Democracy has been victorious once again. In the American political system, that is the only thing we can be sure that will always happen. Both sides fought hard, but in the end, the Democrats kept control of the Senate, and most importantly retained the presidency. The House is still controlled by Republicans, and like the Democrats in the Senate, the Republicans gained more seats in the House.

Something looks familiar… maybe it’s that D.C. looks exactly the same as before. Now, people are worrying that nothing will get done because of what has happened in the past two years. I beg to differ. Obama only won the popular by just over three million votes. I believe he knows that America is split, slightly favoring him, urging him to try and make more progress.

Now, the big question is how we are going to avoid this “fiscal cliff.” Taxes are going to be the deciding issue. President Obama says the American people will not accept anything without any tax raises to the so-called “1%”. Speaker of the House John Boehner said tax increases are unacceptable, but he is willing to close tax loopholes. Also, Boehner said he is the most compromisable person in Washington, and I think the president knows that. Boehner also suggested that there must be cuts to governmental programs that are proportional to the size of the government.

So, the bigger question is who will give in first in this big game of political chicken? In the past, with issues like raising the debt ceiling, decisions have come at the last moment. I think that some of Obama’s decisions have been influenced by the fact that he didn’t know if he was going to be re-elected or not. Since Obama does not have to worry about running for office again, will this affect his political decisions, potentially resulting in no bipartisan compromises? My prediction is that both sides, the Democrats and the Republicans, care about the wellbeing of America and will work together to try and help America return to its post-deficit prosperity.