What do Republicans want?

[WillK]

Since it appears voters will put the GOP in the driver's seat this year, the question remains: what do Republicans want? Of course, they've put out their 'pledge', but that is boring, frankly. What do the Republicans on this board want the next Congress to do, assuming that it is Republican? What do they want Obama to do, assuming he were shocked enough by the election to work with the next Congress?

They want Power.

[WillK]

... So I think the priority ought to be paying off government debt and balancing the budget, and I think they should start with areas of general agreement (defunding TARP, etc.)

There is no general agreement that defunding TARP helps pay off the debt or balance the budget. 
The NYT reported a week ago that TARP "could conceivably earn taxpayers a profit."