There’s a set vote on the tax cut bill on Monday. Nothing else has been scheduled to move today. Bernie is not really blocking anything. This puts Sanders’ speech into the Congressional record; I’m not sure there’s an additional purpose.

But that’s not to say it isn’t important.

For most of the year, Washington is overrun with deficit hysteria, but right now is that special, magical time of the year. No I’m not talking about Christmas! I’m talking about the joyous season of the January 1 scheduled end of temporary tax provisions that would increase rates for the ultra wealthy and end select corporate welfare programs!

Joyous for lobbyists, at least.

The President predicted that his tax plan would pass Congress, saying specifically that “nobody — Democrat or Republican — wants to see people’s paychecks smaller on Jan. 1 because Congress didn’t act.”

But if Congress does act, people’s paychecks will get smaller – a substantial amount, actually. And it will be a particular subset of people – the working poor, people who make under $20,000 a year, or families under $40,000.

The bill wasn’t negotiable, until… it was. On the main points, the tax bill introduced by Harry Reid last night contains the main points outlined by President Obama – a two-year extension of the Bush tax cuts, a two-year extension of the estate tax at drastically low rates, a 13-month unemployment insurance extension, several refundable tax credits from the stimulus, and a payroll tax cut of 2%. But a whole host of tax extenders also made their way into the bill, particularly on the renewable energy side.

What if the Republicans, unnerved by the anger in THEIR base over the deal, check out?

House Democrats, after taking an internal vote, decided against bringing up the Obama-brokered tax deal in its current form.

I frankly don’t even know how this is nonsense is possible given that the most recent Bloomberg poll taken during and after the deal was announced shows that keeping the tax cuts for the wealthy is unpopular, with only a third of Americans supporting even temporarily keeping the highest tax rate low. By the same token almost every recent poll before the deal was announced, like this CBS News poll, showed the public is behind the original Democratic position about ending the Bush tax cuts for those making over $250,000 and oppose extending all the tax cuts.

Larry Summers just dusted off the bazooka, telling reporters that, if Obama’s tax deal doesn’t pass, the failure will “materially increase the risk” that the economy will stall out and we will experience a double dip recession. Summers added that without a bill, economic analysts will issue downward revisions in growth/employment.

I really think it’s time to engage with the economic impact of the deal.

If you’re one of the 99ers who doesn’t know how your bills are going to be paid after the end of the year, give Jared Polis a call and ask him. This deal will be great for him. Maybe he can tell you why it’s good for you, too.

Washington DC: phone 202.225.2161, fax 202.226.7840
Boulder: phone 303.484.9596, fax 303.568.9007
Frisco: phone 970.668.3240, fax 970.668.9679
Thornton: phone 303.287.4159, fax 303.287.4385

Please watch every minute of this. Olbermann’s Special Comment about the McConnell-Obama tax cut deal is deeply and profoundly right.