Will there be any surprises as Congressional Republicans sit down with President Obama?

This morning at 10:30 a.m.,  a group of Republicans – Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, Speaker-Elect John Boehner, and Minority Whip Jon Kyle are scheduled to finally have their sit down with President Obama that had originally been scheduled 12 days earlier, but was called off for some reason by those same Republicans (they'll be joined by top Democrats as well).

Expectations are low for any breakthrough, particularly since the meeting is supposed to last only between 60-90 minutes.

So what will the topics for discussion?  Topping the list must be a discussion and possible compromise regarding the Bush-era tax cuts, which expire in exactly a month.

You know the story: both the administration, Democrats, and Republicans want to maintain all of those cuts, and in fact make them permanent, for every American making less than $250,000 a year.

The GOP wants the cuts to go to everybody, but the President, other Democrats and their supporters say the country can't afford to continue to give tax cuts to those making more than $250,000, saying it will tack on $70 billion annually to the deficit, which allegedly is the number one factor driving political decisions in Washington today.

But if neither party wilts (and they won't), the art of compromise will be required.  There has been talk of extending the tax cuts for all for another 1, 2 or 3 years.

But that can't fly for Democrats, who don't want/need this discussion to come up next year, and especially not two years from now, when every Representative and a third of their Senators are up for re-election.  To quote an anonymous official in a story in today's Politico:

"I think that’s insanity,” said a top Senate Democratic aide of a one-year extension. “We’re going to have the same debate next year? If you’re worried about 2012, you want to have a tax fight in the middle of the [election] cycle? Democrats don’t win tax debates in an election year.”