"The Gallows Doth Wonderfully Concentrate the Mind"

"I think I may need another vacation"

The Democrats have consistently avoided tax cuts like the plague, while Republicans have just as consistently embraced them. Now, as these Democrats stare into the abyss of the November elections, they conceive a plan; TAX CUTS!

Could the "October Surprise" actually be no more than recycled Republican ideas sold to the American public as "New"?

It wouldn't be the first time.

White House considers pre-midterm package of business tax breaks to spur hiring

With less than two months until the November elections, the White House is seriously weighing a package of business tax breaks - potentially worth hundreds of billions of dollars - to spur hiring and combat Republican charges that Democratic tax policies hurt small businesses, according to people with knowledge of the deliberations.

Translation: If you can't beat 'em, join 'em.

Among the options under consideration are a temporary payroll tax holiday and a permanent extension of the now-expired research and development tax credit, which rewards companies that conduct research into new technologies within the United States.

Finally, you morons are listening!

Administration officials have struggled to develop new economic policies and an effective message to blunt expected Republican gains in Congress and defuse complaints from Democrats that President Obama is fumbling the issue most important to voters. After weeks of vacation and foreign policy, White House advisers have arranged a series of economic events for Obama next week, including two trips to swing states and a press conference.

"New policies", really?

"We'll continue to do everything we can, understanding that recovery will require persistent effort. There are no silver bullets," senior Obama adviser David Axelrod said in an interview Thursday. "At the same time we have to make clear our ideas and theirs, and the fact that the Washington Republicans, having helped create this recession, have attempted to block our every effort to deal with it."

Actually, Republicans have wanted tax AND spending cuts and their attempts to "block our every effort" seems to have borne fruit.

But with the unemployment rate expected to rise again in new jobs numbers due out Friday, panic is setting in among many Democratic candidates who fear it is too late for Obama to persuade voters that he understands the depth of the nation's economic woes and can fix them.

And that, as they say, is the money quote. Unfortunately for the administration, the American people know that Republicans own the idea of tax cuts, and they also know that the Democrats have demonized them for this fact.

I'll be very interested as to how this plays out.