It amazes me that no one comments on the pile of elephant shit in the living room.
All of this refusal to raise taxes on the obscene rich is a cover for the true motive.
It's the estate tax they really care about. And the reason they care about it is because their paymasters -- the Kochs, the Waltons, the Gallos -- stand to lose major MAJOR amounts of money if the the Bush tax policy is rescinded. And that's what it's always been about. That's what it was about when Bush forced through that tax law. They can't go back to the obscene rich and shake them down for more "campaign contributions" (read bribes) if they don't die trying to stop the inevitable.
Got a fiscal cliff there? Geeronimooo!
Appendix F of the following will be posted in a separate diary.