The Republicans have indeed built a clever trap for Obama and the Democrats in the form of the Bush tax cuts. If the Democrats allow the tax cuts to expire, they will be loudly accused of raising taxes. On the other hand, they are being hammered on the Bush deficit and renewing the tax cuts would make it much harder to reduce it. It appears to be a lose-lose situation, but appearances can be deceiving. This situation presents the Democrats with an opportunity to put sound economic policy ahead of political expediency.

At the outset, let me say that I think it is important for the Democrats to allow the Bush tax cuts to expire, tax cuts that were ill advised from the beginning and that have been soundly criticized by most reputable economists (including some who can hardly be described as liberal). It is high time that tax rates on the wealthy return to their pre-Bush levels (still too low, but more realistic than what they are now).

What do you suppose would happen if the Democrats let the Bush tax cuts expire and come forward with their own tax relief measure just as the Bush era cuts were expiring? Imagine that their tax relief bill was accurately touted as "the largest middle-class tax cut in U.S. history." Sure, they would be accused of "redistributing wealth," but fair is fair and the vast majority of Americans would benefit from such a plan.

It is also important to consider Obama's increasingly unpopular wars and their massive cost. Whatever the Democrats to regarding taxes, they need to link taxes to these wars. It makes sense to be that the burden of paying for the wars should be levied against the richest Americans. After all, they are the ones benefiting financially from these wars. But even if there is not enough money to cover large middle-class tax cuts, the Democrats needs to explain that this is the cost of war.

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