About a third of House Republicans reluctantly signed on to a last-minute deal to avoid the fiscal cliff.
The plan, previously passed by the Democratically-controlled Senate and supported by President Obama, is a compromise wrought by Vice President Joe Biden, with the begrudging aid of Senate minority leader Mitch McConnell.
The deal postpones sequestration, which would have enacted sharp cuts in defense spending and social services, for two months, as well as preserving the Bush-era tax rates for Americans with household incomes under $450,000 per year.
That's a level higher than many Democrats are comfortable with. Three Democratic Senators opposed the bill, saying it favored wealthier people at the expense of lower-income Americans.
Obama had pledged to reduce the deficit by raising taxes on incomes over $250,000 a year, which would have affected the top 2 percent of earners in the country.
The new deal only affects less than 1 percent of earners, therefore raising less revenue and requiring more cuts in social services or increases in tax revenue in areas that will affect people lower on the socioeconomic ladder.
For example, the dal does nothing to reduce the payroll tax rate, which returns to its old levels this year. Most Americans will pay an additional 2 percent in payroll taxes, a hit that will be felt immediately, as it goes into effect with workers' next paychecks.
Republicans who opposed the deal are unhappy, of course, since it effectively increases taxes on the so-called "job creators."
Republicans who did vote for the deal did so reluctantly, seeing it as the only way to avoid higher taxes on all Americans, and the Republicans' earlier willingness to bet Democrats wouldn't hold the line evaporated at the prospect of being seen as protecting the interests of billionaires over the middle class.
Fortunately for those Republicans, their tactical decision to delay a deal until after the first of the year paid off with tax fanatics. Grover Norquist tweeted his blessing, saying that Republicans didn't violate their pledge not to raise taxes, as they were simply voting for a tax cut for most of the country.
Nevermind that taxes went up specifically because Republicans couldn't compromise on a deal over the debt ceiling way back in 2011, resulting in the fiscal cliff and sequestration bogeymen in the first place.
Of course, this deal is only a temporary bandage. Tax rates seem like they've been taken care of for now, but the fight over sequestration has just been pushed two months hence, right around the time the debt ceiling comes up for renewal.
And this time, Republicans may have more fight in them, now that they're no longer backed up against the fiscal cliff.
- Contribute to this Story:
- Send us a tip
- Send us a photo or video
- Suggest a correction
