In a high stakes gambit to wreck the economy and thus ruin President Obama’s second term, the teaparty lost and America won — but they did manage to spike the Sandy Relief measure. On to the cliff averted!

TPM — Less than 24 hours after the Bush tax cuts officially expired, and a day before deep domestic and defense spending cuts were scheduled to take effect, the House adopted Senate-passed legislation extending the Bush tax cuts for income up to $450,000 and staving off the sequester’s painful austerity measures.The final vote was 257-167. The bill passed thanks to an overwhelming display of Democratic support — 172 Dems voted for the bill, while only 16 opposed. By contrast, only 85 Republicans voted in support of the bill, compared to the 151 — including House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-VA) — who voted against.

What happens to the teaparty now? Even CEOs and Wall Street was pissed at them by the time this deal wound down. Does that mean their funding decreases and they become more organic, do they go over their own cliff and start shooting and blowing things up? Or do they quietly fade away and a new marketing scheme for old failed ideas arises on the right?

I think we’ll get some indication on where that group goes (Tempting I know), and how they metastasize, by watching what happens to the House. If Boehner stays in as Speaker the days of tri-cornered hats and conspiracy theorists may be over, at least for awhile. We’ll find out more in two months as the teaparty infested GOP tries to jack the poor and middle class yet again, and threatens the entire world economy, over the debt limit.