For all those hair on fire people, if you can think back a week or two, there was a big deal on the table. Boehner walked away and the Plan B fiasco began.
At this point most Democrats, including the President, wanted, at least, to save taxes rising for most Americans. Many Democratic Senators always wanted the level to be at 400 thousand.
As for the sequester......
Obama is not a stupid man, though many here would question that. He and other Democrats know other fights are coming down the road.
It is obvious that this Congress is not capable of putting in the time to construct a big deal. They think, for whatever reason, doing things at the last minute is a good thing.
If the Republicans or some Democrats think the Republicans have leverage, I think not. First, let me say that everyone needs to get out of the mind set of who or who not has leverage. It is infantile, and accomplishes nothing. Rather than which Party is winning, it is time we all, including Democrats, refrain from this as some sort of game. What is at stake are people's lives.
Personally, I believe the American people are not going to view any Party that holds anything hostage in the next negotiation. They are getting wise to the antics of the Republican Party.
And if Democrats don't look at some of the good in this tax bill, than we are as silly as the Republicans who cement themselves in ideology.
I have been around for a while. I remember past Congresses who did compromise. Americans understood that in compromise, no one gets everything they want. If you believe your side needs to get it all, you are delusional. That is not compromise.
In this compromise I like that those who depend on unemployment compensation will not be cut off. That in itself is a stimulus. See Ezra Klein on this. I especially am happy that the AMT is now fixed permanently, for every year, as a member of the middle class, this was a tax that would have hurt big time.
As a "boomer" I understand the reality that there needs to be fixes to Medicare. More people will be retiring while less are entering the work force. Something has to be done.
I believe that the President will do what is best for its people.
Lastly, playing Tom Harkin over and over and Kay Baily Hutchinson over and over, by the press is doing nothing but making the story a hyper hair on fire story. The countdown clock on MSNBC was the most absurd piece of crap ever! And many allow themselves to be played by the press.
Let's stop the hysteria. It is time to understand that compromise means there are parts which I and others don't like.
But then I tend to try to live in some sort of reality. And though I do not like all established in this fiscal bump deal, I choose to see the good, realizing that the bad must be accepted - cause that's the nature of compromise.
A little off topic, but the ACA is working in ways never reported. I recently had to have a growth removed from my head. But unfortunately all the bad cells were not removed the first time, so I had to return for more surgery. Yesterday, I received a refund from my surgeon. The ACA insists that if one has to return soon after being treated to receive more treatment for the same problem, the doctor or hospital must refund what is spent the second time. These small provisions that all of us may benefit from is where our concentration should be placed.
So when bargaining begins on the sequester, remember that many in our government are looking out for most of us. And we would all see that if we pulled our feet out of the cement of ideology.