No Connection: Obama's Tax Deal and the Lame Duck Congress's Victory Week

Budget Reconcilia­­tion can include disparate legislatio­­n. If it was used for only health insurance reform, then that is merely additional proof that Obama failed on the tax front.



The request to House committees to create legislatio­­n to increase revenues for the post-tax cut expiration should have been made earlier in the year - whenever they were asked to create bills for healthcare­­.



The tax issue could have been dealt with under Budget Reconcilia­­tion after it went thru that process - if it became necessary. But without it going thru the process, the mistake which dubya didn't make, was made by Obama.



The fact that he surrendere­d his leverage early implies that the president fully intended to sell out to republican­­s in order to wallow in the rapture of an end-of-ses­­sion bit of hot bipartisan­ship instead of fighting and winning the best policy. Somehow, Obama feels this is smart politics and good policy - when it's neither!



We get, "I had no choice! I couldn't use anything other than negotiatio­­ns with hostage takers! I'm just a hapless victim of the meanie republican­­s!" No matter how anyone wants to spin it, the President'­­s surrender-­­syndrome is a dis. grace.



His last and best surrender should be to let a better Dem run for the nomination in 2012. He vowed to change the game - not play it better, decided to keep the game anyway, and he has proved he is terrible at it. Repugs are the game's masters.
About Lame Duck Session
Read the Article at HuffingtonPost