The fiscal cliff Bipolar disorder
THE denouement of the fiscal-cliff drama, unsurprisingly, ended up with a vote that split Republicans in the House. John Boehner, Paul Ryan and 83 other GOP representatives joined 172 Democrats in voting to pass the compromise bill crafted in the Senate that will raise taxes on income over $400,000 for individuals and $450,000 for couples. Just over 150 GOP representatives, including Eric Cantor, the majority leader, and Kevin McCarthy, the majority whip, voted against. The most interesting vote was probably that of Mr Cantor. As Dave Weigel writes, Mr Cantor's spokesman tweeted at 5pm: "Majority Leader Cantor stands with @SpeakerBoehner. Speculation otherwise is silly, non-productive and untrue." Just hours later, Mr Cantor waited to make sure the bill had enough votes to pass, then voted against it, armouring his posterior against tea-party primary challenges and the wrath of Grover Norquist.