Osler's Razor

After years of every vote being a "showdown," it appears that the US House of Representatives is moving towards an era of greater cooperation.  By a vote of 359 to 67, it approved a new budget deal that will keep things calm until at least October. 

Intriguingly, the New York Times reports that this represents a "marginalization of the Republican far right," representatives of which are pretty upset at the deal.

There is a level at which those who are upset are right.  The proposed budget was 1,582 pages long and revealed only a few days ago, meaning that it is highly unlikely that anyone who voted for it actually read it.  (As someone who has been poring over legislation the last few days, believe me when I tell you that this stuff can be pretty dry).  Of course, they received a summary, and that can be more informative than you might imagine.  Even if we gave them a year, it is unlikely a lot of Members would have read this legislation. 

The bigger story arc is this:  The far right pushed for too much, and Speaker of the House John Boehner eventually got fed up.  Now the Tea Party stalwarts and related groups are being ignored.  They don't like it, but there is not much they can do... at least until the primaries start.  That is when things will get interesting.  It seems undeniable that standing firm on right-wing principles is no longer so popular in Washington.  The remaining question is whether the same transition has happened in the areas which elect Republicans to Congress... and I'm not sure it has.