Yesterday's Accomplishments - The Visible is Less Important than the Invisible
Something happened yesterday in Congress. It had some marginal effect on the economy, and a few things got tidied up that really needed to be tidied up. Most people are focused on the end of the Bush Tax Cuts for those earning over $400K or $450K. That's a nice thing, as is the extension of those tax cuts permanently to everone else, or at least as permanently as anything Congress does can be.
Other good things that needed doing, like extending unemployment compensation, fixing a stupid milk pricing deal that should have been fixed long ago, and other stuff was also part of yesterday's passage of what came to be known as the "fiscal cliff" bill. Nice.
But, some more important things happened yesterday, and in the days leading up to yesterday, and they aren't going to get talked about as much right now:
1. President Obama, after winning a second term as President, backed down Boehner, shrugged his shoulders at Congressman Cantor and his Tea Party cohorts, and essentially said to the Republican leadership, "You may have a majority in the House, but you've lost anyhow. Let me show you what happens when you push public opinion beyond the breaking point. You don't get to dictate terms in my second term. Let's just see how many Republican Congress members vote for this little package of stuff that needs to be done. After you see that, you'll be clearer on what I'm talking about."
2. The Republican Party lost all semblance of universal discipline within its own caucuses in the House and Senate. Grover Norquist and the Tea Party's ability to dictate to Republican legislators is sharply diminished after yesterday. This is huge. Without that ability, Senators and House members whose names you probably don't even know will again be able to vote in ways that actually benefit and respond to the needs of their constituents, rather than voting only as they are told to vote. The fear of retaliation by their own party is diminished. Not gone, but diminished.
3. Election of the House Speaker is the first order of business on Thursday. With Boehner having soiled himself repeatedly in recent weeks, and Cantor's temper tantrums resulting in absolutely nothing, it is unclear who will become the Speaker at this point. In fact, the very idea that it is unclear is evidence of how much damage the GOP has done to itself over the past several years.
4. In the Senate, a change in the filibuster rule can be put in place on Thursday that could end the ability of the minority party to block action on legislation and appointments that actually have majority support and would pass. It's not certain that this will happen, but yesterday's actions make it more likely, I believe. If this happens, judicial appointments will clear faster, and needed legislation can move more smoothly toward the President's desk.
5. President Obama can count coup in several areas over what has happened. Leading toward the SOTU coming up, we should see movement in leadership in a number of areas, culminating in a powerful and popular call to action when he addresses the Congress. Watch for it. Momentum is building, and will continue, while the GOP is still attending to its wounds and trying to recover from what just happened to them.
All my opinion, of course. It's going to be interesting.
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