US House passes Budget plan

Budget measure would allow for a tax Bill that adds as much as $1.5 trillion to federal deficits over a decade

The House on Thursday sounded the starting gun on legislative efforts to cut taxes by as much as $1.5 trillion over the coming decade, narrowly clearing a budget blueprint that will allow a tax bill to pass Congress without any Democratic votes.

But the 216-212 vote hinted at how difficult actually legislating a tax overhaul could be. The budget measure cleared Congress over the loud protests of House members from high-tax states like New York, New Jersey and California, who worry that the blueprint will doom the current deduction for state and local taxes — a deduction of great importance to