This Is How The Stimulus Porkfest Will Pass

Just as with the legislation enacting the TARP porkfest, we're going to see Congress pass the $825 billion (well it was $825 billion before today's changes) because the Democrats keep larding it up with measures that the GOP will find that they have to vote for, like the AMT patch.

The AMT is a mess, and Congress has to adjust the limits annually so that the middle class doesn't get hammered by its imposition. Originally, the AMT was meant to catch those who took advantage of loopholes in the tax law to avoid paying any taxes under the standard tax calculations.

Now, far more than just the ultrawealthy are getting hit by it. Unless Congress does this annual dance, millions of thousands of taxpayers making as low as $150,000 are hit.

Congress is now adding the $69 billion AMT patch to the porkfest. It was added by the Senate Finance Committee earlier today, and the plan calls for the AMT to keep the number of those affected by the AMT in tax year 2009 at the same level as 2008.

The real reason it is being added is not because of the tax ramifications here, but to get those Democrats who are on the fence about supporting a porkfest, along with those few remaining fiscally responsible Republicans to go along with this mess.