Tax Policy -- W&M Approves Extenders; Rejects AMT Patch: By a mostly party-line vote of 25-12, the House Ways and Means Committee approved at $57 billion tax package of an assortment of tax breaks yesterday. The committee also voted down a Republican-offered unpaid-for one-year AMT patch. The bill is expected to be on the House floor next week. War Supplemental -- House Rejects War Funding Portion of War Sup: Anti-war Democrats voted "no" and 132 protesting Republicans voted "present" to defeat an amendment that would fund war operations in Iraq and Afghanistan to a war funding bill. A domestic spending package was approved along with provisions aimed at changing war policy. The Senate is expected to add war funds when it votes on the bill, probably after the Memorial Day break. Farm Bill -- House and Senate Pass By Wide Margins: The Senate passed the farm bill reauthorization yesterday by a wide margin: 81-15, well above the 67 needed to override a promised presidential veto of the bill. The House has also passed the bill by much more than needed to override a veto in that chamber. The bill has almost $300 billion in spending over the next five years, with 73 percent of that spending going to people in poverty.