In late 2012, with Obama reelected and the Bush tax cuts expiring, the Democrats held the leverage. Reid was now ready to go over the cliff, let all the tax cuts expire, and bargain with Republicans over allowing them to remain in place just for the middle class and poor. McConnell, knowing the GOP would get the blame, indicated he was ready to accept the deal. But he had one last trump card: the vice president, who he phoned directly on Air Force Two to inform him that Reid was being unreasonable. Yet again, Biden gave McConnell everything he wanted; yet again, Democrats reacted in fury. Biden called members of Congress individually, offering a trademark long-winded monologue imploring them to trust him, a pitch he himself summarized as "This is Joe Biden and I'm your buddy."
With Obama backing the deal, the federal government lost trillions of dollars in revenue from the reinstituted Bush tax cuts. It would get around $600 billion in all, $200 billion less than the Republican House speaker had initially promised, and ultimately even less once Republicans passed a tax cut under Trump in 2017. Biden hadn't even extracted the authority to raise the debt ceiling from McConnell, leaving the door open for more Republican blackmail. Meanwhile, the super-rich pocketed the windfall, further widening wealth inequality and, more alarmingly, growing their power to push a political system now totally overrun by money further right. Even centrist Democrats shook their heads at the White House's inability to win while holding all the cards, openly grumbling about its failure. Reid told the White House not to let Biden negotiate with McConnell anymore.
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