I'm not enthusiastic or peeved at the GOP's Bush tax cut extension deal with Obama.  I'm hot/warm/cold on various portions of it, but lukewarm/warm overall.  I want to start by stating the DFL controlled the House for the past four years, the Senate/Presidency the past two years.  A super majority of DFL the past two years mind you.  When did the DFL EVER bring legislation to the House floor to extend and/or make permanent the Bush tax cuts for those making under $250,000?  Never!  Instead, they passed the stupid "Make Work Pay" act the essentially adds a welfare payment to your wages if you make less than $75,000 as a family, etc...  The DFL could have extended these tax cuts for the middle class ANYTIME they so chose...but didn't...  Now the DFL has been thrown from office and the GOP are very much in the driver's seat.  The GOP has ALL the power going into this Lame Duck session.  The GOP started out great by vowing to veto EVERYTHING until a budget and/or the tax cut extension was voted on.  All 42 Senators vowed such action.  Even the infuriating RINO hags up in ME, Susan Collins and Olympia Snowe.  Great work by the GOP in the Senate.  Let the defeated DFL House be responsible for raising taxes.  Dare all these DFL Senators up for election in 2012 to allow taxes to increase.  Instead?  We get a GOP/Obama deal to extend the tax cuts for two years, lower SSN taxes by 2%, and extend unemployment insurance by 56 weeks.  Overall, this deal has a score of 6 out of 10 to me.  The good...  1) The tax cuts were extended for all.  2) Unemployment was only extended for those over 26 weeks in, but under 99 weeks.  The GOP had to do a little something there since DFL/Obama has wrecked the economy.  It will take time for the tax cuts to have an impact.  The average...  1)  The extension was only for two years and will be an issue in the 2012 Presidential election year.  The GOP better push to make permanent!  The bad...  1 ) There is $100's of billions of unspent "stimulus" money, TARP, etc...  Why were these funds not used to pay for the tax cut extension and/or the unemployment extension?  Ugh!  Now the DFL can use the old "tax cuts for the wealthy add to the deficit and help no one" argument.  Ugh!  The GOP isn't even in control yet and they have already added to the deficit.  Obama's "slush funds" must be exposed!  2) The GOP has put themselves on the hook to potentially pass other bad DFL legislation via this deal.  (e.g. START treaty)  Which is likely given the previously mentioned Senate RINO hags. (e.g. DADT )  3)  The GOP has "rescued" Obama and the DFL from themselves by agreeing to a deal.  The DFL and/or Obama would have imploded 10x more than currently had they been left alone to deal with their mess.  The GOP better not carry this "get along" attitude into DC with them come 2011.  There was a CLEAR message sent.  Get er dun!!!  Repeal, cut, defund, expose!

Update 12/12/2010: I discovered more crap in the tax cut extension deal over the past few days.  The most annoying fact being the compromise extends tax incentives for various CRAP "green" initiatives like ethanol, hybrid cars, et al...  Pick your "green" fraud poison...  Ugh!  Ugh!  Ugh!  This alone moved my support down to a 4 of 10, but then Charles Krauthammer wrote this brilliant piece.  I am now officially a 2 of 10, but only due to the tax cut extension.  Every single other piece of this compromise is garbage!  GOP Revolt!