Once again, there will be much hand-wringing over the lack of an acknowledged successor to the veteran leader, whose health problems have become more visible of late.
Conservatives, already unhappy with tax increases, are likely to be further displeased that the Senate agreement fails to actually deal with spending something Minority Leader Mitch McConnell acknowledged yesterday when asking GOP Senators to vote for the bill despite its failure to address spending cuts, noting that the tax portion of the fiscal cliff was the most important component of the deal.