TAX CUT DEAL, FOR DUMMIES (seriously, it's for dummies)

Congress and the President have finally agreed on a tax deal to save the day. This is what it looks like ...

If you want to see the details of the $800+ billion deal by the numbers click here. If you want to see how your member of Congress voted click here. If you want to see how Congress arrived at the agreement just imagine how they arrive at budget agreements ...

- Mark

Note: OK, I have a few more comments ... The Senate abandoned it's effort to vote on a $1.2 trillion spending bill that would finance the federal government through the first nine months of 2011. You can bet that President Obama will spend the first half of 2011 fighting off Republican attempts to cut and privatize the budget, arguing that we need to find ways to fund the tax cut agreement. This will run into the spring and the summer, with Republicans blaming President Obama for massive deficits all along - but, at the same time, making calls to make social security tax cuts and tax cuts for the rich permanent. Democrats will be accused of wanting to "raise taxes" for not going along, and will get blamed for massive deficits "under Obama's watch."

If President Obama's strategy is to hope for recovery and to throw this agreement back in the Republicans collective faces by saying, "You voted for it too", it could work. But there's a couple of problems here - America's memory, and Obama's track record on confrontation. Oh, and the fact that hope is not a plan, especially since tax cuts for the rich don't work.

In simpler terms, it appears President Obama just handed the Republicans his lunch. They're going to eat it over the next two years.

I hope I'm wrong, but if you're a Democrat pray that Sarah runs.