Speedboat Puts Out Boat Fire

I was watching the news yesterday when this story came on. That's some quick thinking:

More Tax Hikes On the Way

A great O'Reilly Factor segment featuring Charles Krauthammer at the clip.

And from James Pethokoukis, "Why the Obama tax hikes have only just begun":

Total taxes are going up some $220 billion this year, including both the Obama income tax hikes and the Obamacare tax hikes. Even worse, the income tax hikes raise the burden on working, saving, and investing. They make our mess of a tax code even more damaging to growth than what it was before.

Nor is Obama done pushing higher taxes. As he said on New Year’s Eve, concerning the outstanding issues of the sequester and debt ceiling:

I want to make clear that any agreement we have to deal with these automatic spending cuts that are being threatened for next month, those also have to be balanced, because, remember, my principle always has been let’s do things in a balanced, responsible way. And that means the revenues have to be part of the equation in turning off the sequester and eliminating these automatic spending cuts, as well as spending cuts. Now, the same is true for any future deficit agreement. Obviously we’re going to have to do more to reduce our debt and our deficit. I’m willing to do more, but it’s going to have to be balanced. We’re going to have do it in a balanced responsible way.

How much more “balance” does Obama want? ...

Continue reading.

And from Yuval Levin, at National Review, "It’s a Spending Problem" (via Memeorandum).

Bill Plaschke: A Little Boring, But Stanford Brings Back Tradition to the Rose Bowl

Bill Plaschke was grumbling pretty hard on Twitter during yesterday's Rose Bowl game. He gives ground a little in his column today, at the Los Angeles Times, "Stanford's old-school Rose Bowl win a welcome throwback trend":

Who knew the elite Bay Area school had enough old-school fans to fill the Rose Bowl with a roar that even drowned out that Wisconsin beer cheer? Who knew that a longtime second-tier program could lose one of college football's best coaches and quarterbacks in a span of two seasons and not only survive, but triumph? Who knew that, 41 years after an infamous "Thunderchickens" defensive line gave Stanford its last Rose Bowl championship, the academic powerhouse could overcome an NCAA world filled with recruiting cheats and grade scams to return to football's most traditional throne?

From the shadow of USC and Oregon to the glorious winter shadow of the San Gabriel Mountains, Stanford formally arrived Tuesday in a game that fit Cardinal culture perfectly. It was a bit thoughtful, a tad boring, but ultimately a real gas. The Cardinal scored twice in the game's first nine minutes, then spent the rest of the afternoon swarming and scheming and hanging on for history.

PREVIOUSLY: "Rose Bowl: Stanford 20, Wisconsin 14."

New Breed of Republicans Resists Fiscal Deal

The title above almost needs a question mark. A WTF? kinda question mark. That's because to understand this piece at the New York Times you have to understand the paper's agenda. There's never any questioning the idea that government today has to expand, that government must grow. Look at the spin on the fiscal cliff deal. Oh, we saved people thousands of dollars by not going over the cliff. Why isn't that enough for you Republicans? It's been ten years since the Bush tax cuts passed, but for NYT's reporters they're still temporary, so it's the Democrats who should get credit for them, right? For making them permanent. And Republicans should just STFU and get with the program on more spending because Obama decided to let you have your little play toy.

See, "Lines of Resistance on Fiscal Deal":

WASHINGTON — Just a few years ago, the tax deal pushed through Congress on Tuesday would have been a Republican fiscal fantasy, a sweeping bill that locks in virtually all of the Bush-era tax cuts, exempts almost all estates from taxation, and enshrines the former president’s credo that dividends and capital gains should be taxed equally and gently.

But times have changed, President George W. Bush is gone, and before the bill’s final passage late Tuesday, House Republican leaders struggled all day to quell a revolt among caucus members who threatened to blow up a hard-fought compromise that they could have easily framed as a victory. Many House Republicans seemed determined to put themselves in a position to be blamed for sending the nation’s economy into a potential tailspin under the weight of automatic tax increases and spending cuts.

The latest internal party struggle on Capitol Hill surprised even Senate Republicans, who had voted overwhelmingly for a deal largely hashed out by their leader, Mitch McConnell of Kentucky. The bill passed the Senate, 89 to 8, at 2 a.m. on Tuesday, with only 5 of the chamber’s 47 Republicans voting no.

