Treasury Secretary Hank Paulson said in a letter to congressional Republicans yesterday that Congress needs to act immediately to enact an Alternative Minimum Tax fix. One reason: It will take 12-13 weeks for the agency to reprogram its computers to account for the change. Huh?

In Saturday’s Washington Post, Michael Kinsley argued that the U.S. should dump the regular income tax and replace it with the simpler and fairer alternative minimum tax. On their face, his arguments are appealing: The AMT has a broader base than the regular income tax. It has only two rates—26 percent and 28 percent. And it is simpler, dispensing with a raft of deductions, including those for state and local taxes, personal exemptions, and the standard deduction. So why did I flash back to the old 1970s comedy Laugh-In, when Arte Johnson, replete with Wehrmacht battle helmet and a bad German accent, would pipe up, "Very interesting … but stupid"?

Yesterday was a rough day for those few hearty souls who think Washington is going to do much about fixing our health care system any time soon. Congress failed to override President Bush’s veto of legislation to expand the State Children’s Health Insurance Program (SCHIP). At almost the same time, the House Budget Committee held a hearing on whether tax incentives are the best tool to increase private insurance coverage.

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