Like many conservatives, Arizona Sen. John McCain wants to eliminate the one item in the tax code designed to keep the wealthy from escaping taxes altogether: the alternative minimum tax. The intent of the AMT is to limit the ability of wealthy individuals to escape paying taxes by piling on exemption after exemption. It is true that the tax is increasingly affecting middle-income people it was never intended to ensnare, and Democrats in Congress have struggled to come up with a fair solution, which would cost about $50 billion a year. But McCain is a leading proponent of eliminating it altogether, which some congressional analysts say would mean $1 trillion less revenue to the government over 10 years. This is not even "trickle-down economics"; this is allowing the wealthy to game the tax code and leave the government unable to pay for the kinds of programs that serve the common good.