Has the G.O.P. gone socialist?!

No, but it looks like that boner Boehner has finally seen that the vast majority of Americans are on the lower fringes of what we still call the "middle" class and seriously need money more than the folks who take bonuses (paid for with bailout money) while everyone else eats white rice and beans six nights a week. Maybe someone finally explained to him that the median income in this country is only 29% of his own $174,000 per annum Congressional salary.

Or, more likely, his new willingness to allow the tax cuts for the rich to expire is more about the self-interest of Republican Congressional reps to hang onto their power. I can just see Boehner slapping his forehead. "Oh, right. We're elected by majority vote, and the huge majority will never make $200,000. D'oh." Thanks to Obama for bringing this up now that we're fast approaching midterm elections. On the other hand, now it becomes harder to paint the GOP as the obstructionists and elitists that they are. But, then again, Obama finally gets some cred as someone who can achieve results across the chasm we call "the aisle."