Last night, Chris Hayes discussed the impact of the Republican tax cuts with Joan Walsh, who reminds us that most voters didn't realize they got a tax cut under Barack Obama.

"I also feel like the way that politics works now, what matters most is what the activist base feels about it. What do you think this does to that part of the equation?" he asked her.

"I think this energizes the activist base like crazy, as Ady Barkan, national hero now, just told you. I just got off a conference call with Virginia Democrats. They finally, got a recount today which means they took the House back from Republicans. They won at least 16 seats. There's another recount to go," Walsh said.

"We know the activist base is already incredibly energized. This will even do more. I defer to David Cay Johnston on all things tax related, but I don't think Barack Obama got a lot of credit when people got money back in their pockets. He didn't get any credit. Unfortunately, I don't know people are paying that much attention when their taxes go down by a little. Something else might happen in their withholding, they don't notice it.

"George W. Bush did the smartest thing in our political lifetimes, practically, by sending us a check. I got one, it had my name on it. They're not even doing that.

"That check with the name on it," Hayes reminisced.

"I like it," Walsh said.

"'George W. Bush gave you this money,' " Hayes said.

"Plus, they made several Byrd rule mistakes that mean they have to vote again, which makes them look incredibly stupid. I'm really hoping Democrats have found 20 mistakes and they'll only release two a day so they'll have to keep doing this every day through Christmas."