Twenty-one hours later, the same measure was opposed by 151 of the 236 Republicans voting in the House. It was further proof that House Republicans are a new breed, less enamored of tax cuts per se than they are driven to shrink government through steep spending cuts. Protecting nearly 99 percent of the nation’s households from an income tax increase was not enough if taxes rose on some and government spending was untouched.

And that's supposed to be bad? We'll soon be pushing $20 trillion in national debt and these idiots question why Republicans might be worried about a little bit more than voting to keep something first passed ten years ago. You want to hit these numbskulls up side the head. This is Democrat media framing at its finest, courtesy of the newspaper of Walter Duranty.

More at the link.

And then read Erick Erickson, "The McConnell Tax Hike":

The McConnell Tax Hike raises taxes on people making over $400,000.00, but it also raises taxes on the middle class. “More than 80 percent of households with incomes between $50,000 and $200,000 would pay higher taxes.”

Not only does the McConnell Tax Hike stick it to the middle class, it raises taxes $41 for every $1 in spending cuts. Those spending cuts are ephemeral as there is $330 billion in new spending and a $4 trillion price tag over the next ten years.

Both Hollywood and NASCAR get carve outs. So too do wind energy companies.

The Republican Establishment in Washington, DC should be burned to the ground and salt spread on the remains. Republicans who saw Mitch McConnell and John Boehner destroy the last plank of the Republican Party are going to need to look elsewhere for a savior for their party. Boehner and McConnell have declared they will survive. Their party? They don’t really care.

Conservatives must look elsewhere. I do not advocate a third party. I advocate bring fresh blood into the GOP.

And also, "A New Agenda."

Keith Morris Recounts the Origins of the Los Angeles Punk Scene

I'm just clicking around on YouTube looking for a different version of "Nervous Breakdown" and I come across this Keith Morris interview. I start listening thinking I'm just going to check it out for a couple of minutes but Morris sucks you in. There's no one like him. From his accent and mannerisms, to his encyclopedic revelations of the early punk movement, you can't not be riveted to this man talking. At times it seems he's having a brain malfunction, like he's lost his train of thought, only to blast out a fascinating recollection using the most colorful examples and analogies. You gotta love this guy. (And if you're able to stay with it until the end, Morris regales the story of Chuck Berry, during a concert in St. Louis, coming up on stage to jam with the Circle Jerks and then later telling the club manager how much he loved Morris' music.)

House Republicans Refuse Vote on Hurricane Sandy Relief

Chris Christie is pissed. And whatever the justifications in the House, the PR won't be good for the GOP. The Democrat Media Complex will make sure of that.

At the New York Times, "House Ignores Storm Relief, to Fury of Local Republicans."

Also at the Los Angeles Times, "House leaders opt not to act now on Sandy aid."

Rose Bowl: Stanford 20, Wisconsin 14

I was rooting for the Badgers, actually. But they weren't playing well at all.

At the New York Times, "Stanford Wears Out Wisconsin on Ground":

PASADENA, Calif. — The view was a sight to behold, the sun setting on the San Gabriel Mountains in the distance. Down below, the teams looked vintage as the 99th Rose Bowl devolved into something familiar for Barry Alvarez: brawn, bruises and punts. A lot of punts.

But Alvarez’s 16 seasons as Wisconsin’s coach, a College Football Hall of Fame induction, a previously perfect 3-0 Rose Bowl record, his vintage red sweater vest and his timeless sunglasses did not count for much on Tuesday. Not against Stanford, a program that flexed its staying power, slowly wearing out the Badgers, 20-14.

It was Stanford’s first Rose Bowl win since 1972 and Wisconsin’s third Rose Bowl loss in three years.

In his final game, Wisconsin’s Montee Ball, the N.C.A.A. record-holder for career touchdowns (83), rushed for 100 yards on 24 carries and scored on an 11-yard run.

The second half was a tug of war between Ball and his Stanford counterpart Stepfan Taylor. Back and forth Ball and Taylor went, disappearing in a mosh pit of red and white bodies, out of sight to gain their yards. Taylor gained 88 yards on 20 carries and scored on a 3-yard run that gave Stanford a 14-0 lead in the first quarter.

Trailing, 20-14, Wisconsin mounted a final drive, but quarterback Curt Phillips’s pass was tipped and intercepted by Usua Amanam near midfield with 2 minutes 3 seconds remaining.

