Why? Because They Can

It was the perfect vehicle: A piece of legislation so deathly boring that one could slip anything into it.

So they did. In fact, they stuffed in some of the worst moments of the Energy Bill -- a dead monster that just won't stay dead. Since it couldn't be passed via democratic means, they snuck it through.

Here's what the bill says at the top: "A bill to amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to comply with the World Trade Organization rulings on blah blah blah."

An opening salvo like that sends all right-thinking Americans scurrying for cover so as not to be wounded by flying tedium. Which leaves Republican legislators free to salt in billions of dollars for -- of course - - oil companies.

Well, it's not entirely that simple.

First off, everyone got something from this bill, passed in the Senate last week and now headed for the House and -- assuming agreement can be reached -- the President's desk.

Taxpayers for Common Sense calls the 900-page bill "more boring than War & Peace and more complicated than ancient Greek," and as it lists the top 20 big winners -- from NASCAR owners to makers of children's bows and arrows -- sums up: "Any independent can only assume that this is a payback for Corporate America, which has sat out the last two rounds of tax cuts by the Administration. Despite record deficits, these interests believe that it is their turn at bat and they are aiming for a home run."

Second, there are some good aspects to the legislation. It provides money for green electricity sources like wind and solar -- more money, in fact, then Senators seems to have realized, since wind in particular is a booming industry. (So expect the green money to be the first to be cut if and when House and Senate Republican leaders negotiate a final bill.)

As The Washington Post reports, the bill also includes ambitious curbs on corporate tax abuses. It closes some abused loopholes, cracks down on people who renounce US citizenship to avoid income tax and goes hard after Bermuda Patriots. (All this will surely be thrown out in House-Senate negotiations too, though.)

Finally, where the Republican-crafted bill is at its most outrageous -- that is, in giving billions of our tax dollars to the oil companies -- one of the most active and courageous critics has been ... a Republican.

Check out Senator John McCain as he fought last week, unsuccessfully, to strip the energy subsidies back out of the bill. The "Mr. President" he addresses is the president of the Senate, not George W. (You can see a PDF of that day's Congressional Record testimony here):

It is indeed. A Congress that would happily give billions of dollars to oil companies -- but can't spare a dime for a brother out of work.

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