Baseline Instinct – The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) on Tuesday released its much-awaited 2012 Budget and Economic Outlook. According to CBO, if current law is maintained, deficits will decrease significantly in the period from 2013-2022; but that is a big if. Under the current law baseline, a major reason that deficits will shrink is due to major revenue boosts because the 2001/2003 tax cuts will expire and the Alternative Minimum Tax (AMT) will hit more middle-income families.

Super Not So Duper – The word “super” has lost its luster lately. The failure of the Super Committee and the need for a super majority in the Senate to pass virtually anything have contributed to record-low approval ratings for Congress. Meanwhile, Super PACs are pouring unlimited funds into campaigns, resulting in even more negative advertising than usual and rising concerns that the political process is being distorted.

Stating the Obvious – President Obama delivers the State of the Union address Tuesday evening. The SOTU is the annual rite where presidents attempt to hit the “reset” button and lay out their agenda for the coming year.

Playoffs in Full Swing – The Packers packed it in; the Broncos got busted; the Saints went marching out; and Houston had a problem as the NFL Playoffs eliminated more contenders in the annual march towards crowning a champion. Challengers were eliminated in the presidential contest as well as former Utah Governor Jon Huntsman backed out and more may fall away after Saturday’s South Carolina primary.

Happy New Year? – A New Year has been rung in, and most of the public confidence in Congress has been wrung out. The latest poll shows that only 5 percent of likely voters rate Congress as doing a good or excellent job. No doubt that the failure of the Super Committee and the brinkmanship over the debt ceiling and government funding in 2011 contributed significantly to the historically low standing.

Brink Again – Washington’s favorite game played out again last week as lawmakers once more waited until the last minute to avert a government shutdown. A bill funding government operations not already financed for fiscal year 2012 was approved as the deadline to avoid a partial government shutdown passed.

Happy Holidaze – The Christmas trees are up. The lights are lit. The shoppers are roaming the malls. The holiday specials are all over the television. The holidays are here and everyone is feeling festive, except perhaps on Capitol Hill, where lawmakers are in a daze working through their legislative list and checking it twice. They want to wrap up everything with a nice bow on top by the end of the week, but partisan fighting threatens to Grinch up the works.

Bowled Over – The all-knowing BCS computers have chosen LSU and Alabama to contend for the college football championship. Both teams are familiar foes and perennial contenders. The same can be said of the budget battles that will cap the year. Yearly appropriations, the doc fix, and the AMT patch continue their dominance at the top of the political agenda, along with the payroll tax holiday, which has emerged as a powerhouse in recent years.

Stuffed – The Super Committee talked turkey, but in the end produced no meat. All that got placed before us was the warmed-over stuffing of partisan bickering and finger pointing. Americans have had their fill and are demanding action.

SuperBad – Well, they did it after all. In an amazing feat of utter failure, the so-called Super Committee managed to under-perform the already low expectations and come up with absolutely nothing. While the official deadline for the panel to issue recommendations is Wednesday, it must submit any proposal to the Congressional Budget Office 48 hours ahead of time, making today the effective deadline.