He's baaaaaaaaaaaack.  Just like Jason in Halloween, Bush keeps coming at the Senate to get the same deal the House gave him on his tax cuts.

There doesn't seem to be much noise in the blogosphere on this, so I'm going to stay with this until people (or the traditional media) begin to pick up on it.  Like Colbert's appearance at the White House Correspondents' Dinner, the media has been mum on this week's activities between Bush and Senate Republicans.

What's the rush on making these tax cuts permanent, you say?  (Or perhaps even the necessity?).

First, the cuts are due to expire in three years (hmm, that's about a thousand days, right?)  So little time left to bankrupt the country.  Making the tax cuts permanent would extend the 15% maximum tax rate on capital gains and dividends beyond 2008 forever.  If Bush doesn't get his way, without congressional action, capital gains taxes would jump to 20 percent and dividends would be taxed as regular income.

Second, Bush has so little "political capital" left this is likely to be his only chance to salvage any kind of domestic legislative agenda.

Third, since Congress doesn't seem to be too upset about the Katrina costs, this would be a good time to tack on additional increases in our debt.

Fourth, this benefits Bush, Cheney, and crowd (but you knew this already).  How much?  
Check this out.

Fifth, this is also a plan to eliminate the estate tax for those few Americans who are concerned about it.  Here's newly released IRS information on who pays it.  

Sixth, if another pre-emptive war should start with some Middle Eastern country (lemme see, maybe Iran?), it would be more difficult to make the case economically.

As I mentioned yesterday in a diary on news briefs, the President summoned his minions to the Oval Office yesterday for some action on extending the 2003 tax breaks for the wealthy.  Looks like he may succeed.  He met, of course, only with Republican leaders.

Today we have more of the specifics from various sources, and it seems the President forced his agreement on compliant minions:

President Bush and congressional Republicans agreed yesterday on a $70 billion package of tax-cut extensions that they hope will help halt the deterioration of their political fortunes.

The package would extend the 2003 cuts to the tax rates on dividends and capital gains, continue tax breaks for small-business investment and the overseas operations of financial service companies, and slow the expansion of the alternative minimum tax, a parallel income tax system that was enacted to target the rich but is increasingly snaring the middle class.

Looks like it will be up to Democrats to stop the steam-roller of the assault on the middle class.  At least three  have weighed in so far: Kent Conrad, Pete Stark, and Max Baucus.