The Saviour of the Republican Party: Truck Nutz

Republican activists, trying to rebuild after the elections, have launched a website called Rebuild the Party to solicit ideas.

Early returns, however, have been a bit unexpected. The top two proposals are to link up with libertarian activists: "Reach Out to Ron Paul and the Campaign for Freedom" and "Make Room for Libertarians". The libertarian influence --- and possibly hijacking of the poll --- is also evident in "Abolish the Federal Reserve System" and "Step Away from the Drug War", and there are calls for "Fair Tax Reform".

At Number Four, however, is the idea that may bring the Party back in Congress and into the White House: "Truck Nutz for All". I am told that Truck Nutz is a metal ornament that you can hang off the trailer hitch of your pick-up truck. While I'm not sure how I could attach this to the rusting rear bumper of my Renault Laguna, it does seem to be a political initiative with a lot of potential.

(Sad update: Since the Internet chattering classes picked up on "Truck Nutz for All", it has been pulled --- quite undemocratically or un-Republicanly --- from the Rebuild the Party website.)

Celebrating Bankers: The $140 Billion Tax Cut in the Bailout

A reader from New Zealand tips us off to today's front-page story in the Washington Post:

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.

The Treasury Department effectively removed a 1986 Congressional provision that limited tax shelters in corporate mergers. The move may be illegal, although the Treasury is trying to cover itself by saying that the notice is an "interpretation" of the law.

One immediate effect of the "interpretation", which came a day after the House of Representatives initially rejected the $700 bailout plan, was to make the rescue of troubled banks and financial companies more attractive. For example Wachovia, one of the largest banks in America, was going to be taken over by Citicorp but, after the ruling, Wells Fargo swooped in and made a successful bid.

President-elect Obama may want to consider, as he considers a tax reduction plan (still unclear how he's going to finance it...), that another $100 billion has just been slammed on the Federal Government's budget deficit.