The choice that Republicans face

Voters have handed the Republican Party either a golden opportunity or a poisoned chalice, and the choice will be determined by the actions of the elected members of the party. If Republicans can find a way to work with President Barack Obama and find compromises on a host of issues that the majority of their base can accept, the election will be a golden opportunity for the party and the country as a whole. If they simply vote to obstruct Obama policies, attempt to repeal — rather than improve — the health care law and Dodd-Frank, and pursue investigations into activities of the Democratic administration, the opportunity will turn into a chalice of poison for Republicans' future electoral hopes and possibly the economic recovery. On the other side, Mr. Obama and other Democrats must also compromise. Although Republicans won't take control of the House until January, serious efforts to compromise should begin in the lame-duck session that starts next Monday. They could begin with negotiations about the extension of the Bush tax cuts. Both parties should compromise on this issue. Mr. Obama and other Democrats want to extend the cuts permanently only for individuals who earn less than $200,000 a year and couples earning less than $250,000, saying that ending the cuts for higher-income earners would save the federal government $700 billion over 10 years. (The estimated cost of extending them for everyone would be $3.7 trillion.) Republicans want to extend the reductions for all taxpayers. Not extending the tax cuts for all, according to them, would raise taxes on small businesses, though Republicans during the summer filibustered a small-business bill that would have, among other things, eliminated capital gains taxes for investment in small businesses.

OBVIOUS COMPROMISE

Republicans also argue that raising taxes on anyone while the economy is weak isn't a good idea. An obvious compromise would be to extend the tax cuts across the board for two years. That would be a good idea for a number of reasons. First, it would give the economy time to strengthen before any tax increases. It also would minimize the revenue loss to $740 billion over that period. Third, the issue of the Bush-era tax cuts could be tackled as part of a thorough overhaul of the tax system. Ending uncertainty over taxes would help the economy recover, and a compromise such as this, or something similar, could set the tone for a more bipartisan approach to solving the nation's long-term fiscal problems. That would be healthy for everyone, regardless of party affiliation.