Vice President Cheney, speaking to the National Association of Manufacturers yesterday: By now it's time for even the skeptics to admit that a lower federal tax burden is a powerful driver of investment, growth, and new jobs for American workers. And that increased economic activity, in turn, generates revenue for the federal government. Ummm...you mean even the "skeptics" at your very own Treasury Department? Even they say that permanent tax cuts will make the economy smaller and reduce revenues.

To follow up on Craig's post, I wanted to comment on Robert Samuelson's contempt for the American public. From his column: We could consider all of federal spending and not just small bits of it. But most Americans don't want to admit that they are current or prospective welfare recipients. They prefer to think that they automatically deserve whatever they've been promised simply because the promises were made. Americans do not want to pose the basic questions, and their political leaders mirror that reluctance. This makes the welfare state immovable and the budget situation intractable.

House Ways and Means Committee chair Charles Rangel (D-NY) is on a scavenger hunt. With his sights on major Alternative Minimum Tax (AMT) reform, he's on the lookout for offset provisions, the bigger the better. Reportedly, he's agreed to have House Select Revenue Subcommittee chairman Richard Neal (D-MA) vet solutions to the problem of how to keep the AMT from engulfing millions more taxpayers this year and beyond. None of the solutions will be cheap; all will require offsets.

By a 71-26 vote yesterday, the Senate moved closer to approving the FY 2007 CR passed by the House last week (covered here), with Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-TN) and 22 other GOP members joining all but one Democrat to close debate and move to a final vote, which could come later today.