Congress Has Jumped The Shark

I actually read this NY Times editorial twice. Then decided this was Area 51/Warren Commission level cover-up stuff, that the Senate had joined the House in going mad, and resolved to take the rest of the day off to recuperate:

Leaders of the Senate Finance Committee are trying to tackle the explosive issue of tax reform by offering an extraordinary guarantee of 50 years of anonymity to lawmakers skittish about publicly presenting candid views on which tax credits and deductions deserve to be dropped or altered in a new code. The fear is palpable among senators that disclosing even their thoughts on the subject could damage careers if power lobbyists and angry constituents were to get early wind via Washington’s relentless leak machine. 

As a result, lawmakers’ tax writing advice is to be kept under the tightest computer and physical security, according to the guarantees being extended by Senators Max Baucus, the Democratic committee chairman, and Orrin Hatch, the ranking Republican. Names will be shielded with identification numbers. Only 10 Senate staff members will have access to material under a tight login process, and printed copies will be kept in a vault with the identities of who proposed what secreted in the National Archives until 2064, should anyone still care by then.