I'm not writing about this much, in part because I think much of what is going on is theater.  Lots of posturing on both sides.

I will note, however, that Republicans are playing a losing game.  Most polls show that they are not trusted to avoid the fiscal cliff, and if we do go over it, the GOP will be blamed.

Popularity for raising taxes on the upper 2% remains solid.

It's just embarrassing to watch this play out.  Everyone knows what needs to be done — tax increases on the wealthy, and slashes to the budget (particularly within the military), and some entitlement reform.  Everybody in Washington just needs to hunker down and do it.

The problem, of course is the Republicans, who have to satisfy a based which is still not tethered to reality.

And speaking of reality, were you aware that 49% of polled Republicans believe that the presidential election was stolen by ACORN?  This, despite the fact that ACORN (the community organizing group) has been non-existent since 2010.