Sorry if I'm not the first to mention that the Democrats took control of the Senate with the defection of Jeffords in 2001 and they would only let the tax cuts pass if they had an expiration date.
Since then the Reps never had 60 vote filibuster proof control of the Senate agenda and couldn't bring up making the tax cuts permanent because the Dems blocked it. The Reps tried.
Then they should have been forced to filibuster, and see how popular it was. There was no fight, just capitulation, and we are paying now.
Also, this was just months before 9/11. Do you think the dems would still have been blocking tax cuts after 9/11 and after the economy started to sputter? patience plus backbone would have worked.