Obama, Boehner, and the Lessons Learned From the Last Four Years
Republicans show they haven't learned much over the last four
years, but Obama has.  House Speaker John Boehner and President
Barack Obama can both claim electoral mandates to support their
positions on taxes.  The 2012 election was widely seen as a
ratification of the status quo: Obama will remain in the White
House, the Republicans are still in charge of the House, and
Democrats have a majority in the Senate (if not real control,
which is virtually impossible in the age of the omnipresent
filibuster). But that analysis has its flaws, starting with the
fact that GOP control of the House hangs not on the will of the
people—more cast votes for Democratic House candidates than for
Republicans—but on two quirks of political geography. One is
that Democrats tend to cluster in big cities, thus
circumscribing the scope of their influence. The other is that
Republicans used the recent redistricting process to solidify
their majority.  But there are br