A new year of the same ol' politics

The four horsemen of America's apocalypse ride high into a new year...

In the first day of 2013, we go from a predawn Biden-McConnell fiscal cliff-deal in the Senate that gives Obama what he wanted (i.e., a 'tax-the-rich' bill with no spending cuts) to a Boehner-led rubber stamp of approval, awaiting Obama's signature...and Hell followed with him.

theRightScoop: Well it’s done. The House has passed the fiscal cliff bill overwhelmingly with 85 Republican votes. 85. Now we head for the real fiscal cliff. I can even hear things starting to fall a part as we gain speed.

HotAir: At 11 p.m. ET, it’s a done deal. 257-167, with Democrats providing most of the votes. The Dems split 172-16, Republicans split 85-151. Boehner didn’t come close to satisfying the “majority of the majority” rule, which leaves him on thin ice for Thursday’s Speaker vote. At least he didn’t hide, though: He voted yes tonight, as did Paul Ryan, much to Team Rubio’s delight. Meanwhile, the rest of the leadership team — i.e. Eric Cantor and Kevin McCarthy — voted no, although Cantor waited until the bill had 218 votes to register his meaningless disapproval.

Hard to believe we might have the same leadership in the next Congress as we did for this process, but then not long ago it was also hard to believe we’d have the same leadership in the White House and the Senate in 2013 as we had in 2012. And yet here we are.

BTW, that Senate bill that the House passed in the wee hours of our new year doesn't extend the payroll tax break, which will effectively raise taxes on 77% of U.S. households. Neither does it tackle baseline budgeting, or balancing the budget for that matter...nothing to address the major driver of our debt: SPENDING. That's actually EXTENDED with an added year of government-backed unemployment benefits.

Also, the shenanigans that have taken place over the last 24 hours, which have now allowed Obama to claim the Bush-tax-cuts for his own (you can guarantee the media will continue droning on about the fallacious 'tax cut' line), have further divided Republican ranks, while simultaneously making liars of them all. And to top it off, this has all provided cover for the ObamaCare taxes that go into effect starting...NOW. Rudderless we drift into another four years...

Happy f'n New Year.

Senate vote here.
House vote here.

Hold them ALL accountable.