But most Republicans were spineless twits…. as expected (vote tally at bottom).

“Mark my word, you’ll raise tax rates and you feel good because you went out there and you got those rich people. You said you were.  You campaigned against rich people.  And you got enough envy whipped up in the country. And you’re going to stick it to those rich people.  But guess what?  You may not get any more revenue.  You may not get anymore economic growth.  But you can say, “I stuck it to the rich people.””

marco_rubio_hiresSenator Marco Rubio of Florida says the Senate’s fiscal-cliff compromise, which passed the upper chamber early Tuesday, was a political mistake.

“I just couldn’t vote for it,” Rubio told reporters. “I ran, just two years ago, on the idea that I wanted to be part of solving the long-term problems this country faces. Time and again, we’re given choices here that don’t involve that.”

“The real fiscal cliff is still there,” he said. “We’ll be back here again. In March, we’ll have a showdown like this all over again.”  (link)

Senate Vote 1-1

(Roll Call Vote)

That was all President Obama wanted….  Get a bill passed in the Senate, and even if it does not pass the house, he can blame Republicans for being “extremist and obstructionist”….  That was/is the goal all along.

It was not about solving problems, helping the nation, fixing a debt and deficit issue, or tackling a budget challenge;  It never was about those things…..  From The White House

“At this make or break moment for the middle class, the President achieved a bipartisan solution that keeps income taxes low for the middle class and grows the economy,” the statement says. “For the first time in 20 years, Congress will have acted on a bipartisan basis to vote for significant new revenue.

“This means millionaires and billionaires will pay their fair share to reduce the deficit through a combination of permanent tax rate increases and reduced tax benefits.”

The White House said it achieved 85 percent of what it wanted on taxes, locking in $620 billion in revenue from wealthier Americans over 10 years. The statement, entitled “The Tax Agreement: A Victory for Middle-Class Families & the Economy” and issued less than an hour before Vice President Joe Biden was scheduled to meet with House Democrats on the Hill, includes a list of talking points covering everything from capital gains (hiked to 20 percent) to the extension of unemployment benefits and tax credits for renewable energy.

So, as expected, and with victory in hand, President Obama heads to the golf course…

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