Bush Admin's bait and switch

See this big shiny thing here?! Over here! The humongous $700 billion "bailout bill" that is going to scare the crap out of you?? Pay close attention to it! Very close!

... And don't notice this $140 billion bank giveaway that we're going to do while you aren't looking.

This gem from yesterday's Washington Post made me so angry I had to wait until today to even write anything about it. Here are some key details about what the Administration took from our Federal coffers and gave away to our shambles of a banking system:

The financial world was fixated on Capitol Hill as Congress battled over the Bush administration's request for a $700 billion bailout of the banking industry. In the midst of this late-September drama, the Treasury Department issued a five-sentence notice that attracted almost no public attention.

But corporate tax lawyers quickly realized the enormous implications of the document: Administration officials had just given American banks a windfall of as much as $140 billion.

..."It was a shock to most of the tax law community. It was one of those things where it pops up on your screen and your jaw drops," said Candace A. Ridgway, a partner at Jones Day, a law firm that represents banks that could benefit from the notice. "I've been in tax law for 20 years, and I've never seen anything like this."

More than a dozen tax lawyers interviewed for this story -- including several representing banks that stand to reap billions from the change -- said the Treasury had no authority to issue the notice.

...No one in the Treasury informed the tax-writing committees of Congress about this move, which could reduce revenue by tens of billions of dollars. Legislators learned about the notice only days later.

DeSouza, the Treasury spokesman, said Congress is not normally [my emphasis] consulted about administrative guidance.

Because, you know, the circumstances we're now in are just, you know, normal.