I think this tax deal is a crock. Why are the Republicans going for this? The only thing they should go for is to make the tax cuts permanent and then outline a process for reducing the amount the feds spend. Here are some suggestions:

Eliminate the Department of Education ( After all name one person the Department of Education educates directly)

Eliminate the Department of Energy (their mandate was to reduce our dependance on foreign sources of energy)

Eliminate base line budgeting and force departments, including defense, to justify their costs (If they can’t cut their budget by 10%)

Elininate pensios and offer 401K programs with matching up to 4% as most private companies do.

The Republicans are acting like a bunch of buffoons. I won’t beleive anyone is serious about spending until the next years budget is less, in real dollars, than the previous years.