When Congress returns on Monday for the lame-duck session, politicians are expected to decide whether to extend all, some, or none of the Bush tax cuts. Wavering lawmakers may want to consider this prediction from Citigroup’s chief U.S. equity strategist Tobias Levkovich, as reported by Reuters:

Political issues will remain a key factor for Wall Street in 2011, particularly Bush-era tax cuts that expire at the end of 2010. “The market will want clarity on that,” Levkovich said, expecting Congress to ultimately approve a two-year extension for Americans earning less than $1 million a year.
Citi forecasts U.S. economic growth of 2.2 percent in 2011 but “if Bush tax cuts expire, at least 1 percent gets knocked off that forecast,” he said.