In Congress’ lame-duck session, the biggest battle may well be over whether or not to extend the Bush administration’s tax cuts, which are scheduled to expire in January. The fact that this decision has been left until late in the 11th hour, even though the expiration date has been known for years, tells us a lot about the utter irresponsibility of Congress. Neither businesses nor individuals nor the Internal Revenue Service will know what to do until this issue is resolved. In a stalled economy, we do not need this prolonged uncertainty that can paralyze both consumer spending and investment spending.

Republicans want the current tax rates to continue and Democrats want only the current tax rates for people earning less than “the rich” — variously defined — to continue, with everyone making more than some specified income to have their tax rates rise next year.