Any time you hear that congressional Republicans worked out a deal with Harry Reid on something, run. You know it can't be anything but a disaster. In this case, we're talking about the continuation of many disasters that have been with us for quite some time - an extension of various and sundry tax breaks for favored constituencies of Washington politicians. These breaks are always "temporary" favors granted for one year, and they are always extended at the end of the year for an additional year, which means that every Christmas politicians get to play Santa Claus.