Wisconsin seniors had pleaded for Alvarez, the athletic director, to step in for Bret Bielema, who had left for Arkansas. Alvarez hired the Utah State coach Gary Andersen, but decided to take Bielema’s place in the Rose Bowl. Six assistants who will have new jobs stayed to assist Alvarez.

Stanford (12-2), ranked eighth, opened the game with two touchdown drives, balanced and impressive, as it had looked with Andrew Luck at quarterback a year ago. Taylor pushed forward and wiggled for extra yards. Kevin Hogan, who is often likened to Luck, looked as if this were not his fifth career start, marching the Cardinal 80 and 79 yards.

Bill Plaschke wasn't thrilled:

At this point, I can think of, oh, 98 Rose Bowls that were more exciting than this one...somebody please do something besides punt..
— Bill Plaschke (@BillPlaschke) January 2, 2013

Well, Stanford's sure excited.

Tension-Filled New Year's Day in the House of Representatives

The post title above draws on the reporting at the Wall Street Journal, "Cliff Showdown in House: Chamber Takes Up Senate Version of Bill Despite GOP Objections on Spending."

I've been out all day, visiting friends and watching the Rose Bowl. But I've been following along on Twitter. Things have been a lot more complicated today. Folks woke up this morning and went to work to actually get a grip on what was in the Senate's fiscal cliff compromise passed during the wee hours. Tom Foreman breaks down the House GOP's opposition at the clip. And the best analysis I've read all day is this lead editorial at the Journal, "Obama's Tax Bill Comes Due":

The headlines say the Senate has passed a bill to avoid the tax cliff, hallelujah. This is the way to look at it if you have a pre-Copernican view of politics where Washington is the center of the economic universe. The better way to see it is that the tax bill on the private, productive part of the economy is now coming due for President Obama's first-term spending and re-election.

The Senate-White House compromise is a Beltway classic: The biggest tax increase in 20 years in return for spending increases, and all spun for political purposes as a "tax cut for the middle class." But taxes on the middle class were only going up on January 1 because the politicians had set it up that way, manufacturing a fake crisis. The politicians now portray themselves as scrambling heroically to save the day by sparing the middle class while raising taxes on small business, investors and the affluent.

Continue reading.

And see David Malpass, "Nothing Is Certain Except More Debt and Taxes."

Also at the Los Angeles Times, "Obama wins 'fiscal cliff' victory, but at high cost":

WASHINGTON — President Obama, who campaigned on raising taxes on the wealthiest Americans, has fulfilled that promise even before his next term starts.

The announcement Monday night of Senate agreement on a compromise to avert part of the "fiscal cliff" meant that for the first time in two decades, Republicans in Congress were preparing to vote in favor of a bill that raised taxes, an extraordinary concession to the nation's fiscal woes and the president's reelection.

But Obama's victory fell short of what he had campaigned for, and came at a high cost. Even if the House later Tuesday or Wednesday musters the votes to approve the bill that the Senate was to vote on in the wee hours of Tuesday morning, the terms of this compromise guarantee another pitched battle over spending and taxes within months.

Continue reading.

I think the costs will be higher for Republicans, actually. If I can gather the motivation, I want to go back and research how the GOP agreed to this "fiscal cliff" framework in the first place, and especially whose idea it was for "sequestration." For real. It's as if an automatic tax increase, with spending cuts to defense, was tailor -made for the Obama White House in the first place. You're not negotiating a deal when that's the "consequence" of failure. The Democrats would get massive tax increases, etc., and could blame them on the GOP. See Jonathan Tobin for more on the frankly shitty politics of it all, "GOP Plays Into Obama’s Hands on Cliff."

In any case, politics on New Year's Day isn't all that pleasant. I think most people would rather be relaxing than stressing higher taxes and spending cuts. But these are the Obama Democrats we're dealing with nowadays. They don't really care about the well-being of regular people, and they certainly don't care about economic growth. They care about political power and expanding their big government agenda, and they've been quite good at it. Ross Douthat has more, and then I'll be back with more on this later, "Liberalism’s $400,000 Problem." (Via Memeorandum.)

UPDATE: The bill passed in the House and now goes to the president for his signature. At the New York Times, "G.O.P. Advances Senate-Backed Plan, Despite Opposition."

