Go Nancy!
Pelosi threatens discharge petition to force vote on middle-income tax cut extension.— @brianbeutler via Janetter for Mac
So what does that mean? There's a bill, passed by the Senate way back in July, to extend just the tax cuts for the middle class. House Speaker Boehner has refused to bring this bill to the floor of the House. So Pelosi is mulling an effort to force leadership to take up that bill, which President Obama is ready to sign.
It's not going to be easy to achieve, because she needs 218 signatures for the petition to work, and that means getting 25 Republicans on board. But even if forcing the bill to the floor isn't likely, this would be another way to shine a bright light on the fact that Republicans are holding the middle-class tax cuts hostage on behalf of the wealthiest Americans. That doesn't look good, particularly in the weeks before Christmas, and will give Democrats another cudgel to beat Republicans with.
It's also possible that a few Republicans will jump ship, not wanting to be Scrooged, and that will just be yet another headache for Boeher. That's always a good thing.
11:46 AM PT: Here's Pelosi announcing the strategy:
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