JUST KEEP WINNING:

House Sacrifices Revenue and Earmarks: GOP Whacks Estate Taxes, Gives President Line-Item Veto Over Spending (Jonathan Weisman, June 23, 2006, Washington Post)

The House yesterday approved a deep, permanent tax cut on large, inherited estates that would cost the Treasury hundreds of billions of dollars, then sought to burnish its reputation for fiscal discipline by granting the president power to rescind pet projects from spending legislation. [...]

Both measures face some difficulties. Senate Budget Committee Chairman Judd Gregg (R-N.H.) has vowed to block consideration of the line-item veto legislation unless it is included in a much broader, more significant package of budget controls that cleared his committee this week.

The estate tax bill is within a few votes of the 60 needed to beat a Democratic filibuster in the Senate. But some moderate Republicans say the House bill is too large a drain on the Treasury, while others say the bill would leave too high a tax rate -- as much as 40 percent -- on the largest estates.

Deficits don't matter, but you could silence the hawks and impose some discipline by restoring Gramm-Rudman.

Posted by Orrin Judd at June 23, 2006 8:20 AM