Right-Wingers Who Think They Got 'Rolled' by Obama In Fiscal Cliff Deal Are Totally Crazy

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Meanwhile, Obama has given up much of his leverage for the next round by taking high-end tax cuts out of the debate.

This is what conservatives see as being “rolled" by Obama. And you wonder why it's so hard for the two parties to come to an agreement. 

Unfortunately, the clear losers in this fight are you and me and the people we know. The ultimate result of the deal is that we'll be taking money out of the economy rather than stimulating growth right in the middle of a painfully sluggish recovery . The Washington Post reports that even before the next fight, we're "now on pace for European levels of austerity for 2013."  The Post's Brad Plumer writes:

A back-of-the-envelope calculation suggests Congress has enacted around $304 billion in tax hikes and spending cuts for the coming year, an austerity package that comes to about 1.9 percent of GDP. (That’s merely the size of the cuts and taxes; it’s not necessarily the effect on growth.)

That's deeper "austerity" than that which pushed the UK and Spain into "double-dip" recessions. The Associated Press reports that economists are cutting their 2013 growth forecasts for the U.S. economy as a result of both the deal Congress passed, and the uncertainty caused by the looming cliffs it created.