Deal Near on Tax Cuts?

 The spirited debate over whether or not to extend the Bush tax cuts is kicking into overdrive. According to the New York Times the Democrats and the Republicans may be close to a deal. This deal is apparently to extend all of the tax reductions while also passing unemployment benefits beyond the now-maximum of 99 weeks.

White House officials, meanwhile, expressed hope of sealing a deal swiftly, perhaps by midweek, and clearing the Congressional calendar for a long list of other priorities that they aim to accomplish by the end of the year, including ratification of the New Start arms treaty with Russia and the repeal of the “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy for gay service members as part of a wider Pentagon policy bill.
Administration officials said the negotiations were focused on the question of extending the tax rates for one or two years, with a three-year extension highly unlikely, even though that time frame would probably eliminate the tax fight as an urgent issue in the 2012 elections.

Of course, the deal is not final, but it would appear that this is the beginning of the end. But that's been said about a lot of things in politics.

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