Go over the cliff. Let people understand the cost of big union government.

Mr. Hillyer shines a different light on the ´agreement´. Although he assumes that there are Elected Republicans that are smart enough, strong enough and brave enough to figure it out!

Keep your eye on the prize - the debt ceiling power of the House.

Slowly but surely, this "Fiscal Cliff" narrative will actually become a turning point in America Politics with a series of questions that The White House, The Senate, The MSM, and the American people will need to answer. If the Republicans and the Libertarians are smart, all they will need to do is ask these questions and let the Progressives answer them.

Will more tax revenue solve our spending problems?
(No. $1 of debt reduction for every $42 of tax revenue won’t stop debt limit increases)

If we raise taxes even more later this year, will that balance our budget?
(No)

If we raise our debt limit, will we balance our budget?
(No)

Is cutting the GROWTH of spending actually cutting the number of dollars we spend?
(No)

But if we DO cut the GROWTH of spending, will that stop us from having to keep increasing our debt limit?
(No)

So the only way to balance the budget is to actually CUT spending?
(Yes)

Do we have recommendations to cut our waste, fraud, and abuse in government spending?
(Yes)

Have we ever proposed doing that before we raise taxes or cut vital safety net programs?
(No)

Will the political party that proposes that first be demonized or praised by the other party and the press for doing so?
(Who knows?)

just another establishment inside the bubble moron.

time to change you voter registration to the American Renaissance Party. No establishment Repugs and no Dimms allowed.

The agreement stinks, but it could have been worse. We put ourselves in this position. We lost and Obama has all the leverage.

My only problem with Boehner has been his tactics. Instead of negotiating with Obama he should have made a clear, concise pitch to the voters. We need a big 2014 to take the Senate, this was an opportunity to fire the opening salvo.

L dotters, please read the article before posting. And sorry for second blank post in two days..still mastering the ipad.

So what of the Breitbart numbers? They´ve got all day. Make some spending and AMT and deduction amendments and send it back. And ignore the patsy up the street.

The House can stop this nonsense.

Couldn´t agree more Mr Hillyer... "It might just be time to lick our wounds, take our medicine, hobble away, and prepare a counterassault from high ground of our own choosing. In those two months, conservatives should push Paul Ryan back to the fore, and should listen to the wisdom of Jeff Sessions in the Senate about using open hearings to highlight the conservative case for lower spending, and should also push people to the fore such as Wisconsin’s Ron Johnson, and Marco Rubio, and Ted Cruz."

Where has Paul Ryan been????

Good article, thanks for posting, it´s good to hear both sides after reading the Breitbart version this morning.

Don´t like the result but what else can you realistically expect? We couldn´t get enough workers to the polls on November 6 and continue to be outnumbered by the parasites. Bottom line - go back to basics and awaken as many of the Nov 6 absentees as you can.

I agree with Hillyer. The alternative is really bad and I´d rather not do it. That said, the argument that those who vote for big government should pay for big government makes sense. The thing is, I didn´t vote for big government.

OMG, it is sad to see even onside the beltway folksd like Hillyer dont understand that the Senate will not cut spending. They put off the "cuts". Why even include the provision at all if there intent was to cut spending?

They act like cutting 10% from a $600 billion budget will make us defenseless.

Nonsense. Obama won this battle in the public perception. The details don´t matter.
We will not be able to "fight from high ground." We are in full retreat.
The House should amend the bill to Bowles-Simpson and watch the fascist in the White House choke.
They won´t. It´s a tuxedo world and the GOP is a pair of brown shoes.

Corporal Hitler refused to let his generals on the Eastern front make strategic withdrawals when it could have made a vast improvement in their situation. His refusal resulted in numerous German Armies being completely destroyed. The Germans were experts in these type actions. I hope Quin is right and McConnel and Boehner are doing a maneuver here, two months with Obamacare kicking in, 5% drop this week in O´s popularity since Christmas and the embarrassing act he did in his speech yesterday all give hope. Its hard to carryout a maneuver when our own side blames our guys for the poor situation. It´s about strategy and slowing down the enemy as well as leading "them" into a trap for a change. I know one thing, Obama does not sound or act like he´s winning.

Not awful? Then how come that $620B tax increase is already mostly spent? Each year congress automatically increases spending by 6-8% by some stupid congressional rule. That 15B cut is already gone because the increase in spending wipes it out.

This deal was a deal with the devil. McConnell needs to be sent packing. And now that the House has passed it, so do they. Next cave will be the debt limit.