Demagoguery

Measured
Despite the party divisions, many Republicans in their remarks characterized the measure, which allows taxes to go up on household income over $400,000 for individuals and $450,000 for couples but makes permanent tax cuts for income below that level, as a victory of sorts, even as so many of them declined to vote for it.

“After more than a decade of criticizing these tax cuts,” said Representative Dave Camp of Michigan, “Democrats are finally joining Republicans in making them permanent. Republicans and the American people are getting something really important, permanent tax relief.” (NYT, 1/1/2013)

Good line from Camp. So Democrats now own tax cuts on something like 98% of the country. The Bush tax cuts are dead. Long live the Obama tax cuts.


Hold Backs
House Speaker John Boehner couldn’t hold back when he spotted Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid in the White House lobby last Friday.

It was only a few days before the nation would go over the fiscal cliff, no bipartisan agreement was in sight, and Reid had just publicly accused Boehner of running a “dictatorship” in the House and caring more about holding onto his gavel than striking a deal.

“Go f— yourself,” Boehner sniped as he pointed his finger at Reid, according to multiple sources present. (Weeklystandard.com, 1/2/2013)

One of the highlights of the Cheney vice-presidency was when he told Vermont's Patrick Leahy: "Go f- yourself." Here's what happened. Leahy had been running around accusing Cheney of somehow profiteering from Halliburton's military contracts for the Iraq war. The charges were blasphemous. So the next time that Leahy bumps into Cheney, Leahy pretends that nothing happened and tried to shake his hand. To his everlasting credit, Cheney told Leahy where to go. And now Boehner - who we certainly have our doubts about - surprises us with this Cheneyesque move. We will have to reconsider him. Meanwhile Reid, like Leahy, shows himself to be a hypocrite.


Automatically
With time running out before a year-end deadline to prevent big automatic tax hikes and spending cuts, Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell had reached an impasse with his Democratic counterpart, Harry Reid. So Sen. McConnell turned to the one remaining Democrat he thought could break the impasse: Vice President Joe Biden.

In a Sunday afternoon phone call, Mr. McConnell asked the vice president: "Does anyone down there know how to cut a deal?" recalled a Republican aide who overheard the call. (WSJ, 1/2/2012)

And another reminder - if you needed one - of the utter incompetence of Senate majority leader Reid.


Overhauling
The 2010 health care law overhaul was probably the biggest attack on inequality since it began rising in the 1970s, increasing taxes on businesses and the rich to pay for health insurance largely for the middle class. (NYT, 1/2/2013)

New year, same lies from the New York Times. Obamacare is now "for the middle class." Who knew?


Matters
Meanwhile, even as Democrats claim these tax rates won't matter to investment, Senators stuffed their bill full of tax subsidies for special business interests. The wind tax credit survived (cost: $12.1 billion), and so did the tax breaks for cellulosic ethanol ($59 million) and the impoverished producers of Hollywood ($248 million). (WSJ, 1/2/2013)

Obama pays back his supporters. Cynical on politics yet?