FLASHBACK – It was 1:33 am Christmas Eve 2009 when Obamacare legislation was manipulated through the Senate by Harry Reid…… Crisis Control, with the emphasis on control, because he did not want Senators returning home only to have them witness the ire of their constituency because 70% of Americans were against their action…

So fast forward to the faux-Fiscal Cliff Crisis of 2012, and once again Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid keeps the Senators sequestered while he manipulates another legislative construct fraught with flaws, schemes, and manipulations in the dead of night….

The Crisis Bill contains $41 dollars in more spending for every $1 in new taxes, and he, along with President Obama are proud of that…..

Colleague Ed Henry says CBO indicates #fiscalcliff bill has $620 billion in new tax hikes. $15 billion in spending cuts.—
Chad Pergram (@ChadPergram) January 01, 2013

and already spiking the football in the face of Republicans claiming they historically forced the Republicans to break their tax pledge and raise taxes……

WH tells colleague Ed Henry Obama broke R's tax pledge. Calls it "1 of the most consequential policy achievements of the last couple decades—
Chad Pergram (@ChadPergram) January 01, 2013

(Via Politico) Congress lost a mad, New Year’s Eve dash to beat the fiscal cliff deadline, cinching a deal with President Barack Obama to raise taxes on the wealthy and temporarily freeze deep spending cuts but failing to get it through both chambers before midnight.

So over the cliff the country went — though perhaps for only a day or two and, assuming no snags, without incurring the double whammy of another recession and higher unemployment.

The measure, which would raise tax rates for families making more than $450,000 and delay deep across-the-board spending cuts for two months, cleared the Senate by an overwhelming 89-8 vote shortly after 2 a.m. The Republican-controlled House could take up the pact in a rare New Year’s Day session, though the timing of that chamber’s vote was not clear.

The $620 billion agreement was a major breakthrough in a partisan standoff that has dragged on for months, spooking Wall Street and threatening to hobble the economic recovery. It turned back the GOP’s two-decade-long refusal to raise tax rates, delivering a major win for the president. (read more)