I receive a daily tax briefing from a commercial service (BNA), and the top article synopsis for today was as follows (in part):
Senate Narrowly Rejects Democratic Amendment to Reinstate Pay-Go
Senate Republicans win a narrow budget victory, turning back a Democratic amendment to reinstate "pay-as-you-go" budget rules that could make it more difficult to extend tax cuts now set to expire. The pay-go amendment to the Senate budget resolution (S. Con. Res. 83) fails on a 50-50 vote.
Turns out we had ALL dems on board plus Jeffords, as well as five Republicans. Its nice to see a crack in the wall somewhere.
Pay as you go is just as it sounds... it requires Senate bills to be revenue neutral, so if you can't find revenue offsets, you can't lower taxes etc. Because of "pay as you go" we have the estate tax repeal that isn't a repeal--when Shrublet wanted to pass estate tax repeal, he couldn't find the money to pay for it in the out years because it was so damn expensive. They only way they could get it to pass the Senate was to put in a sunset provision. So right now, the estate tax exemption increases gradually until 2009, in 2010 the estate tax is repealed, but the legislation sunsets and the estate tax is back in 2011. It sucks for those of us who actually need to advise clients regarding what to do, but from a fiscal responsibility issue, it makes lots of sense, and frankly, saved us from even more irresponsible tax cuts, if that's conceivable.
Of course, the Republicans are says that voting for "pay as you go" is a tax increase (through the looking glass, people), no doubt on the theory that failure to keep tax cuts in place is the same as a tax increase.
How any honest conservative can look himself or herself in the face and say that this Republican party is the party of fiscal discipline and restraint is just beyond me, truly. I do think, folks, that this is a winner issue for us... one of the few where ALL Dems fell in line, one where the conservative base feels betrayed, and one that average working people, who sit around their kitchen tables trying to match what what comes in with what goes out every month, can relate to.