EXTEND THEM FOR FOUR YEARS

I've said a couple of times that Democrats may as well acknowledge that they'll never repeal the Bush tax cuts for the wealthy, under any circumstances, and they may as well just extend them permanently. Now, I guess, it's time to do whatever's going to be done:

Now it's all or nothing on tax cuts

Senate Republicans blocked two Democratic measures Saturday that would have eliminated the Bush-era tax cuts for the wealthy, forcing both parties back to the negotiating table if they want to avert a tax hike next year for all Americans.

The doomed votes mean Democrats may ultimately need to agree to a deal that runs contrary to their campaign promises over the past 10 years. Rather than eliminating the upper-end tax cuts, Democrats will likely cede to Republican demands to renew all of the Bush tax cuts for several years....

If there's going to be a temporary extension, I vote for four years.

When it comes to countering Republicans, Democrats haven't even begun to grasp what they need to do in the thirty years of the Reagan/Limbaugh/Gingrich/Murdoch/Bush/Tea Party Era; it's really difficult to imagine them doing so in the next four. But if, somehow, they do, four years from now is likely to be a tough time for Republicans.

At that time, I assume they're going to control the White House and both houses of Congress. And I also assume we're still going to be stuck in this economic trough -- and the pain is going to be made worse by failed Republican economic "ideas."

Oh, and of course, the rich will still be getting richer.

Four years from now, Republicans will be in the same position Democrats were in this fall -- they'll be heading into midterms and trying to defend economic stewardship that's been an utter failure. And, in that climate, they're going to have to decide whether to extend a big tax cut for the rich.

Could Democrats make that a campaign issue? It's nearly impossible to imagine, but if they develop a clue, absolutely.

And if not, we'll be exactly where we're likely to be anyway, with the cuts about to be rubber-stamped again. But I say make it four years, just for the slim chance of a winning battle.