| As discussed in the earlier pieces, the Ethiopian in the fuel supply is the change to the PAYGO point of order made earlier in the year by the much-trumpeted ethics bill S 1.
The House bill (HR 3996) passed last week pays for the patch by closing the infamous hedge-fund manager loopholes.
Harry wants to stick to PAYGO for the patch - and there was some question whether the Senate GOP, which still fantasizes about fiscal conservatism, might have been in two minds on the subject.
But, according to the Hill piece, the Senate GOP has reverted to spendthriftiness, and will be opposing the bill because it pays for the patch.
I'm not sure what the absolute deadline is by which time the patch bill must be passed in order to avoid Americans paying extra tax.
But I suspect that this is something that neither party will want to take to the wire.
Meanwhile, on the Dem side, we have Schumer and (news to me) Kerry opposing the hedge-fund tax, Baucus not putting forward alternatives, and general lack of consensus.
It's surely inconceivable that the patch bill not pass in time: fixing the other party with the blame would be good, but the risk of being fixed with the blame would be too hot to handle.
But quite how we'll get from here to there, I haven't a clue.
The AMT - strictly, the individual AMT - is notoriously a tax paid disproportionately in blue states.
(I've no idea whether this is correct; but it's certainly a commonly held view in spheroid circles.)
But I can't see the GOP wanting to be tricksy and nix the patch to hit Dem voters, because there are just too many GOP voters who'd get collateral damage. |
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