Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell rolled out a plan this week to extend Bush-era income tax breaks, reduce the alternative minimum tax, and limit estate taxes to estates valued at more than $5 million for individuals and $10 million for couples. The Republican plan would make the Bush tax cuts, which benefit virtually all taxpayers, permanent. No cost estimate was released along with the plan, but the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office previously reported that a similar plan would add $3.9 trillion to the national debt over 10 years and increase interest payments on the debt by some $950 billion. Unless Congress acts, the Bush tax cuts will expire at the end of this year.
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