Snowe days

Well, well, maybe the GOP Congress's mad rush to put the federal government into receivership and turn what's left into a plutocracy may be losing steam.

Facing a stalemate over one of President Bush's top economic policy goals, the Senate Finance Committee yesterday gave up efforts to extend deep cuts to the tax rate on dividends and capital gains and approved a $60 billion tax measure largely devoted to hurricane relief and tax cuts with bipartisan appeal.

The measure, which could pass the Senate today, marks the latest in a string of legislative setbacks for Bush, who has repeatedly called on Congress to make his first-term tax cuts permanent and has taken particular pride in the 2003 dividends and capital gains tax cuts, which are set to expire in 2008.

Call it, "Revenged of the Moderates."

Conservative Republicans had held up Finance Committee action for nearly a week to pressure Snowe, and they lamented the panel's failure to extend tax cuts that they say have resulted in a windfall of corporate tax payments.

Conservatives -- whatever that means nowadays -- seem to be doing a lot of lamenting lately.