Paulson's Patriot Act?
According to an article in today's Washington Post, while the financial system was in meltdown, the Treasury secretary " ...in the midst of this late-September drama, ... issued a five-sentence notice that attracted almost no public attention..."
"Some congressional staff members have privately concluded that the notice was illegal. But they have worried that saying so publicly could unravel several recent bank mergers made possible by the change and send the economy into an even deeper tailspin..."
"...The change to Section 382 of the tax code -- a provision that limited a kind of tax shelter arising in corporate mergers -- came after a two-decade effort by conservative economists and Republican administration officials to eliminate or overhaul the law, which is so little-known that even influential tax experts sometimes draw a blank at its mention. Until the financial meltdown, its opponents thought it would be nearly impossible to revamp the section because this would look like a corporate giveaway, according to lobbyists."
Ahh the tried and true method of getting things done in the Bush administration: hold a gun to the head of Congress.
Let the economy meltdown so we can get the changes we have tried unsuccessfully to achieve for two decades. Almost gives credence to the conspiracy theorists who feel that Bush , by ignoring Intelligence warnings about Al Qaeda , was willing to tolerate an attack on our soil in order to pass what he felt were much needed changes to our domestic surveillance system.
I cannot even put into words my disbelief at Congress' continued willingness to trust this administration. Have they learned nothing from the last eight years of deception and disillusion?
Incredible.
"Some congressional staff members have privately concluded that the notice was illegal. But they have worried that saying so publicly could unravel several recent bank mergers made possible by the change and send the economy into an even deeper tailspin..."
"...The change to Section 382 of the tax code -- a provision that limited a kind of tax shelter arising in corporate mergers -- came after a two-decade effort by conservative economists and Republican administration officials to eliminate or overhaul the law, which is so little-known that even influential tax experts sometimes draw a blank at its mention. Until the financial meltdown, its opponents thought it would be nearly impossible to revamp the section because this would look like a corporate giveaway, according to lobbyists."
Ahh the tried and true method of getting things done in the Bush administration: hold a gun to the head of Congress.
Let the economy meltdown so we can get the changes we have tried unsuccessfully to achieve for two decades. Almost gives credence to the conspiracy theorists who feel that Bush , by ignoring Intelligence warnings about Al Qaeda , was willing to tolerate an attack on our soil in order to pass what he felt were much needed changes to our domestic surveillance system.
I cannot even put into words my disbelief at Congress' continued willingness to trust this administration. Have they learned nothing from the last eight years of deception and disillusion?
Incredible.
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