I had no idea this topic was so exciting! This from a friend, who echoes other readers:
But isn’t a huge point that all the official long-term budget estimates this decade have disingenuously assumed that the AMT would not be fixed? When the OMB and CBO gave their budget deficit forecasts, they didn’t caveat it by saying, “of course, no one really thinks we’re going to collect this amount in the first place.” They didn’t have the guts to either axe the AMT and cut spending elsewhere, or fix it and hike taxes elsewhere. They just used it as phantom money to pad their revenue estimates and cover their political butts, and completely ignored how anyone would solve the problem.
I agree with every word. Congressional accounting is a scam — it was a scam under the Republican Congress just like it is now under the Democrats. And I don’t really expect more than a handful of Republicans to propose the necessary spending cuts to balance the budget (which is a shame).
But if we can at least rule out a tax hike, I’d be happier for the economy’s sake. The American people are not under-taxed right now.