Today's Duckworth Press Conference

She'll be holding one today around noon at the post office in Villa Park, 1415 S. Ardmore in Villa Park.

Bill Weinberg wrote me,

Tammy will be discussing the Alternative Minimum Tax— the “AMT.” Perhaps some of you have experienced the AMT already; or, you can understand—as a member of the middle-class—just how important it is that something be done before it hits more middle-income families

The Alternative Minimum Tax is a complex and confusing part of the tax code. It was first created in the 1970s because a few hundred millionaires had avoided paying federal income taxes altogether.

However, in recent years—and, especially in the years to come—the AMT is having a particularly harsh impact on middle-income families.

In fact, it is estimated that during tax year 2006, the portion of households earning between $75,000 and $100,000 who pay the AMT will rise from 1.1 percent to 29.8 percent.

By 2010, the AMT will hit more than two-thirds of taxpayers earning between $50,000 to $100,000.

When a household is hit with the AMT, what is the impact? Households which are forced to pay the AMT owe-- on average-- more than $2,700 in additional taxes when filing jointly. Middle-class parents— people with one child who file jointly-- owe approximately $4,700 extra.

Because it hits the middle-class as hard as it does, Tammy believes that the AMT is not consistent with the idea of tax fairness.

That's ok. I'm not certain anyone will argue against this.

But Democrats recurited Duckworth to run because War was the issue. She needs to make sense out of the disaster Democrats have crafted themselves on war and National Security.

Duckworth is going to have to define herself against Kerry's appalling performance last Sunday on Meet the Press reviewed by OxBlog in a post I voted for Kerry before I voted against him.

She's going to have to take a stand on the F**K the Army Crowd at places like UCSC.

Democrats can't dodge these issues behind the Tax Code and mumbo jumbo about the middle class.

War is why we have Duckworth as candidate in the 6th. So when we have tyrants in Iran building nukes --who hate all Americans: lower, middle, upper, working or not; their leaders hate us all and seek our destruction-- she needs to speak out.

She has a chance to restore the Democrats as a party worthy of Truman and Kennedy's legacies. Please help save the party Major Duckworth.

Update: She may want to comment on this one too (cached from Detroit News). A Democratic Majority means Conyers running Judiciary,

Proving that Democrats, despite their howls about unethical Republicans in Congress, have no claim to the moral high ground in Washington, staffers of U.S. Rep. John Conyers, D-Detroit, this week claimed the congressman forced them to tutor his wife and children, babysit and clean his home -- all while on the taxpayer's dime.

The aides have made their claims to both the FBI and the House ethics committee.

Don't expect much action, given that Conyers is the ranking Democrat on the Judiciary Committee, but the allegations should be vigorously investigated.

And voters everywhere should remember that if the Democrats retake control of the House, Conyers will chair that powerful committee.

cross posted at Bill Baar's West Side