Fiscal Cliff Notes

Let's see:

• Obama wants tax increases for the rich; additional stimulus; and to keep the Bush tax cuts for the bottom 98%.
• The Repubs want to cut Social Security & Medicare; $800 billion in tax revenues; keep the Bush tax cuts for everyone.
• The fiscal cliff promises big cuts in defense, big tax increases on everyone.
• No one is talking about the payroll tax cut, which affects primarily low- and middle-income wage earners, and effects them immediately and significantly.

So, what's to argue? As the only serious thing, on January 1, is that the payroll tax cut lapses, thus decreasing everyone's take-home pay with their very first January payroll check; and there's apparently no one on either side who cares, let's just all relax. Obama would be nuts to cave to the Repubs; in January he will have plenty of congresspeople knocking on his door to talk about lowering tax rates. He should wait until then.

Oh, yeah: Boehner has promised to insist, every time in the future that a debt ceiling increase is needed, on tying any increase in the ceiling to further budget cuts. This is a congressman threatening to hold up payment of expenditures that the Congress has authorized, in order to score political points. How very adult!

It's as if the Repubs in Congress, like George Clooney, can only think of one thing when they wake up in the morning. But for George, it wasn't Fop.