Tho McConnell Assails "Status Quo on Tax Policy" BNA reports that Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) filed cloture today on a motion to proceed to the House-passed, PAYGO-compliant, AMT patch/tax extenders bill. The move sets up a Senate vote as early as Thurs., Dec. 6. Reid apparently tried and failed to reach agreement with the Senate Republican leadership to hold votes on three versions of the AMT patch and the tax extenders package without amendment, but the GOP continued to insist on floor time for amendments related to extending the 2001 and 2003 Bush tax cuts. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) objects to offsetting any portion of the legislation, saying that by patching the AMT and extending the extenders Congress would be "maintaining the status quo on tax policy" and lawmakers should not permanently raise taxes on some to pay for those policies. What was that? Maintaining the status quo on tax policy? He doesn't mean extending certain 2001 and 2003 tax cuts, does he? McConnell's concerns are misplaced; that's not going to happen. As Senate Finance Committee Chair Max Baucus (D-MT) said last week: "[Extending t]he Bush tax cuts will not pass this Congress. There's just no way in the world. They're not going to get 60 votes [in the Senate]." Or is he suggesting that we change course by letting the AMT go unpatched and the popular package of tax credits and deductions go unextended? That won't happen either. So just what is this awful "status quo on tax policy" that McConnell wants to do away with? Does he mean PAYGO?