Smoke and mirrors? Maybe. But I doubt if it's that simple. I've little doubt that Obama made a good pitch for the extension.

But it got lost in the political world of 'compromise'. I suspect Don Firth is right when he says

"Obama seems to be trying his best to reassemble it (FDR's New Deal) again, but the Republicans are hell-bent on trying to prevent him from doing it"

And I think songwronger's also right.......he's sold out a bunch of needy people by signaling his agreement to this cuts.

Personally I wish he weren't such a 'politician' and that he were willing to really stand up for what he purports to believe in.

But I'm not party to all the details. It would be interesting to hear from somebody who has more information about exactly what happened.