Black Monday Sweeps Through the NFL

Seven coaches were fired.

The Los Angeles Times reports:

@ampowerblog pounding the sidelines as long as he has been pounding all you can eat buffets I gather #NFL #SNF
— Em (@lamblock) December 31, 2012

Overnight, the NFL went from Xs and O's to ex-coaches and whoas.

In a head-spinning blizzard of pink slips, seven head coaches were fired Monday, leaving openings in Philadelphia, San Diego, Buffalo, Chicago, Arizona, Cleveland and Kansas City.

The dismissals included three coaches who led their teams to Super Bowls in the last eight years: Andy Reid of Philadelphia, Lovie Smith of Chicago and Ken Whisenhunt of Arizona.

Also shown the door were San Diego's Norv Turner, Buffalo's Chan Gailey, Cleveland's Pat Shurmur and Kansas City's Romeo Crennel.

Five general managers were fired: San Diego's A.J. Smith, Cleveland's Tom Heckert, Arizona's Rod Graves, Jacksonville's Gene Smith and the New York Jets' Mike Tannenbaum.

Most of the moves were long-anticipated, but the Bears raised some eyebrows by dumping Lovie Smith after a 10-win season that failed to produce a playoff berth. The Eagles parted ways with Reid, the league's longest-tenured coach, who had been there for 14 seasons. Philadelphia was 4-12 this season.

"When you have a season like that, it's embarrassing. It's personally crushing to me and it's terrible," Eagles owner Jeffrey Lurie said in a news conference.

Lurie said he didn't fire Reid after last season because the Eagles had always bounced back after a down year.

"That was the history," Lurie said. "I really believed that this season, with our talent, that we would be a strong contender and a double-digit win team. Nobody is more disappointed or crushed than myself because I fully believed that that's exactly where we were at in August as we started the season."

Although the firings came fast and furious Monday, the turnover has yet to match that of 2010, when there were 10 new coaches put in place, nearly a third of the league. The day after the season ends has come to be known as Black Monday.

"You hope that those guys that obviously were victims of Black Monday land on their feet," St. Louis Coach Jeff Fisher said. "You've got guys that have been to Super Bowls and won championship games and all of a sudden they've forgot how to coach, I guess."

More at the top.

I'm taking my boys up to Long Beach to watch the Rose Bowl with my colleagues Charlotte and Greg Joseph and their kids. I'll be back blogging tonight. I'm still reading around on the reaction to the budget deal and I'll have more on that. And don't miss lamblock on Twitter. She's a riot.

Laguna Beach Plastic Bag Ban Starts Today

Long Beach, in Los Angeles County, bans plastic bags. I pay 10 cents for a paper bag whenever I stop off at Wal-Mart on the way home from work. It's lame. And it's coming to the O.C.

At the O.C. Register, "Laguna plastic-bag ban begins today." The best part is the argument against from the surprisingly-named American Progressive Bag Alliance:

"Laguna Beach's plastic bag ban and paper bag tax will not only hurt consumers' pockets but also push them toward less sustainable alternatives," chairman Mark Daniels said in the statement. "Paper bags are a worse environmental option at checkout – using a large amount of water and emitting more greenhouse gases than plastic bags, and reusable bags cannot be recycled and are predominately imported from China."

The organization shared the following data:

• Reusable bags have been found to host dangerous bacteria, which can carry disease;
• Plastic bags aren't usually single-use, they said, with 90% of Americans reporting they re-use their plastic bags;
• Cloth bags must be used 131 times to ensure their footprint is less than a plastic bag, according to a U.K. government study;
• Seven times the number of trucks are required to deliver paper bags versus one truck for plastic;
• Plastic bag production consumes 4 percent of the water used in paper bag production.

Long Beach and Los Angeles County have similar ordinances.

Right on.

E-Book Reading Grows

I'm not quite there yet, although I'm reading journal articles on my wife's iPad. I'm liking it, so who knows?

At Pew Research, "E-book Reading Jumps; Print Book Reading Declines":

The population of e-book readers is growing. In the past year, the number of those who read e-books increased from 16% of all Americans ages 16 and older to 23%. At the same time, the number of those who read printed books in the previous 12 months fell from 72% of the population ages 16 and older to 67%.

