Great news, everyone! The Fiscal Cliff happened and then didn’t happen and now everyone is a winner!
No, we’re serious. Politico‘s epic reveal of the event that lead up to and enveloped the District could be summed up with John Boehner’s own advice from an F-bomb:
The harsh exchange just a few steps from the Oval Office — which Boehner later bragged about to fellow Republicans — was only one episode in nearly two months of high-stakes negotiations laced with distrust, miscommunication, false starts and yelling matches as Washington struggled to ward off $500 billion in tax hikes and spending cuts.
The race up, over and back down the so-called cliff has left a lot of DC wondering what the exact fight was worth. All the cliff attention saw the House ignore New York relief efforts from Superstorm Sandy, which infuriated Rep. Peter King so much he threatened to leave the party. From the New York Times:
Last week, the Senate adopted a $60.4 billion aid package, and on Wednesday Mr. King and other local politicians said they had been promised that the House would bring it up for a vote before the current legislative session ends on Thursday. That is unlikely now, and the aid bill will have to be reintroduced in the new Congress and passed by both chambers.
Speaker Boehner promised to deal with the money after the 113th Congress are sworn in, President Obama demanded an immediate vote. Meanwhile, Politico also goes into the ayes, nays and abstains behind the vote. The cliff vote also included some other essential materials like rum and scooters. No, really. Then Business Insider would like to remind all of you that this entire vote may be nothing but a two-month pause for Boehner’s “Plan A/B/C.”
If you ask us, though, all these letter plans seem to hint at a bigger issue: the return of DC’s own D-Plan. We always assumed the Speaker was a fan of indie rock from DC.