How about a 35% AMT rate?

Tax Notes Today ($) reports that in order to exempt taxpayers with AGI under $200,000 from the Alternative Minimum Tax, House Democrats are looking at the possibility of raising the tax rate to 35%. That's the same top rate as for the regular tax, just without the deductions, so I'm mystified as to how that could ever be an "alternative."

The thing that the legislators may have overlooked is that the reform proposal likely hits "blue states" even harder than the existing system. This recent Washington Post article has more on the Democrats' tax thinking.