Overall, the number of book readers in late 2012 was 75% of the population ages 16 and older, a small and statistically insignificant decline from 78% in late 2011.

The move toward e-book reading coincides with an increase in ownership of electronic book reading devices. In all, the number of owners of either a tablet computer or e-book reading device such as a Kindle or Nook grew from 18% in late 2011 to 33% in late 2012. As of November 2012, some 25% of Americans ages 16 and older own tablet computers such as iPads or Kindle Fires, up from 10% who owned tablets in late 2011. And in late 2012 19% of Americans ages 16 and older own e-book reading devices such as Kindles and Nooks, compared with 10% who owned such devices at the same time last year.

Continue reading.

Hispanic Pregnancies Fall in U.S.

This is fascinating.

At the New York Times, "U.S. Birthrate Dips as Hispanic Pregnancies Fall."

And while we're on the topic, you gotta read this, from Jonathan Last, at the Weekly Standard, "A Nation of Singles."

Audrina Partridge Calendar 2013

Hey, a great way to start the new year. What a lovely.

At London's Daily Mail, "Bikini girl Audrina Patridge reveals sneak peek of her sizzling 2013 calendar."

Hot Jenny McCarthy Kisses Navy Officer on New Year's Eve 2013!

This was something else.

At Gossip Cop, "Jenny McCarthy Makes Out with Navy Officer on New Year’s Eve (VIDEO)."

And see London's Daily Mail, "'Thirteen is my lucky number! Taylor Swift steals the show in leather as she heads New York's star studded celebrations."

'You Shook Me All Night Long'

I was thinking about this song earlier, a classic rocker for New Year's Eve:

She was a fast machine
She kept her motor clean
She was the best damn woman that I ever seen
She had the sightless eyes
Tellin' me no lies
Knockin' me out with those American thighs
Takin' more than her share
Had me fighting for air
She told me to come but I was already there
'Cause the walls start shaking
The earth was quakin'
My mind was achin'
And we were makin' it and you -

CHORUS:
Shook me all night long
Yeah you shook me all night long

Workin' double time
On the seduction line
She was one of a kind, she's just mine all mine
Wanted no applause
Just another course
Made a meal out of me, and come back for more
Had to cool me down
To take another round
Now I'm back in the ring to take another swing
'Cause the walls were shaking
The earth was quakin'
My mind was achin'
And we were makin' it and you -

CHORUS:
Shook me all night long
Yeah you shook me all night long
Knocked me out and then you
Shook me all night long
Then you were shakin' and you
Shook me all night loooong
Yeah you shook me
Well, you took me

(guitar solo)

You really took me and you
Shook me all night long
Oaaaaaahhhhhh you shook me all night long
Yeah yeah you
Shook me all... night... long
Ya really took me and you
Shook me all night long

Yeah you shook me, yeah you shook me
All night loooong!

'It Don't Come Easy'

You know it don't come easy, at the Concert for Bangladesh:

(It don't come easy, you know it don't come easy)
(It don't come easy, you know it don't come easy)

Got to pay your dues if you want to sing the blues
And you know it don't come easy
You don't have to shout or leap about
You can even play them easy
Forget about the past and all your sorrow
The future won't last
It will soon be your tomorrow

I don't ask for much, I only want your trust
And you know it don't come easy
And this love of mine keeps growing all the time
And you know it don't come easy
Open up your heart, let's come together
Use a little luck, and we will make it work out better

Got to pay your dues if you want to sing the blues
And you know it don't come easy
You don't have to shout or leap about
You can even play them easy
Please remember peace is how we make it
Here withing your reach, is your freedom to take it

I don't ask for much, I only want your trust
And you know it don't come easy
(de de de) growing all the time
And you know it don't come easy...

Memorization's Loosening Hold on Concert Tradition

I was in band in junior high. I played French horn. We had to memorize if we wanted to play, for both marching band and the holiday classical concert. It was a long time ago. But this story at the New York Times triggered the memory, "Playing by Heart, With or Without a Score":

It would seem that the filmmaker Michael Haneke, who wrote and directed the wrenching and poignantly acted new French movie “Amour,” is swept away by the mystique of a pianist, alone onstage, conveying mastery and utter oneness with music by playing a great piece from memory. The drama of playing from memory is at the crux of a scene involving the elegant French pianist Alexandre Tharaud, who, portraying himself, has a small but crucial role.

