John Boehner is reelected Speaker of the House, second in line of succession to the presidency, with only a ripple of disaffection from Tea Party Republicans, nine of whom voted against him in favor of Eric Cantor, Allen West and other loony tunes.

The new Congress starts with confirmation of the Captain that almost sank the Ship of State last weekend, with a few members of his crew expressing more confidence in icebergs.

Far away from frozen DC, the President is golfing in Hawaii after signing the fiscal bill with an autopen and promising to do more about reducing the national debt “in a balanced way that doesn’t put all the burden on seniors or students or middle-class families.”

That should give voters a warm and cozy feeling for the start of 2013 until they realize that he is promising to do so in concert with pretty much the same Gang That Couldn’t Shoot Straight over the past two years, described thus by astute observer Ezra Klein:

“Unfortunately, the polarization and paralysis exhibited by the 112th Congress are functions of long-term political trends, and there’s no evidence that they’ll lift anytime soon…”

MORE.