Though he's yet to actually start negotiating how to extend the Bush tax cuts with the Republican leadership, President Obama has seemed to be negotiating with himself for a couple of weeks now. Both Robert Gibbs in a post-election press conference and David Axelrod, at least according to the Huffington Post, have already hinted that the White House would be willing to consider a temporary extension of all the tax cuts — including those for people making over $200,000 and families over $250,000 — if that's what it takes to keep the middle-class tax cuts from expiring at the end of the year. Nevertheless, speaking to reporters today in Seoul, Obama said, "My number one priority is making sure that we make the middle-class tax cuts permanent." Maybe the Republicans won't notice that he pretty much already conceded that position?

Obama opposes permanent extension of tax cuts for rich [Reuters]