Isn't that going to happen anyway? Am I wrong in thinking that the Bush tax cuts "sunset" sometime in 2012? They were supposed to sunset earlier this year, but Obama horse-traded for something else and agreed to extend them for two years.

If that's the case, the House will vote to extend them and the Senate will block the House bill. If by chance it passes both houses of Congress, the POTUS will veto the bill and the Senate won't have the necessary votes to override the veto. That's assuming that the Senate doesn't become GOP majority and the POTUS is still Obama, both of which seem reasonable chances at the moment.

If this is the case, why all the sturm and drang right now about increasing the taxes on the rich? It's going to happen anyway. In fact, the taxes on lots more than the rich will go up.