This week the House of Representatives is likely to overwhelmingly pass a bill that would ensure that at least 27 million married couples retain the tax break granted to them by the president's tax-cut legislation in 2001 by extending the relief permanently from the so-called ''marriage penalty'' that used to exist in the tax code and forced some couples to pay more in taxes when married than they would have paid if single.
Extending the 2001 tax provisions is a top priority of the Bush administration and Sen. John Kerry, the presumptive Democratic presidential candidate, also supports marriage penalty relief.

Now, here's the bad news . . . the bill will cost the Treasury more than $96 billion over 10 years. It's going to take some fiscal conservatives a lot of effort to keep spending in line in the future.