OK. I admit it. I don’t have a magic wand. Oh, I’ve wanted one- since I was much younger. To try to have the policies of this great nation of ours be similar to my choices. But, that never happened.

So, what does one have available in our arsenal to deal with our policy decisions? We have two Republican leaders- one the Speaker of the House and the other the Senate Minority Leader, who have avowed that they will not vote for any increase in the tax rates. We have the Minority Leader of the House, the Majority Leader of the Senate,  and the President of the US (I am assuming that Nate Silver is right and Obama will be re-elected; that is not known as I write this) avowing that taxes will increase for the top 2% of the population.

But, there are a few other facts that everyone seems to recognize – but not truly understand. The Congress has already passed a poison pill- what some call the ‘Fiscal Cliff’. What I consider an opportunity. Because if Congress does nothing (which is, unfortunately, something it does all too well), there will be sequestration of a plethora of programs, a return to the tax rates of the pre-Bush era, with no change in Medicare or Social Security programs.

Which means the best program for the Democrats is to let the poison pill activate. Yes, I know every prediction that this will lead to a return to the Great Recession. Except, it won’t- if sentient beings prevail. (OK, I know- that magic wand, again…)

But, it doesn’t take mental giants to recognize the wisdom of this process. You see, if we let the extremists (you know, the Tea Party members- and, in my mind, ANY Congressman who abrograted his/her responsiblity to the United States of America, in contravention of the sacred oath of office and signed on to the insane concept belonging to the lobbyist, Grover Norquist- no new taxes) win this moment and NOT raise taxes on the 2%, then it is a simple task to fix the process.

Because on 1 January 2013, Congress will have already had all the tax rates rise. So, any vote will be lowering the tax rates on the 98% of the US Citizens. And, you can bet that the Estate Taxes (another bugaboo of the Tea Party) will be lowered from these new rates that now prevail (due to the calendar change). And, no one will be violating a promise they (never should) have made to Grover Norquist- because they are voting for TAX DECREASES and not a tax increase.

And, maybe, given the Draconian nature of the sequestration associated with this change of the calendar year, everyone can agree on a rational budget for Defense, Transportation, Science, and the rest of the budget. Which will mean cuts in expenditures and rises in revenue. Exactly what is needed to steer this great nation back to full employment (which seems to be about 5% unemployment rates) and a balanced budget within three years.

By the way… Now that the elections are over, let’s consider a few facts. The Democrats INCREASED their majority in the Senate. The Democrats GAINED seats in the House, but did not re-take the majority. The Democratic Congressfolks received MORE votes than the Republican Congressfolks- but because of recent gerrymandering [check the Congressional map of Pennsylvania, as an example, which reduced the possible Democratic Congressfolks to 5 out of 18- all with significant majorities [61, 69, 77, 85, 89%]- only one [65%] of which were matched by any Republican win, which were mostly squeakers), that vote majority did not register as an increase in Representatives. (This should remind everyone that EVERY election is important, and elections have consequences.) Finally, President Obama bested Mitt Romney by a significant margin- and won 50% more electoral votes than did Romney. Whose mandate was this again, Mssrs. McConnell and Boehner (using your ‘logic’ [sic] of 2010)?

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