The House of Representatives passed the Senate "fiscal cliff" bill. They did so with a strong bipartisan vote.
Speaker Boehner himself voted for it, though the Speaker does not usually vote. In fact, Speaker Boehner engaged in a great act of statesmanship: he abandoned the gridlock-inducing "Hastert Rule" of only bringing to a vote bills that a majority of the majority would support. The Republican Speaker brought the bill to a vote and voted for it himself, even though most Republicans voted against it.
The Republican leadership, especially Speaker Boehner and Senate Majority Leader McConnell, are also to be commended for abandoning another foolish rule, the "Norquist Pledge" to never, ever, ever raise taxes.
I hope this important example of bipartisan cooperation - including compromise and horse-trading - is a portent of things to come. A competent legislature is the heart of a good government.
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7 comments:
Not going to lie, I was hoping the tax increases would include those making $250,000 (as if people of those incomes are anywhere close to middle class), but the deal isn't terrible since it doesn't touch Social Security. Obama clearly had the upper hand.
Obama raised the payroll tax rate.It raises the average household tax hit by $1,000.00 a year. The bill is also full of pork.Obama wins the country loses.
Big win for George W. Bush too. Permanent Bush tax cuts for vast majority.I miss him...
Fascism can come in the guise of populism.
Didn't normal get us into this fiscal mess?
We spend $1.40 for every $1.00 we take in from taxes. That is normal politics...and you approve?
A "competent" legislature, as you define it, was the last thing the Framers wanted. They wanted a central government that had as many roadblocks to action as possible. National defense, a common currency, roads, a functioning postal system, federal revenue from customs duties--not from the citizens'; pockets--and free travel between the sovereign States was all that they really wanted from the federal government. Education, housing, taking care of your neighbors when they hit a rough patch,that was for the States and communities to handle. If a job was "beneath" a man when he was "unemployed," he could starve.
Government was supposed to be close to home--not in the imperial city.
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