Player of the Week: Speaker Pelosi

This week could help determine how history writes of Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s (D-Calif.) tenure. It will do much to define her political career.

She and her House Democratic Caucus last week made clear they do not like the tax-cut deal President Obama endorsed.

House Democratic leaders will have to make a choice on what to do after the Senate passes its tax cut-unemployment benefits measure. They can opt to amend it and send it back to the Senate. With time running out in the lame-duck session and Christmas approaching, that strategy would be extremely risky.

Senate Republicans would probably balk at any substantive changes to the deal they agreed to with Obama.

If there is a standoff, everyone’s taxes would go up on Jan. 1.

For 10 years, liberals on Capitol Hill have complained about the Bush tax cuts. Now some of them want to take a strong stand against them.

They note that unlike the healthcare law, polls show that a majority of voters prefer Obama’s tax policies over Bush’s.

But the GOP has enjoyed a clear political advantage on this issue, evidenced by the fact that most lawmakers support extending all of the tax cuts for a couple of years.

Pelosi is in a tough situation. Her caucus wants a better deal, but that appears difficult to achieve.

During the Bush administration, Pelosi and the House Democrats backed down on a troop withdrawal timeline in Iraq as well as a controversial FISA measure.