Tax Hikes to Start the New Year

Heritage  "While you were sleeping—or ringing in 2013—the Senate voted to raise taxes.
"After missing the midnight deadline, Congress and the President have technically sent the nation over the fiscal cliff, meaning higher tax rates are already in effect for all income tax brackets. But the Senate’s deal, brokered by Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell (KY) and Vice President Joe Biden, would target the tax increases on those making more than $250,000.

"The Senate voted 89-8 to limit deductions for taxpayers making more than $250,000, which would raise their taxes, and to hike tax rates for those making more than $400,000."

Who were those eight Senators and why did they vote against the deal?

Strange bedfellows: Tom Harkin, Rand Paul and Marco Rubio all voting the same? Hmmmm
Rubio Slams Deal: ‘I Just Couldn’t Vote for It’

Here is the roll call of voting Who said what? By the way, this was the name of the measure:

Measure Number: H.R. 8 (Job Protection and Recession Prevention Act of 2012 )

Measure Title: An act entitled the "American Taxpayer Relief Act of 2012".
From Politico;The eight senators who voted 'no'

We Have Officially Gone Over the Sanity Cliff

"Maybe the Mayans were right and we’re all too apathetic to notice that the world really has come to an end.

"We are no longer facing the fiscal cliff…We’ve officially gone over it, for now. Today, maybe tomorrow or perhaps later in the week, the House will attempt something only seen previously in cartoons…Hanging in mid-air, turning around and trying to run back to safety before gravity sets in."  Craig Andresen

I never expected to read this dept: Did Obama Cave to Republicans Again?

"I think the president made a huge mistake by negotiating over what he'd previously said was non-negotiable (namely, the expiration of the Bush tax cuts on income over $250,000). Then the White House compounded that mistake by sending Biden to 'close' the deal when Harry Reid appeared to give up on it. As a practical matter, this signaled to Republicans that the White House wouldn't walk away from the bargaining table, allowing the GOP to keep extracting concessions into the absolute final hours before the deadline."

But on the other hand: Obama's idea of 'compromise'  "What was McConnell thinking?

"The fiscal cliff deal passed by the Senate contains $1 in spending cuts for every $41 in tax hikes."