Draw your own conclusion

WaPo:

The House voted 272 to 162 yesterday to permanently repeal the estate tax, throwing the issue to the Senate where negotiations have begun on a deep and permanent estate tax cut that can pass this year, even if it falls short of full repeal.

The House vote pitted repeal proponents, who held that a tax on inheritances is fundamentally unfair, against Democrats, who questioned how Congress could support a tax cut largely for the affluent that would cost $290 billion over 10 years, in the face of record budget deficits.

"This is reverse Robin Hood," said House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.). "We're taking money from the middle class and giving it to the super-rich."

Boston Globe:

Soon, the AMT will affect many more taxpayers lower on the income ladder.

By 2010, 16.9 percent of taxpayers with annual incomes between $50,000 and $75,000, and 53.4 percent of those between $75,000 and $100,000 would have to pay the additional tax, according to a 2005 study by the Tax Policy Center. Families would be particularly affected, because they claim the exemptions, credits, and deductions that are added back to calculate AMT liability. Nearly every married couple with two or more children and incomes between $75,000 and $100,000 will be caught in AMT.

Last month, IRS commissioner Mark W. Everson said the AMT is ''sort of horrific," and the National Taxpayer Advocate, Nina E. Olson, has called it the top problem facing taxpayers. Both have called for its elimination, and a new panel on tax reform appointed by President Bush indicated it will review the AMT.

Still, changing the AMT, derisively known as the ''Blue State" tax because it more often affects filers in states that vote Democratic, won't be easy politically -- or financially. According to the Tax Policy Center, it would cost the US Treasury less money by 2008 to repeal the regular income tax than to eliminate the AMT. Replacing those lost funds has become a huge challenge for fixing the AMT.

Which did Republicans work hard to repeal and which one did they leave in place? And which tax affects the middle and working class more? Discuss your answer below.