You would have to have been living under a rock for the past 48 hours?or nursing an epic hangover?to have not heard of the bipartisan fiscal-cliff compromise that passed Congress on New Year?s Day. The law is called the ?American Taxpayer Relief Act.? It should have been called the ?GOP Politician Relief Act,? though, since the main reason it passed Congress is that Congressional Republicans were afraid of being blamed for a fiscal cliff-mandated tax hike on most Americans. Republicans are comforting themselves by claiming that, in the next round of fiscal negotiations, they will have more leverage. But the opposite is true: Republicans will have even less leverage in future deals, and government will grow even larger as a result.
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