This afternoon, the House defeated, 205-207, an amendment by Rep. Edward J. Markey (D-MA) to require oil companies with royalty-free offshore leases to renegotiate those deals before winning new leases in certain areas. Rep. Charles Rangel (D-NY), the House Ways and Means ranking Democrat, had added language to the amandment, CQ ($) reports "to allow a 2007 “patch” for the alternative minimum tax that would have cost $48 billion." Given incoming Speaker Nancy Pelosi's First 100 Hours agenda, this may have been Congress' last opportunity to approve such a patch without having to find $48 billion in offsets.