Yeah, we've heard that story before... many times.
That said... the Repubs should let the floodgates open and ALL the Bush tax cuts expire. This formerly great, now-liberal country blames Bush for every economic weakness anyway... let's remove all vestiges of his legacy. Give the people what they want.
Americans can only learn when the lesson affects them directly. When they can't buy the porn, beer, tattoos, pot or Iphones they want, that'll focus their little minds.
The Bush tax cuts expired years ago.
By the time welfare programs are cut out of necessity, we’ll have already been stuck with a top income tax rate over 75% and a VAT tax over 30% and they will never go away.