The routine matter of passing a resolution to adjourn Congress for the session is getting caught up in the effort to pay for the AMT patch bill. The adjournment resolution, H Con Res 271, failed by a 184-218 vote yesterday, with members of the Democrats' Blue Dog Coalition using the vote to draw attention to the PAYGO principles, which the Senate violated last week in approving an AMT patch bill without any offset provisions, a move that would add a $50 billion hole to the deficit next year. In the end, the House won't hold the holidays hostage to PAYGO principles, but the Blue Dogs and others advocating fiscal responsibility won't make it easy for the House to follow the Senate down the deficit hole.