No Deal?

Well now.

As of 4:00 pm today the deal agreed upon by the White House and passed by the Senate – by a whopping 89-8 margin – has not been taken up by the House. Indeed, all the signs are that it won’t. Some of the leading conservatives in the House, Eric Cantor being the leader, have already announced that they oppose the deal because it doesn’t include cuts to social programs.

Thus it looks unlikely that the deal will be finalized.

Next steps?

One course is for the House to pass the deal but with significant additions, including those spending cuts. The bill would then go back to the Senate. There is no way such an amended bill would pass the Senate. The deal would then collapse.

There is little surprise in all this especially given the failure of the Republicans in the House to agree to anything in the round of negotiations just before Christmas.

The extreem right wing attack on social spending is the driver of this impasse and looks set to continue as the big roadblock.

The curious factor at play? Why did the Senate Republicans go along with the deal if they thought that their House colleagues would nix it? No one knows for sure at the moment.

Or is this a grand trick being played by the GOP?

Consider this:

The deal gets amended in the House to make huge cuts to social programs. It goes back to the Senate, where Democrats vote it down. Now the Bush tax increases go into effect and the Democrats are the ones who let that happen. The Republicans can pin the blame for the tax increases on the White House and the Democrats.

The deadlock and the farce continues …