Over the Fiscal Cliff

As expected, the Regressive republicans did their little soft-shoe, their little tap dance, their dog and pony show -- whatever you want to call it -- but they accomplished nothing. All the theater about coming this close to an agreement to keep from going over the "fiscal cliff" is now over. Curtain's going down.

Was anyone fooled by this bad acting for even a moment?

Epic Boner Fail

Thanks to the worst do-nothing Congress in American history, headed by Regressive republican and utter failure John Boehner, taxes will go up for all Americans beginning in a few hours (on Jan 1).  Orange John wouldn't allow the Senate bill -- which had passed overwhelmingly months ago, and would have extended the Bush-era tax cuts to continue for 98% of Americans -- to come to a vote, because he knew it had enough support to pass in the House as well. But he cannot control his far rightwing contingents, who have spent these last several weeks demanding he hold up tax breaks for 98% of the country for the sake of their millionaire friends. They held your tax breaks hostage for those of millionaires.  And poll after poll shows that the majority of Americans knows this.

In addition to taxes being raised, there will be automatic deep cuts to military and discretionary spending.

The spending cuts are the part of the fiscal cliff that the Congressional Budget Office says would be the most damaging to America’s economic growth. It also does not include an increase in the debt ceiling, setting up another fight over the coming months like the one that created the fiscal cliff in the first place.

The theatrics over the last several days were transparent. Regressives wanted Social Security cuts and then dropped that demand; Boehner tried to corral Regressives to vote to raise taxes on those making over a million a year but couldn't even accomplish that.

Of course, this can all be retroactively fixed within the first couple of weeks in the new year when the new Congress convenes. Whether or not these antics will damage the country in the long run remains to be seen.