Cliffhanger

Negotiations have begun in Congress in an effort to avert a "fiscal cliff" - the automatic spending cuts and tax increase that go into effect on January 1 - that would would weaken an already struggling economic recovery.  The Republicans must have agreed to these sequestrations with President Obama in 2011 with the expectation of negotiations a deal more favorable to themselves with a lame-duck administration once a Republican President and a Republican Senate were elected in 2012.  But, umm, it didn't quite turn out like that.  Now Republican lawmakers are open to modest tax increases - or modest rate increases, at least - on wealthier Americans.  Grover Norquist has suddenly found his calls unreturned. 

Don't bet on the Republicans conceding a lot, though.  The still want funding for the Affordable Care Act reduced sharply, after several attempts to kill it in the Congress and in the court system.  They still want to preserve defense - no, armaments - spending.  And they still think that public works projects are wasteful expenditures that will do no more than bankrupt the government.  (Again, the Republican transportation infrastructure program: Don't build new passenger railways, don't repair highways, and if you need to get around, buy an SUV to go over all those potholes!)  I fear that the Republicans will still use what clout they have (a House majority, minority rights in the Senate)  to ensure that upper-middle-class and wealthy Americans sacrifice less than everyone else.  But that's not fair.  And as Al Sharpton said yesterday on NBC's "Meet The Press," you can't expect people who didn't benefit from the last period of prosperity to give even more during a recession.

The Republicans lost the election.  If not for gerrymandering, they wouldn't even have the House.  But if they get more than they deserve out of this budget deal for 2013 and beyond, it will mean that, while the Republicans lost, the Democrats didn't really win.