Senate GOP puts price on a blue-state tax cut
By Jessica Holzer
October 24, 2007
Senate Republicans are demanding the extension of President Bush’s signature tax cuts before they cooperate on hemming in another tax that they contend affects mostly “blue state” voters living along the coasts.
At issue is the Alternative Minimum Tax (AMT), which will hit an additional 20 million taxpayers next April unless Congress takes action. The problem for Democrats is that they will need Republican support to shield people from the tax, and Republicans are signaling they will have to pay a price.
“A one-year
patch is not my highest priority. There are not many people in my state who are affected by that ,” said Sen. Trent Lott (Miss.), the Senate’s second-ranking Republican.
Under pay-go rules, Democrats would have to pay for a one-year AMT patch, which would cost $55 billion. This has fueled speculation that Democrats will override pay-go rules to pass the AMT fix. However, Democrats need 60 votes to get around the budget rules.
Lott said there are “more than the necessary votes” in his conference to stop Democrats from reaching the 60 votes necessary to waive pay-go rules.
more...
http://thehill.com/leading-the-news/senate-gop-puts-price-on-a-blue-state-tax-cut-2007-10-24.html