After the super committee’s failure left Congress with a slew of year-end issues to resolve in just a few weeks, Democrats are optimistic they can kill all those birds with one legislative stone.

On lawmakers’ to-do list before Christmas: pass scores of tax breaks that require annual renewal, protect swaths of middle-class Americans from paying the alternative minimum tax, and prevent physicians who see Medicare patients from taking a pay cut. Democrats are also keen on extending a payroll-tax cut for employees and federal emergency unemployment benefits.

Democratic leaders are hoping to attach all those measures to a resolution funding government past the Dec. 16 expiration of the current continuing resolution, leadership staffers said.

In a move coordinated with President Obama, Senate Democrats plan to force a vote next week on the payroll tax cut, which was extended last year in a lame-duck session. Democrats expect Senate Republicans to filibuster the bill, which they hope exacts a political price and focuses public attention on the provision, thereby building pressure for its passage in December.

Meanwhile, Democrats in the House began pressuring the GOP leadership on Tuesday in hopes of advancing the full bundle of priorities as well as Medicaid relief for seniors. Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi of California, Minority Whip Steny Hoyer of Maryland, and other Democratic leaders sent a letter to Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, calling on him to advance the bills, either alone or as part of a CR.

Congressional Republicans did not reject a broad deal out of hand, saying GOP support depends on package specifics. The GOP is keen to pass a so-called “doc fix,” and the annually approved tax cuts geared mainly toward businesses and commonly referred to as “tax extenders.” Many Republicans are wary of the political fallout if they refuse to extend unemployment benefits and the payroll tax cut.

A more difficult question is whether and how to pay for such a package. Senate Democratic aides quickly embraced a suggestion from the White House to not offset the cost of the payroll tax cut. And they noted many of the provisions under discussion, such as an AMT patch or the doc fix, have regularly been approved without offsets.

One GOP aide said, “There are pay-fors available.” A Boehner spokesman said he is “skeptical” the House would pass the kind of deal Democrats describe.

And doing so in the wake of the super committee’s epic failure would be a difficult sell with voters. Republicans likely will insist on paying for additional unemployment-insurance benefits, but Democratic aides hope they can appease Republicans by making some programmatic changes. For example, Republicans like the idea of allowing states to use federal funds to pay for job training instead of cutting a check directly to the unemployed.

“That could be their quote, unquote, get,” a Democratic leadership aide said.
House Democrats introduced a bill to reauthorize emergency unemployment benefits through 2012. Their legislation also adds assistance for cash-strapped states. But that package comes with a nearly $50 billion price tag that Republicans have refused to accept.

Lawmakers are left with very few options that are acceptable both to Democrats and Republicans. Rep. Sander Levin, D-Mich., a cosponsor of the House bill, is open to changing how the unemployment insurance program is administered but resists tinkering with benefit distribution.

Both parties are willing to consider the so-called “Bridge to Work” program included in Obama’s American Jobs Act. That compromise would integrate successful state job-training and placement programs into the legislation.

Current law provides emergency funds to supplement state unemployment programs for up to 99 weeks through the federal Unemployment Trust Fund. Most states provide benefits to workers for up to 26 weeks, though budget pressures have forced some states to scale back their programs. Recent figures from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics suggest that about 6 million people could be affected if their unemployment insurance is cut off at year’s end.

Though Republicans have the upper hand in scheduling a bill in the House, they will be under intense pressure to negotiate a deal quietly to avoid a public battle in the last holiday season of the 2012 election cycle.