Will Congress Stick to the Rules?

The House may vote today on a plan to "fix" the alternative minimum tax and make up the $50 billion in lost revenue by increasing taxes on "carried interest." President Bush has threatened to veto this, and Congress is finding out how tough it can be to stick to "paygo" -- the principle that any tax cuts or spending increases have to be offset somewhere else in the budget. There's a huge debate over the implications of the carried interest tax. But the more important point is that paygo is absolutely critical if we're going to get the nation's finances under control. And an AMT fix that does not offset the costs will bode very badly for the nation's future.