The story revolves around an elderly Parisian couple, Georges and Anne, retired music teachers, as they cope with the stroke that has paralyzed Anne’s right side. In one scene Mr. Tharaud, in the role of a former student of Anne’s who has gone on to a significant career, makes an unannounced visit to his old teacher to see how she is faring. He can barely contain his shock at her condition. Anne (Emmanuelle Riva) asks a favor: Would Alexandre play a piece she made him learn when he was 12? It is Beethoven’s Bagatelle in G minor, the second of the Six Bagatelles (Op. 126), Beethoven’s last published piano work.

At first Mr. Tharaud demurs. He has not played the piece for years, he explains, and is not sure he can remember it. Then, saying he will try, he proceeds to play the stormy bagatelle flawlessly, at least as much as we hear before the film cuts to the next scene. I suppose it would have been too pedestrian a touch if, when Alexandre said he was not sure he could remember the bagatelle, Anne had said, “Oh, I have the score, of course, right there on the shelf.”

Over the years I have observed that the rigid protocol in classical music whereby solo performers, especially pianists, are expected to play from memory seems finally, thank goodness, to be loosening its hold. What matters, or should matter, is the quality of the music making, not the means by which an artist renders a fine performance.

Increasingly, major pianists like Peter Serkin and Olli Mustonen have sometimes chosen to play a solo work using the printed score. The pianist Gilbert Kalish, best known as an exemplary chamber music performer and champion of contemporary music, has long played all repertory, including solo pieces (Haydn sonatas, Brahms intermezzos), using scores. As a faculty member of the excellent music department at Stony Brook University, Mr. Kalish spearheaded a change in the degree requirements in the 1980s, so that student pianists could play any work in their official recitals, from memory or not, whichever resulted in the best, most confident performance.

Yet there is still widespread and, to me, surprising, adherence in the field to the protocol of playing solo repertory from memory. This season Mr. Tharaud took a little flak for performing recitals in New York using printed scores.

Continue reading.

Senate Vote Approves Fiscal Deal, Raises Taxes on Wealthiest Americans

I'm following on Twitter:

SENATE PASSES THE DEAL: 89-8. On to the House.
— Lisa Desjardins (@LisaDCNN) January 1, 2013

There's nothing like it for up-to-the-minute news and opinion:

Republican senators abandon their party, vote with Obama to raise taxes. #fiscalcliff #thirdparty #recall
— toddstarnes (@toddstarnes) January 1, 2013

And here's this just now at CNN, "Obama insisted on sequester buy down":

Washington (CNN) - Fiscal cliff negotiations between the White House and Congressional leaders involved late-night discussions in the Oval Office and an ultimate hardline from President Barack Obama, according to a source familiar with the process.

The source said it was the president who insisted the final deal include a pay down on the sequester and a tax increase that hit at least inviduals making $400,000 a year and $450,000 for households. That’s where the deal ended up.

On Monday, Republicans agreed to a plan that raises $620 billion in revenue over 10 years and makes a $24 billion down payment on deficit reduction through a combination of revenue and spending cuts – also a priority for the president. Those spending cuts have been pre-determined and will be evenly divided between defense and non-defense areas.

A source familiar with the discussions and revealing a slant on negotiations argued these deal points represented significant concessions from the GOP. This person insisted that because Republicans backed off their pledge to oppose tax rate increases for the wealthiest Americans and said this deal represents one of the most significant policy victories of the last two decades.

Not everyone has the same view. The progressive group moveon.org criticized the White House for moving off Obama’s pledge to raise taxes for households earning $250,000 and more and took issue with the short-term nature of the sequester delay.

“At the end of the day, poor and middle class families deserve a better deal than more tax cuts for the rich and the potential for another hostage situation in two months,” the organization said in a statement.

Damned commies.

More at the link.

And at the New York Times, "Grand Deals Give Way to Legislative Quick Fixes."

Like I said earlier, this has been the strangest New Year's Eve.

Added: From the New York Post, "Senate approves fiscal cliff legislation hours after midnight; House yet to vote."

