury paying some obligations while not paying others. This, Buffett says, is ludicrous.

"If you don't send out social security checks, I would hate to think about the credit meeting at S&P and Moody's the next morning," Buffett told CNBC. "If you're not paying millions and millions and millions of people that range in age from 65 on up, money you promised them, you're not a AAA." A triple-A credit rating is the highest possible rating that can be received.

Prioritized payments do, however, eviscerate the little merit there is to the left-wing fantasy of Obama simply declaring the debt limit unconstitutional and ignoring it. Not that it matters: borrowing money is the sole prerogative of congress. The debt limit is merely the current term of the congressional borrowing action.