Wednesday, December 15, 2010

Ezra Klein sums up...

...the tax compromise well (my emphasis):

The $858 billion package does more damage to the deficit than any other piece of legislation passed during the Obama presidency. It's also expected to receive the largest bipartisan majority of any major piece of legislation the Senate has considered in the last two years.

The lame-duck Congress is also likely to pass an omnibus spending bill that's chockfull of earmarks -- and plenty of them are going to Republican senators like Mitch McConnell, who've now come out against the practice, and many of them were requested by Democratic senators even after the White House begged them to give up on the earmarks this year. It's not exactly a great sign if you were hoping an earmark moratorium would stick. And nor is it a great sign if you're looking for divided government to be more fiscally responsible. The only thing Democrats and Republicans really seem able to agree on is spending money.

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