Well after midnight, the Senate passed the Biden-McConnell compromise by an overwhelming majority of 89 to 8. The House supposedly will vote on it sometime today, where it's far less certain to pass, although such a big Senate majority makes it a little more likely.
This compromise prevents taxes going up on the middle class -- and up to incomes of $400,000/$450,000, blocks spending cuts for another two months, extends unemployment benefits, prevents the 27% cut in fees to Medicare doctors, and delays Congress's own pay raise for three months.
So it's another fight for another day. That fight will come at a worse time, when the debt ceiling will also have to be raised and the fiscal cliff will be gone as an incentive.
Was this really a good idea? What if Obama had held out for the $250,000 limit on tax hikes? What if Republicans had continued to say 'no' to any tax hike on the wealthy?
What if the House doesn't pass it?
Some will say that, once again, Obama caved and that he'll never have any negotiating clout again. Some will say they can't trust their representatives not to break their promise of 'no new taxes.'
The political theater will continue. Welcome to 2013 and another year of the Washington soap opera.
Ralph
The eight senators voting No were:
Democrats: Harkin (Iowa), Carper (Delaware), Bennett (Colorado).
Republicans: Lee (Utah), Shelby (Alabama), Rand (Kentucky), Grassley (Iowa), Rubio (Florida).
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As of 4:o0 pm Wednesday, the House has postponed any vote because they don't have the votes to pass the bill. Paul Ryan and Eric Cantor both oppose it; Boehner is remaining non-committed publicly.
ReplyDeleteThey will probably amend it to include spending cuts and send it back to the Senate, to try to put the onus on them.
It's a game of chicken -- who will blink? Let's hope it's not the Democrts.