Democrats

If New Year's Day arrives without a deal, the nation shouldn't plunge onto the shoals of recession immediately. There still might be time to engineer a soft landing. So long as lawmakers and the president appear to be working toward agreement, the tax hikes and spending cuts could mostly be held at bay for a few weeks. Then they could be retroactively repealed once a deal was reached.

The Senate opened debate on the aid measure seven weeks after the storm swept up the East Coast, causing extensive damage in New York, New Jersey and Connecticut and killing more than 120 people. Several Republicans say they're sympathetic to Sandy victims, but they favor a smaller aid package for the moment and suggest cutting other federal programs to pay for parts of it.

More than your typical freshman senator, Warren is also a very astute politician. She used those skills very well in calling Treasury Tim Geithner on the carpet for his management of the banking crisis, while keeping lines open to President Obama, who tapped her to be interim head of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.

John Boehner has presented his fiscal cliff proposal. Democrats are mocking it. Obama has called it "out of balance."

Remember a few weeks ago when Sam Seder was happy that Nancy Pelosi was going to remain the leader of the Democrats in the House? It was for good reason. Corporatist Blue Dog Democrat Steny Hoyer is out there right now saying he wants benefit cuts. Steny Hoyer is the No. 2 Dem in the House.