Bailout bill loops in green tech, IRS snooping

Bailout bill loops in green tech, IRS snooping | Politics and Law - CNET News:

Last week, the Bush administration proposed a three-page bill to bail out Wall Street to the tune of $700 billion. It died in the U.S. House of Representatives earlier this week.

On Friday, though, the House approved a far bigger, broader, and beefier version of the bill--which has ballooned to a remarkable 442 pages. The vote was 263 to 171, with the bulk of the opposition coming from Republicans. Because the Senate already approved the measure, it immediately went to President Bush, who signed it into law."

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"The bill has become, in other words, something almost unrelated to the business of bailing out Wall Street. The Beltway term for this is a 'Christmas tree bill,' meaning everyone gets to hang their favorite spending projects on it--though by the time Congress gets it through, it more closely resembles a slop bucket.

'We will not Christmas-tree this bill,' Sen. Chuck Schumer, a New York Democrat promised a few days ago. 'The times are too urgent. Everyone has their own desires and needs. It's going to have to wait.'
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"IRS undercover operations: Privacy invasion?

The bailout bill also gives the Internal Revenue Service new authority to conduct undercover operations. It would immunize the IRS from a passel of federal laws, including permitting IRS agents to run businesses for an extended sting operation, to open their own personal bank accounts with U.S. tax dollars, and so on. (Think IRS agents posing as accountants or tax preparers and saying, "I'm not sure if that deduction is entirely legal, but it'll save you $1,000. Want to take it?") That section had expired as of January 1, 2008, and would now be renewed.