Wow.

Ok, so there's these moments when you see what's happening and...

I don't know how I feel about realizing this today. I suppose I feel like I ought to have seen it sooner.

There's a reason all numbers, ultimately, were negotiable in the rescue package, but policies never really were. No matter what was supposedly being worked in or taken out of the bill, ever seemed to change the overall price tag.

Why?

Well, every once in a while, you'd hear Democratic leaders defend the bill by pointing out that Republican tax cuts had cost $1.9 million and no one had complained about spending that money.

No one complained about spending that money, but if you talk about tax cuts as a budget line item, and you get to writing a budget....

If you make the tax cuts a question of either/or, who is going to choose 'tax cuts for the rich' versus the monthly child benefit?

Democrats play 4D Chess and everyone but Mitch McConnell thinks its checkers.