Congress Versus Hobbit – NYTimes.com

Gail Collins

Come back! This is going to be really interesting. Or at least I will try to trick you into feeling that it’s interesting by making copious references to popular culture.

We should begin with Representative Dave Camp, a Republican from Michigan who is the current chairman of the powerful House Ways and Means Committee. Camp has been on a quest to make the tax system cleaner and simpler. In this matter we might think of him as a Hobbit, facing great danger in his search for the golden W-2 form.

“I aim to launch and fight the tax reform battle once again,” Camp announced, rather grandly. After many, many hearings and discussions, he unveiled a proposal to reduce the nation’s high corporate tax rate by eliminating loopholes that allow a number of corporations to avoid paying anything at all.

Rima NYT Comment SmallThe GOP ranks have been filling up with the trolls that the semi-visible hand that is the Koch machine has so carefully cultivated and put into office. Camp, Bachmann, Gohmert, Issa… Different head on the same crazy puppet. Just a day ago, Aunt Gail told us about the goings on in Mississippi. It looks like, no matter what, McDaniel is getting his ransom this summer and we will likely see him in Congress as of January next year.

But what of all the other trolls who are waiting under the bridge? While the voters are busy worrying about real life, unaware or unconcerned that the trolls are gaining strength, the primaries go on and voter turnout is at its lowest.

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Curated from www.nytimes.com

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