” The bigger longer term risk is that after these taxes (over $250K) go up if there is no obvious deterioration of the economy that voters notice and instead the economy appears to improve.”
I wouldn’t worry too much about this. The economy will not get well.
Ah, but Obama and the media know the Dow, etc., will go up after the GOP caves, and then they will say, "see, the economy got better, just like when Clinton raised taxes." AS IF Wall Street is "the economy."
Like the owner of a car running with one bad cylinder, the fools who watch the nightly news will remain deluded... for a while. "See? it's still running!" After all, they reelected O after 4 years of sabotaging the economy.