Simply Depressing

They didn't read it and you won't either. But, it might very well be the end of civilization as we know it. Hyperbole? Maybe, but take a look here:

Table of Contents of HR 2454

If that doesn't get your eyes crossed, click on some chapter headings and go to the "meat" of the bureaucratic nightmare.

This will take several hundred thousand new government functionaries to decipher what it really means. It will take several thousand new court cases to fight for interpretation. It will employ thousands of lawyers and lobbyists on both sides of the arguments. All of that is unproductive overhead which contributes not one damn thing to the good of society or your standard of living.

Now, for my daily dose of paranoia. How long was this deformed creation on the lab table being stitched together? What was the gestation period and who were the mid-wives? This isn't something Waxman and Markey cobbled together over single malts and La Gloria Cubanas last weekend. Who is behind this? Who gains? Who loses? Why?

---Follow-up:

You may have to conduct your own search at Thomas.gov to get the text of H.R. 2454. It's worth the effort.

And, if you're waiting for your share of the tax cut that 95% of Americans will get, notice this from the CBO estimate of cost of the bill:

CBO and the Joint Committee on Taxation (JCT) estimate that over the 2010-2019 period
enacting this legislation would:
 Increase federal revenues by about $846 billion; and
 Increase direct spending by about $821 billion.
In total, those changes would reduce budget deficits (or increase future surpluses) by
about $24 billion over the 2010-2019 period.

That's right, bubbie, it increases federal revenue by $846 BILLION--that's called additional taxes.

And, although it takes an additonal $846B out of your pocket, they will spend $821B to run the program but that doesn't mean you didn't get taxed. But the tax part is only the tip of the iceberg of what this thing will cost each of us in terms of daily living.