First of all, this is CNN so take it with a grain of salt. But But if this report is true, you can now begin removing any question that Democrats are actually going to extend the Bush tax cuts:
What is still unclear is if that House vote would extend so-called middle class tax cuts permanently, or just on a temporary basis.
In the Senate, Majority Leader Harry Reid said he plans to vote on the middle class tax cut extension most Democrats want, but he will also allow Republicans to hold a vote on what they are demanding: a permanent extension of all Bush-era tax cuts.
"We want to give the Republicans an opportunity to vote on McConnell's legislation," Reid said. He also said he might hold multiple votes on the issue, "If we have to do it more than once, twice, to show the American people that we support the middle class."
Reid said he is not sure whether the Democrats' legislation in the Senate would be a permanent extension for those making $250,000 or less, or temporary. The Senate Democratic caucus appears to be split on that.
"We have to be very, very careful extending things indefinitely because we have to focus on what the economy might be in the future," said Reid.
It is unclear if Democrats in either chamber have enough votes to pass only the middle class tax cuts. Democratic leaders are leaving open the possibility of compromise with Republicans if their measures do not pass. In fact,
Democratic sources say Obama made clear in Thursday's meeting they may ultimately need to find a middle ground.
If this reporting is accurate, this is a textbook example of why Democrats are inept at politics.
First of all, they come with a political strategy that is popular. They finally agree to just pass a brand new tax cut on the middle class after the Bush tax cut expires. That is what this site has been advocating since...forever, seems like. Finally they get around to doing what makes sense.
Second, after coming up with that strategy, they then throw cold water on it by not actively using it. Instead, they let it be known publicly that they aren't going to fight for what they say they believe in.
Then they wonder why nobody is giving them credit when they do a laundry list of stuff.
So, now we start to see how they want this to play out. They'll hold a vote for the middle class tax cut, which will fail. Then, instead of drawing a hard line and letting your fallback position be expiration, they announce in advance they plan to fold.