Kudos to D.C. . . . deja vu edition . . . sort of

It appears that the GOP victories in November have given Barack Obama a new perspective.  Tonight, an agreement has been reached to extend the Bush tax cuts.  (Link to story here.)  This was, by far, the most important thing on the agenda for the lame duck Congress.  I suppose, technically, it is still on their agenda but I can't really see the Congressional Dems blocking their president's compromise.  Failure to extend the tax cuts (a.k.a. a massive tax increase) would be a massive blow to the American economy.  Washington, on this one, isn't failing.  Thankfully.

Surprisingly, Obama's also seen the wisdom of cutting taxes.  Apparently included in the deal is a cut of 2% from the Social Security payroll tax . . . from 6.2% to 4.2%.  Wow.  FICA's going to be taking less of our money.  I can get behind that idea.

Now, the deal far from perfect.  The Bush tax cuts are only being extended 2 years - so we'll have this fight again in the lame duck session of the 2012 Congress.  And, the payroll tax cut is temporary too.

There are extensions of some tax credit programs too.  I don't know enough about the specifics of those to comment (sorry, I just don't have the time).

But long-term unemployment benefits were extended for an additional 13 months as well.  How working American taxpayers can continue to pay Americans who are not working for 99 weeks?  That's just four weeks short of TWO YEARS folks . . . TWO YEARS!  There's no money - but we're paying people to sit at home and watch Oprah or Days of Our Lives.

Enough, eventually, has to be enough.

But allow the criticism to wait for a little while.  Take the deal and smile.  Enjoy the boost in your paycheck.  Spend it.  And let's create an actual recovery.