The Democrats want a politically ambitious and totally unrealistic agenda, one that includes among many things the approval of the “Don’t ask, don’t tell” policy that governs the presence of gays in the military; ratification of the Start Treaty with Russia; and approval of the Dream Act, which would grant children of undocumented immigrants who attend college or serve in the military a path towards citizenship.

The Americano

There are two completely different versions of what agenda should pass in what remains of this year’s lame-duck session of Congress.

The Democrats want a politically ambitious and totally unrealistic agenda, one that includes among many things the approval of the “Don’t ask, don’t tell” policy that governs the presence of gays in the military; ratification of the Start Treaty with Russia; and approval of the Dream Act, which would grant children of undocumented immigrants who attend college or serve in the military a path towards citizenship.

Republican believe that the lame-duck session of Congress should settle for approval of a continuing resolution to fund the government and extension of the expiring Bush-era tax cuts. That two top Republican Senators said Sunday accomplishing both things would swallow much of the three weeks left before the Christmas break.

Both Republicans and Democrats agree that neither would be easy.

Republicans say the Democrats are playing politics by brining issues that would take much more time than what is available in the lame-duck session of Congress, and thus will endanger passage of the things they must do before the end of the year.

Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) gave a preview Sunday of what he believes will — and won’t — make it through the lame-duck session

“I don’t believe there’s anywhere near the votes to repeal ‘Don’t ask, don’t tell’ on the Republican side,” Graham said on Fox News Sunday. “I think we’ll be united in lame duck.”

On extending the Bush-era tax cuts, which is likely to be the most pressing order of business when the Senate reconvenes, Graham predicted a bipartisan lame-duck vote to extend all of the tax cuts for two or three years.

Sen. Claire McCaskill (D-Mo.) said in the same program, however, that she had a different vision of the Bush-era tax cuts. She said she would support raising the upper-income level limit to a million dollars. “I think we should draw the line in the sand for millionaires,” she said, decrying that “the middle class could be held hostage” by the extended tax debate.

On this issue the big question is whether Republicans will allow Senate Democrats to decouple the Bush-era tax cuts for the rich, from all those whose family income exceeds $250,000 a year — or as Sen. McCaskill suggested a million dollars.

Senate President Harry Reid (D – Nev.) has said he will allow the Senate to vote on two different bills, one that will only extend the tax cuts for the middle class, and if that fails one that would extend the tax cuts for all for one, two or three years.

Sen. Graham also predicted that if Democrats bring up the Dream Act “in the lame duck that’s going nowhere.”

Meanwhile on NBC”s “Meet the Press” Sen. Jon Kyl (R-Ariz.), the minority whip whose support is seen as key to garnering the Republican backing needed to pass the START treaty, said Sunday that he saw “no chance” of it passing in the lame-duck session.

“It’s more a view of reality than policy,” Kyl said on NBC’s “Meet the Press,” adding that if Reid would allow a couple of weeks for study, debate and amendments, “then theoretically there would be time.”
But, he added Reid will probably push “political commitments” into the agenda including the Dream Act and “Don’t ask, don’t tell.”

“[Reid] can bring the START treaty up any time he wants to, but he has a different agenda,” Kyl said. “My issue is that you can’t do everything. How can Harry Reid do all of the things we talked about and in addition to that deal with the START treaty?”

Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) countered that “we can do all of those things before Christmas. Let’s roll up our sleeves and do it.” .

Durbin, said he respected Kyl’s concerns about the treaty, which range from modernization to the potential for further arms cuts that worry many Republicans, but charged that failure to act quickly would “pose a danger to the United States and its security.”

“There is no excuse for us to ignore this responsibility and say we’ll wait several months,” he said, arguing that Russian relations and cooperation from Moscow to rein in Iran’s nuclear program could suffer as a result.

Kyl countered that the urgency was political, not one of national security.

“There is not a time pressure to do this now as opposed to two months from now,” he said.

Sen. McCaskill accused Republicans of “game-playing” and trying to wound President Obama when it came to the delayed ratification of the START treaty.

The Americano / Agencies

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