People don’t understand that the whole “cliff” thing was a debacle from the moment it was set up. The Dems calculated it would give them super leverage in the crunch. They are playing chess while the GOP is playing checkers.
I think the GOP came out with as much as they could get and maybe more — plus they held off a one-year extension of the sequestration. Even the sequestration was a Dem set up, loaded to hit defense spending and thus give Dems leverage.
So, the original stupid mistake was to agree to the whole cliff arrangement with sequestration — the GOP walked right into that with their eyes wide shut.
The GOP preserved future leverage, however, with the final deal and they have additional leverage with the debt limit. Obama says he’s not going to ‘play’ over the debt limit and will play brinksmanship again. The GOP has to figure out how to trap him in his own game. It can be done.
Or maybe not:
http://www.humanevents.com/2013/01/01/obama-there-is-no-more-debt-ceiling/