A Fiscal Cliff Deal? – Not Before We Jump

We are all jumping off the cliff at midnight. — Apparently there will be no vote tonight on a deal to avert the fiscal cliff. Earlier today it was announced by Senate minority leader Mitch McConnell that a deal on the tax side was reached, but a deal on the spending side is still pending.

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A Fiscal Cliff Deal? – Not Yet

I hate to be the pessimist in the room, but regardless of all the positive talk today about a potential fiscal cliff deal, nothing is done until congress votes on it. The details of the potential deal includes an extension of unemployment benefits, a patch of the Alternative Minimum Tax (AMT) so that it doesn’t hit middle class families, and extensions of the earned income tax credit and college tax credit for 5 years.

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The Republican Electoral Math Challenge

Many Republicans think all that is needed is a re-tuning of their message. They simply need to tweak how they say things and suddenly it will be the nineteen-eighties all over again with Reagan-style electoral landslides. Republicans think there is no problem with conservatism itself, only the way they are delivering their message. — Hello, this is the party of Frank Luntz! Republicans are masters of sloganeering. They come up with simple concepts and phrases that roll off the tongue and appear common sense — that is, until you think about it for more than a moment.

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