] The White House helped to block a Republican-brokered
] deal on Wednesday to extend several middle-class tax
] cuts, fearful of a bill that could draw Democratic votes
] and dilute a Republican campaign theme, Republican
] negotiators said.
] ...
] Senator John Kerry of Massachusetts, the presumptive
] Democratic presidential nominee, had already said he
] would retain most of Mr. Bush's middle-class tax cuts,
] and many Democratic lawmakers said they would vote for a
] modest extension of the tax cuts even if the extension
] was not paid for.
]
] "If the Democrats had been on the same side, it would
] have taken a lot of arrows out of the quiver,'' said one
] Republican staff member.

[ Awesome. Now that's playing politics.

The not-so-absurd conspiracy theory condensing around this story is that Bush just wants to push this off 'til september (when congressional recess ends), where a nice middle class tax relief story will help him more. I shrug... anything's possible, but this is still a pretty bold and ruthless move. -k]