OPTIMISM ON TAX COMPROMISE – AT 9:39 P.M. ET:  Despite deep angst among liberal Dems that their souls have been violated, predictions are positive that the tax compromise agreed to by Republicans and President Obama will make it through Congress.   From The Politico:

A wave of new Democratic support Wednesday signaled that President Barack Obama’s deal to renew the Bush tax cuts would make it through Congress, as long as most Republicans lined up behind it as expected.

With Democrats in both chambers still angry about parts of the package, the administration scrambled to allay concerns and build momentum for the unusual deal with congressional Republicans reached this week. By the end of the day, the measure looked increasingly likely to pass, as Democrats stepped forward one by one to back it.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) announced that he hopes to begin consideration of the bill as early as Thursday — a sign that the measure will receive a filibuster-proof majority.

And in the House, high-decibel liberal complaints were countered by a silent minority of Blue Dogs, New Democrats and even a handful of veteran liberals who said outright that they would vote for the bill or hinted strongly in private that they were leaning in that direction.

The one trump card for liberals is House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), who could follow the will of the majority of her caucus and keep the bill off the floor. There was no sign Wednesday that she would use that authority, and lawmakers and aides said that this reality was beginning to set in with the caucus and that anger was turning to acceptance in some corners.

COMMENT:  Now we await liberal Democratic acceptance of the results of the 2000 election. 

And it is true that a majority of the liberal caucus wants to keep the tax bill from ever coming to the floor.  But they must surely understand that such a move would occur only after a storming of the parliament buildings by the proletariat, the Leninist factions, and the Modern Languages Association.

December 8, 2010