The Senate is scheduled to vote tonight on the Wall Street bailout package, which now includes a provision to relieve taxpayers of a scheduled $60 billion or so jump in annual alternative minimum tax payments.

House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer noted, “there’s no doubt in my mind that the Senate added this [AMT provision] because they thought that’s the only way they could get it passed.”

Thus, despite the outpouring of public opposition to the bailout, Congress is determined to rig the vote and grab the people’s money anyway it can. The Senate is essentially saying to the public: “We won’t impose a $60 billion tax hike on you next year if you let us bailout Wall Street. And don’t worry about the $700 billion, we’ll just tack that on to the $5 trillion in public debt that your children and grandchildren already owe.”

There are too many insider experts and economists driving this debate, and too little recognition inside the Beltway about the basic injustice of a bailout. As many callers to the talk shows are saying, the government wants to take $700 billion from average hard-working families who followed the rules and give it to people who made bad, irresponsible, and even disastrous decisions.

Many economists are saying: “Well, I’m usually against intervention and subsides, but this case is special.” But that’s what they always say. The hunt for supposed “market failures” is a full-time pursuit for many modern economists, and it’s mainly nonsense. Back in January the administration and many top-flight economists created a similar crisis atmosophere, inducing Congress to pass the ridiculous “stimulus” bill. What did that achieve other that putting us $150 billion further into debt?