Post Misses the Point Again about Alternative Minimum Tax

     The Washington Post has once again taken only one side of the Alternative Minimum Tax debate: the side of those who promote class warfare for political gain.

     The June 8 story by Lori Montgomery refers to House Democrats as “looking to spare millions of middle class families from the expensive bite of the alternative minimum tax…”

     This is the second time, Montgomery neglected to mention how key Democrats including House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) voted to increase the AMT in 1993 and voted against repealing it in 1999.

     The repeal was passed in the House and the Senate, largely along party lines. However, it was eventually vetoed by Democratic President Bill Clinton in 1999. Of the congressmen cited in the June 8 story, only Reps. Richard E. Neal (D.-Mass.) and Charles B. Rangel (D-N.Y.) were in the House at the time and they both voted against the repeal.

     Montgomery’s June 8 story, strongly resembled the one she wrote last April, which cited Tax Policy Center Director Leonard E. Burman. The Tax Policy Center is “a joint project of the Urban Institute and the Brookings Institution,” two more liberal organizations. The Tax Policy Center reappeared in the latest article.

     Reforming the AMT was a major issue in the news in April. But, the media tended to blame the Bush tax cuts, without taking a closer look at the politicians who neglected to index the tax to inflation.