BY STEVE BELL
At the end of this calendar year, the so-called Bush Tax Cuts of 2001 and 2003 expire. In order for any of the cuts to continue, Congress must pass a bill the President will sign. So far, so simple.
President Obama proposed in his budget that all Bush tax cuts for filers over $200,000 (single) or $250,000 (joint) be allowed to expire as in current law. He also proposed that all of the rest of the tax cuts for middle class earners and other workers be continued. By all accounts, his party faithful in Congress by and large agree with this approach, both as policy and as good politics.
The questions that political and legislative analysts must answer are three-fold: 1) how will any of these tax cuts continue, with the adversarial atmosphere in both the House and Senate; 2) what procedure will allow Democrats to pick and choose which tax cuts continue and which expire; 3) who will get the blame when the tax mess hits the political fan.