Senate Democrats to go on tax offensive

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, Sen. Chuck Schumer and Sen. Dick Durbin (Yuri Gripas/Reuters) Senate Democrats will spend the summer attacking Republicans on taxes, including a vote this week to extend tax cuts for small businesses.

Later this month they plan to take up a bill stripping tax breaks for companies that relocate operations overseas and vote on a proposal to extend the Bush-era tax rates only for families earning $250,000 or less, according to Democratic aides.[...]

'We think the tax debate has been turned around on Republicans and they're on their heels for the first time,' said a senior Democratic aide. 'There's a whole range of public polling showing Democrats have the high ground on the tax debate in recent months.'

The polling has been on the Democrats' side in this debate since the last showdown in 2010, when poll after poll after poll showed strong majorities behind letting the Bush tax cuts for millionaires expire. So good on Senate Democrats for recognizing that.

But this time around, they can't allow the kind of hostage-taking by Republicans that derailed their plan on taxes in 2010. Hammering Republicans every chance they get on taxes might do the trick this election, particularly since the GOP standard-bearer, Mitt Romney, has got a little bit of a millionaire's tax problem of his own. That's certainly worth campaigning on.

For their part, Republicans are brushing it off.

Republicans question whether it is a sincere effort or just a messaging vote.

Because Republicans never engage in insincere messaging votes?