It is no surprise that when Republicans take a break from complaining about big budget deficits, they endorse big tax cuts that make deficits worse. We've come to count on that kind of hypocrisy. The 10-year-cost of the Bush tax cuts of 2001 and 2003, as a USA Today editorial helpfully points out, totals $2.3 trillion, or more "than Obama's stimulus, the war in Iraq and the 2003 Medicare drug benefit combined."

...But now some conservative Democrats are joining with Republicans, and, citing the weak economy, are arguing that it is too soon to let tax cuts expire on the wealthy.