Earlier in the week one of my colleagues wrote an article about the fiscal cliff deal and how Congress always “fixes the tire” by means of plugging the hole instead of replacing the tire. He wrote that the fiscal cliff deal was one of Congresses many “crazy short term fixes that do absolutely nothing to solve the countries long term issues.” I must say I have to disagree.
In the real world you can’t always get what you want. Late last week it appeared that the country was well on its way to going over the fiscal cliff. With the Speaker’s failed Plan B strategy all talks between the two sides had stopped. Then enter Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell. Sunday night McConnell swallowed his pride and put in a phone call to one of his old senate colleagues, Vice President Joe Biden. Biden and Senate leaders reached a bipartisan compromise on the fiscal cliff that would allow tax rates to rise on income over $400,000 and delay steep automatic federal spending cuts for two months.
Once McConnell and Boehner reach out over the aisle the President and Congressional Democrats had no choice but to accept the deal. President Obama had an entirely new agenda that he could not risk compromising before the 113th Congress was even gaveled into session. When one party puts their entire neck out on the line like Speaker Boehner did by breaking ranks with the majority of his caucus, the other party must step up to the plate and accept. Progressives could not afford to walk away from the deal if they wanted to accomplished any of their major agenda items in the next term, like gun control and campaign finance.
Progressives got a good deal as it was:
- Taxes Raised on Incomes Over $450,000 (Signal Household $400,000)
- Capital Gains Tax Raised to 20%
- Estate Tax Raised to 40%
- Extended Unemployment Insurance Benefits
- Childcare Tax Credits
- College Tax Credits
- Limited Deductions
- Extends the Farm Bill
- ZERO cuts to Social Security/Medicare
The 112th Congress went down in history as being the most unproductive Congress in existence. They passed the fewest amount of legislation in over 100 years and had the lowest approval ratings since we've been keeping track of that kind of thing. So maybe we can look at this landmark compromise that ended the legislative session as a step in the right direction. Maybe we can give credit where credit is due to Republican Speaker John Boehner and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell for brokering an unpopular deal with their own members. They broke ranks with many in their respective caucuses to do something for the greater good of their constituents. To end what will go down as the worst Congress on record with a bipartisan deal gives me hope for what the 113th Congress has in store.
Too many politically astute people forget that compromise is not a dirty word. You are never going to get all of what you want simply because that is not compromise; that is greed. My suggestion to my Democratic friends: if you don’t like messy compromise and dived government, elect more progressives to Congress in 2014.
Despite what you’ll hear from many progressives, this is a desirable compromise. By no means is it perfect, but what compromise is perfect?
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