The following comment in TIME?s print edition (tied loosely to this story) from Mark Halperin struck me as odd:

[B]y ending the year with a bipartisan-compromise tax deal, Obama showed he is capable of delivering the kind of change that was supposed to be the hallmark of his Administration.

Why is this odd? The two most highly publicized pieces of the tax deal involve preserving the status quo: maintaining current income tax rates for all taxpayers and extending current unemployment benefits.

The kind of change voters wanted in 2008 was the kind that leads to no real change? Interesting.