Obama and GOP Seal Budget Deal

Well, I'd say "our long national nightmare is over," except it's not. These idiots just kicked the can down the road. At the Wall Street Journal, "U.S. Budget Compromise Is Reached":

President Barack Obama and Senate leaders reached a New Year's Eve budget agreement that would boost income-tax rates rise for the first time in nearly 20 years, maintain unemployment benefits for millions of people and blunt the impact of spending cuts that were looming as part of the fiscal cliff.

The long-sought compromise—which would raise taxes on joint filer's incomes above $450,000 and delay for two months part of the $110 billion in spending cuts that otherwise would have taken place in early January—was expected to be approved by the Senate in the early morning hours of Tuesday. The House was expected to consider it later in the day.

The delay in approval meant that the U.S. technically went over the fiscal cliff at midnight. But with U.S. markets closed Tuesday, the impact of missing the deadline could be minimal. What damage the wrangling has caused—to the 2013 tax-filing season and consumer confidence—is already assured.
Passage isn't a sure thing in the House, where conservative Republicans are dismayed that the compromise raises taxes and doesn't include more cuts in federal spending. Speaker John Boehner (R., Ohio) said the House could amend it and send it back to the Senate, but supporters of the compromise hope that a big bipartisan vote of approval in the Senate would help in propel it through the House and onto Mr. Obama's desk for his signature by Thursday.

The compromise was prepared for the Senate floor after Vice President Joe Biden, who brokered the deal with Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R., Ky.) traveled to the Capitol for a late-night meeting with Senate Democrats, including many who harbored reservations about the deal.

Major elements of the compromise would...

Read the details at the link (via Memeorandum).

And at CNN, "Latest updates: Final fiscal cliff scramble." And CNN's Lisa Desjardins is live-tweeting.

It's 10:30pm on the West Coast, so I'll be up for awhile, ringing in this weird New Year.

CARTOON CREDIT: NetRight Daily.

Des Moines Register Columnist Wants Mitch McConnell and John Boehner Lynched

I clearly remember, back in the late-1990s, how the murder-by-dragging (lynching) death of James Byrd, in Beaumont, Texas, became a left-wing rallying cry against the purported "Jim Crow" racism the so-called "radical right." So I'll be waiting with bated breath for the progressive fever swamps to rise up in outrage at gun control extremist Donald Kaul's exhortaton that the Republican House Speaker and Senate Minority Leader to be dragged to their deaths. See, "Nation needs a new agenda on guns." After a long rant in which he confesses his "anger" at the Newtown massacre, here's Kaul's conclusion (via Memeorandum):

Then I would tie Mitch McConnell and John Boehner, our esteemed Republican leaders, to the back of a Chevy pickup truck and drag them around a parking lot until they saw the light on gun control.

And if that didn’t work, I’d adopt radical measures. None of that is going to happen, of course. But I’ll bet gun sales will rise.

Interesting how Kaul calls for truly "radical" measures after that, which no doubt would be to simply kill all Republicans, kind of like how the Nazis tried to exterminate the Jews in the 1930's and 1940's.

Nice Deb's not kidding when she warns that fascism's coming to America.

It turns out as well that we've got Georgetown University Law Professor Louis Michael Seidman announcing that we should simply ignore the Constitution. It's just getting in the way of the left's totalitarian agenda, "Let's Give Up on the Constitution." Really. William Jacobson responds, "Extra-constitutional power is what they’ve always wanted":

I find myself agreeing more frequently than ever before with Glenn Greenwald, at least on the issue of the willingness and desire of “progressives” to go where even the demonized George W. Bush was not willing to go, and the willingness with which the progressive intelligentsia embraces such ideas in the service of Obama. Or maybe he’s agreeing with me.

Well, yeah. I've been finding myself agreeing with Greenwald too, since he's about the only one on the left who's willing to apply the Constitution to the current regime in power.

Remember my post from this morning, "Keep Fighting in 2013"? Well, folks need to keep fighting not only to preserve their liberty, but the lives. And I write this in all seriousness. We're getting multiple doses of the left's eliminationist rhetoric on a daily basis nowadays. Seriously. It's time to stand a post.

PHOTO CREDIT: "Jasper County Assistant District Attorney Pat Hardy displays the chain allegedly used to drag James Byrd Jr. to his death during a break in the trial of Lawrence Russell Brewer Thursday, Sept. 16, 1999, at the Brazos County Courthouse in Bryan, Texas," via the Beaumont Enterprise.