Weary war opponents in Congress will get to go back home soon, get some rest, and then face what might be a bigger headache than George Bush: the majority of Americans that disapproves of President Bush's decision to veto the first supplemental, which called for complete withdrawal of U.S. soldiers from Iraq by March 31, 2008. The new $120 billion supplemental war spending bill -- stripped of all references to troop withdrawal -- is expected to pass the House this evening after lawmakers made last-minute changes dictated by the White House.

House Ways and Means Committee chair Charles B. Rangel (D-NY) has long and loudly said that he "wants to "rearrange" the Bush tax cuts, shifting tax relief from the wealthiest beneficiaries to the middle-class victims of the AMT. Rangel reminds us frequently that he's 76 (remember, green bananas?) and serious-minded about solving the AMT promblem promptly and simply -- sans Rube Goldberg extranea.

OMB Watch contributed this statement to a hearing on the IRS private debt collection program. At the hearing, which was held by the full House Ways and Means Committee, Rep. Charlie Rangel asked acting commissioner of the IRS Kevin Brown to not issue any more contracts to private debt collectors. Commissioner Brown did give a clear response, but Rep. Rangel seemed intent on reaching a compromise with IRS that contained the size of the program, making it unnecessary to immediately pass legislation that would end it.

The Tax Policy Center has just issued research results and recommendations regarding repeal of the AMT that merit serious attention. As the New York Times reports today in Group Offers a Simple Fix for Alternative Minimum Tax, TPC's proposal features a reversion back to pre-Bush earned and investment tax rates on couples earning over $200,000 and singles earning half that.