Something about the sorry contextual lapse of 24 hour headline mongering has left the longer history out of this business of compromise. More below the salt shaker.
Here's what the media can't seem to bring to the table when reporting the fiscal "cliff":
The fact that real wages have consistently gone down for the middle class and earnings up for the 1%.
The fact that two wrong wars were unfunded under a Republican president.
The fact that very few married people can afford to be a stay-at-home homemaker with no need of extra income.
It seems to me that this long standing state of being bludgeoned and battered by GOP malfeasance in office is a pretty pithy chunk of what we are trying to right. The historical context allows a much broader picture, so instead of, say, taxes on the rich equals medicare cuts, we have already absorbed the Republican end of the bargain.
In other words, the GOPers got their chance to lead and pretty much failed. Our compromise is that, having withstood--and now pushed back against--said malfeasance, we will work to restore fairness to the polity as much as can be done. Our compromise is that we will attempt to repair the ravages they created. Perhaps they can aid us with some of their vaunted fiscal stewardship.