No surprise here

Another day, another discouraging Tax Notes item.  Orrin Hatch has said that of course Republicans will block any attempt to decouple the tax increases of the middle class from those for the top earners. Some Democrats were evidently trying to float a compromise of permanently keeping the current tax code for some, and temporarily extending it for others.

Democrats are too busy with their leadership fights to talk about their tax strategies.  The bipartisan meet-up with the President is deferred until November 30. Scheduling problems.

Most ominous is this: "Hatch said he would prefer to pass a two- or three-year extension of all the tax cuts in the lame-duck session or postpone the debate until early 2011 and find a permanent solution, rather than make some cuts permanent but not others."

So, as I surmised below, some Republicans think that kicking this down the road is an acceptable path.

Once the enlarged AMT hits tax filers in the first quarter, I think we'll see a whole new round of Tea Parties, and they'll be targeting all incumbents, regardless of party.