GOP backs off tax cut vote

Well, at least they have some sense of shame. I've no doubt that many GOP stalwarts were hoping that Katrina would allow them to slip under the press radar and further cut taxes for the wealthy this week.

Instead, under pressure from Democrats and undoubtedly the media they've shelved the plan. Actually, it isn't necessarily a sense of shame that drove the decision. It could've just been political survival instinct. I doubt that even their fanatical base would nod approvingly at conflated images of poor people lying dead in the streets as Republican officials congratulate themselves on giving billions of dollars a year to the likes of Paris Hilton....

As the pressure on Republicans builds, Democrats are sounding emboldened. One sign of GOP unease: The Senate was supposed to vote this week on whether to permanently repeal the estate tax, but Frist said yesterday that the bill will be temporarily shelved. The announcement came two hours after Senate Minority Leader Harry M. Reid (D-Nev.) called for Republicans to back off tax cuts in the wake of the Katrina tragedy. "Not now, for heaven's sake," Reid said.