Another nonsensical political act

The national news cycle was somehow dominated by Congress' negotiations over the payroll tax. This was a meaningless action, implemented for a meaningless period of time. And yet, politicians spent hours in front of the cameras discussing and defending their positions and plans. Could it be worse? Certainly. But isn't there enough noise already? Do we have to add even more political clutter to an already incomprehensible cacophony of posturing?