A deal appears to be close on extending all Bush tax cuts in exchange for funding jobless benefits for about 6 million Americans who will lose them by the Spring: On CBS's "Face the Nation," Kyl told host Bob Schieffer: "I think that most folks believe that the recipe would include at least an extension of unemployment benefits for those who are unemployed and an extension of all the tax rates for all Americans for some period of time."On the same program, Sen. Richard J. Durbin (Ill.), the Democratic whip, reluctantly concurred."I can tell you that without unemployment benefits being extended, personally, this is a non-starter," he said. "The notion that we would give tax cuts to those making over $1 million a year . . . is unconscionable." But, he added: "We're moving in that direction."On Saturday, the Senate rejected two Democratic proposals for extending the Bush-era tax cuts, which the Republicans prefer to call "tax...(Read Full Post)