how do people such as mr. drum get these high paid gigs spewing total rubbish? i'd like to know. for the right price, i too can spew absolute rubbish, and use lots more economicy, taxy and accountanty buzz words.

On the specific issue of the debt ceiling, the obvious thing Obama could have done differently was to insist that it be included as part of the lame duck deal last year. But for all the grief he's gotten over this, it's worth keeping in mind that Obama got a helluva lot out of that deal. In the end, he got a food safety bill, passage of the START treaty, a stimulus package, repeal of Don't Ask Don't Tell, and a 9/11 first responders bill. Maybe it would have been worth risking all that over inclusion of a debt ceiling increase, but that's hardly an open-and-shut case.

What's more, Obama also won passage during his first two years of a stimulus bill, a landmark healthcare bill that Democrats had been trying to pass for the better part of a century, a financial reform bill, and much needed reform of student loans. And more: a firm end to the Bush torture regime, the Lily Ledbetter Fair Pay Act, a hate crimes bill, a successful rescue of the American car industry, and resuscitation of the NLRB. Oh, and he killed Osama bin Laden too.

[snip]

Still and all, in two years Obama has done more to enact a liberal agenda than George Bush did for the conservative agenda in eight. That's not bad, folks. All things considered, I'd say Obama is the most effective politician of the Obama era. And the Bush era too.

Yeesh.

As to what he got for extending the Bush tax rates, it's only impressive if you assume that he could have gotten none of those things separately, or if you believe that what we have been through on the debt ceiling, most especially making hostage-taking a sport now open to both sides, and putting the safety net on the table, was worth it.

Not to mention the actual substance and effect of the actual debt deal itself.  

But, "the most effective politician of the Obama era?"  [hang on - everytime I read that, I throw up in my mouth a little]  I think if you're a Republican, you have to be pretty happy with what you got out of the deal - if you're a Democrat of the New Deal/FDR variety, if you're older, unemployed, or poor, it might be an understatement to say you're not pleased.

Link

"Obama: Debt Ceiling Deal Required Tough Concessions By Both Democrats And Democrats Alike"

"I'm truly grateful that both Democrats and their Democratic counterparts were able to reach this consensus, accepting an agreement that is far from perfect not just for Democrats, but also for Democrats"

I give this an A for hutzpah!

But if anyone who buys this is a moron of titanic proportions.

Cutting capital gains to 15% and removing dividends from the income steam and taxing them at a flat 15% fueled the massive income gaps.  That's how we get the 400 highest income families paying 16.6% in federal taxes.

The capital gains rate and dividend separation are arguably bigger income gap makers than the lowering of the top marginal rate on earned income.

What do I expect him to do now, you ask? Nothing. He's out of bullets and staring down the barrel of a double-dip recession he can do nothing to prevent, after claiming his economic policies were not to hot and not too cold, but just right. And he's screwed himself (and everyone else) even further with the debt deal. He's at the mercy of events, hoping for good news and an obviously insane Republican candidate in 2012.

How does this correlate to the message of betrayal this was supposed to have sent and the victory in public opinion the GOP was supposed to have won.

I am still trying to connect the reality as viewed by the average observer with the reality as viewed by the pundits on both sides.