The House did not insist on or even offer a single change. I am surprised. I was expecting at least some fight. Actually, I am astonished.
The spending cut discussion will be deferred for later, most likely as part of some debt ceiling fandango near the end of January. Obama has threatened to ignore them. Let's see how that one plays out.
One might expect the Congressional conservatives to be a bit irritable after eating crow on this deal, raising taxes on their wealthiest constituents with no spending cuts.
After all, the conservatives adamantly rejected a much better deal a year or so ago when Obama served up a good portion of his own constituency in a shockingly lopsided offer of cuts for revenue.
McConnell and Boehner and their Tea Party brain trust did not want to give Obama any deal at any price in order to smooth the way for their own powerful presidential play, the Mittster, riding a wave of money to victory.
I think they call this kind of a play turning chicken salad into chicken something else.
Obama was playing chess, but the loudest guys in the room thought that they were playing checkers.
And as they say in the American vernacular, You got served.
But it was not all tax increases. There were some corporate entitlements and subsidies rolled up in that bill as well.
U.S. House Passes Budget Bill, Averts Most Tax Increases
By James Rowley & Roxana Tiron
Jan 1, 2013 11:06 PM ET
The House of Representatives passed legislation averting income tax increases for most U.S. workers after Republicans abandoned their effort to attach spending cuts that would have been rejected by the Senate.
The 257-167 bipartisan vote breaks a yearlong impasse over how to head off $600 billion in tax increases and spending cuts set to begin taking effect today. The Senate passed the bill early this morning, 89-8, and it goes to President Barack Obama for his signature...
