The old line around Congress about taxes has always been, if it looks like a duck and quacks like a duck, it is a tax.  In this case, the Lame Duck session of Congress is all about taxes.

We have the expiring Bush tax cuts, not only on income tax rates, but also lower taxes on stocks and dividends which all sunset at the end of the year.

There's the issue of what to do about the federal inheritance taxes, as the estate tax has been at zero all year, but will snap back to a 45% rate on January 1 of next year.

There is the Alternative Minimum Tax, which needs a special "patch" to make sure that it doesn't bite millions of Americans with an extra tax penalty that must be addressed.

There are the "tax extenders," a series of popular tax breaks which are usually renewed each year, at a cost of about $32 billion.  Included in that are special research and development breaks for businesses, and a tax break for people who live in states without income taxes, which allows them to deduct state sales taxes on their federal tax form.

But this Lame Duck won't be all about taxes, as in just over two weeks, long term extended jobless benefits will run out for thousands of unemployed Americans.

Democrats want to extend those and just add the extra cost onto the deficit, Republicans want to find budget cuts to pay for it.

Will some of it get done?  Most of it?  None of it?

"I'm looking for a lame, lame duck session," said political analyst John Fortier of the American Enterprise Institute.

Fortier believes lawmakers will end up temporarily extending all of the Bush tax cuts, which expire on December 31.  That will punt the matter into the New Year and the next Congress, which will have a lot more Republican votes.

But can that make it through the House and Senate?  

Democrats are also talking about forcing votes on other legislation dealing with food safety, nutrition and even immigration reform.  But before you jump out of your chair and grab the phone to call your member of Congress, there is one thing to remember about any Lame Duck hijinx - the Senate.

The skids will have to be greased to get anything of import done in the next month.

That certainly applies to the budget, where Congress has not approved a single major spending bill for the fiscal year that began back in October.

A temporary, stop-gap budget that keeps the government running is in place until early December, as many believe that will be extended into the New Year as well.

Democrats had talked about pushing through an Omnibus budget bill, with all 12 spending measures jammed into one - with a bunch of earmarks as well - but that seems unlikely to get through the Senate.

As for the Lame Duck Schedule, the Congress is in this week, and then leaves until the week after Thanksgiving.  Often what happens is once we get into December, then the Lame Duck just keeps going like oozing lava, heading straight for Christmas.

Last year, the Senate approved the health reform law at 7:15am on Christmas Eve and then headed home.

Will we ring the holiday bells in the Congress again this year?  

Stay tuned.