In the first days of the 107th Congress, with the Senate split 50-50, minority leader Tom Daschle was optimistic enough to quote Thomas Wolfe's famous line, "America is a place where miracles not only happen -- they happen all the time." Daschle was referring to a novel system of power sharing in the Senate that ensures Democrats an equal number of seats on each committee (though Vice President Dick Cheney still holds the tie-breaking vote on the floor). But after last week's performance in the Senate Finance Committee, which featured four of 10 Democratic members defying party leadership to sign on to a compromise tax bill, it will take more than a miracle to fend off the shamefully inequitable tax plan that is scheduled for a Senate vote today.