The Charleston Daily Mail in West Virginia has a terrific editorial today that quotes Senator McConnell’s video plea to Congress to take action and fund our troops in harm’s way before Christmas.

The editorial concludes by stating,

No one expects Congress to give this or any president a blank check on any war. But Congress is obligated to support the troops who were placed in harm's way under authorization of Congress in 2002.

A timetable for withdrawing the troops is not only unnecessary but unwise. Negotiations are under way between the Army and the Iraqi government.

Now is not the time to retreat.

It's time to move forward toward a significant victory over terrorism.

Read the entire editorial here.

11 days ago under the leadership of Senator McConnell, the Senate moved to fix the AMT while preventing a proposed Democrat tax hike.

Today House leadership made it clear they are in no hurry to fix the AMT. If they continue to do nothing, 23 million Americans including 174,000 Kentuckians will be hit with a massive tax hike.

According to The Hill  newspaper:

House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) hinted Tuesday that Congress may not be able to stop a big tax increase from hitting 23 million Americans.

Hoyer, pressed on whether Congress would resolve disputes over the Alternative Minimum Tax (AMT), said, “Maybe.”

...

An AMT patch must be passed soon to avoid a big tax hike. By waiting as long as they have, lawmakers have already raised the risk of a tax-filing mess that could provide fodder for political attacks. The IRS says it needs seven weeks from the time the president signs the AMT patch into law to update its forms and re-program its computers.

You can read the entire story here.

Congress must act immediately to repeal the onerous AMT, and we must do so without raising additional taxes. Anything less is irresponsible.