Saturday Reading

The Kaplan Daily's Ezra Klein has a good column on the "negotiations" over the so-called "fiscal cliff." The gist of it is that, in his first term, Obama tried to bring Rethuglicans to the table on legislation, only to end up negotiating with himself when they obstructed his efforts to compromise:

"Previously, Obama’s pattern had been to offer plans that roughly tracked where he thought the compromise should end up. The White House’s belief was that by being solicitous in their policy proposals, they would win goodwill on the other side, and even if they didn’t, the media would side with them, realizing they’d sought compromise and been rebuffed. They don’t believe that anymore."

What we're seeing now is "surprise" among the Rethugs and their fluffers in the Beltway media who can't believe the President actually won the election (and the Dems improved their positions in Congress), and who is carrying out his promises.