For as much grief that Boehner and McConnell get, this article in The Hill states something I generally agree with:

   "Don’t tell the Tea Party, but the tag team of John Boehner and Mitch McConnell are currently mopping the floor with Barack Obama. 

The president convincingly won a second term in November, but since that time, the congressional Republican leadership has outfoxed, outmaneuvered and plain out-strategized him on just about every issue. 

On taxes, McConnell (R-Ky.) just flat-out beat Joe Biden. He preserved 98 percent of the Bush tax cuts in perpetuity, which from a policy perspective is huge. He also made sure that the payroll tax holiday came to a conclusion, thereby making sure that every American would feel the tax increase that President Obama has long been fighting for. "

   "As a result, the White House has gotten nowhere on its two biggest non-fiscal legislative agenda items, immigration and gun control. On the fiscal issues, the Republicans have succeeded in getting 98 percent of the Bush tax cuts made permanent. On spending, they have been successful in rolling back spending to 2009 levels.

And what has the president achieved in these first two months of the new year? 

Outside of putting new Cabinet secretaries in place — and not without some controversy — he hasn’t accomplished much. 

The Tea Party might not know it, but the congressional Republican leadership is doing an amazing job of outmaneuvering this president on issue after issue. They deserve a pat on the back. "