mr. speaker , i do not need to mention yesterday or the 414 who voted to fix this problem . 
i would tell my friend from new york that you only need 60 votes outside of a reconciliation to pass this . 
but i do want to mention 1985 . 
the tax reform act of 1985 , under their watch , said this : `` other regular tax itemized deductions such as those for state and local taxes paid and for certain investment expenses , are not allowed for minimum tax purposes. '' i assume they did that knowingly . 
they were the ones who did it . 
in 1993 , they passed the largest tax increase on the american people and had a chance to adjust it again then . 
i will say that we have made progress today . 
this is an appropriate motion to recommit . 
it does not kill the bill . 
the gentleman from massachusetts said this is about upper income groups . 
in fact , there was an editorial recently that said it is between the rich and the very rich . 
but i do want to mark the landmark comment of the gentleman from massachusetts who said this was about middle income people . 
and on page 2 of the motion to recommit , `` for purposes of this paragraph , the term `threshold amount ' means $ 100 , 000 and $ 200 , 000 in the case of a joint return. '' so $ 200 , 000 is now middle income . 
i believe that is correct . 
they are the ones who have always said those are the very rich . 
now , the other thing you need to understand , it is this business of how many people are going to fall under the alternative minimum tax . 
do you know why ? 
the reason , in 1994 that there were so few people who fell under the alternative minimum tax is because the regular tax was so high . 
what has happened in 2001 , 2002 , 2003 and 2004 we have driven down the rates . 
and because we have lower taxes , there are more people who fall under the alternative minimum tax . 
do we need to address it ? 
of course . 
but the vote today is far more fundamental than that . 
this vote , if you vote yes , gives money to rich people to spend on consumption . 
surely , you know that pure consumption does not move the economy very much . 
what they want to do is deny people the opportunity to invest and to save to supply fuel to the engine of the economy so we can continue with the lowest unemployment rate and the highest productivity rate than we have seen 