all the conversation, all the discussion, all the news that s made in this whole discussion since the end of the election has been about what? it s been about tax rates on the rich. right. that has been the whole story. steve: it should be about spending. there are polls that show 60% of americans say go ahead, jack up taxes. eric: i get it. right about the polls showing they ll probably blame republican, but guess what? down the road, if you think of it right now, everyone is thinking about right now. fine, blame the republicans right now because ten, 15 years down the road it will be the only thing that saves america from going off the real cliff. not just the temporary fiscal cliff, the completedon cliff financially. steve: the republicans have some leverage because the president doesn t want his legacy if we go into a recession, his second term will be tanked right at the beginning. we may recover, but it s not the legacy he wants. so there is some peril for both sides.