https://hotair.com/headlines/archives/2012/12/05/five-political-realities-about-the-fiscal-cliff/feed/HotAir is the leading conservative blog for breaking news and commentary covering the Biden administration, politics, media, culture, and current elections.en-usTue, 09 Jun 2026 09:28:18 -0400<![CDATA[1. President Obama&#8217;s swagger. More than just a post-election glow, Obama has actual leverage over Republicans, and he is not going to waste it. Some pundits say that Obama&#8217;s newly confident negotiating posture is the result of lessons learned during the first term wrestling over the debt limit and budgets: He could offer the farm for free and Republicans wouldn&#8217;t accept it. But Obama was genuinely constrained by the political realities of the time, much more so than he is today. The economy was in a more precarious state; the options Obama had for stimulus were few; his own party was under assault from the Tea Party movement over deficit spending, and the health care battle had exhausted Hill Democrats. Today, Obama can afford to be more confident. He has no re-election ahead of him; his time threshold for action is much longer. The economy is better.]]>Wed, 05 Dec 2012 20:05:33 -0500<![CDATA[Erika Johnsen]]>https://hotair.com/headlines/2012/12/05/five-political-realities-about-the-fiscal-cliff-n98038