In a diabolical kind of way.

The Democrats plan to let all the Bush tax cuts expire.

Then, once that has happened, they'll hold a vote on middle-class tax cuts only.

That way, Republicans won't have to worry about running afoul of the tax pledge that Grover Norquist made them sign when running for office. Basically, that's a pledge taken by many Republicans to not raise taxes at all.

But if the Bush tax cuts expire, and then those same Republicans vote to cut taxes on the middle class, they wouldn't be violating that pledge.

Whereas if those same Republicans vote to raise taxes on "the rich" (read: small businesses) as per the plan proposed by President Obama, then they would be violating that pledge.

We don't agree with the Democrats' strategery here, but we believe that it's politically viable.

We'll see how it plays out.