Stealthy, last-minute amendment inserted in senate immigration bill

Just yesterday I posted a piece on the tendency of corrupt congresswhores--yes Harry Reid, I'm specifically talking about you--to use massive bills like Obozocare or the laughably-misnamed immigration "reform" [spit] bill to slip in cryptic one-sentence amendments that will fetch them millions of dollars in "campaign contributions" and related goodies.

I explained how clever, cunning congresswhores sneak these corrupt gifts to donors past the public by cloaking their effect in lengthy references to subsections of other bills--references that would take a dedicated researcher hours to track down (and to what purpose?).  I made up some examples to illustrate. 

But now just a minute ago, in one of those amazing gifts from somewhere, the Net provided a real-time example: 

On page 66 of the amended immigration bill--in a section dealing with law enforcement--the following newly-added provision now appears:

CORPORATION FOR TRAVEL PROMOTION.—Sec- 9(d)(2)(B) of the Travel Promotion Act of 2009 (22 U.S.C. 2131(d)(2)(B)) is amended by striking ‘‘For each of fiscal years 2012 through 2015,’’ and inserting ‘‘For each fiscal year after 2012."

Say what?  Does anyone other than the person who drafted this know what this amendment is supposed to do?  Of course not--it's impossible to tell without chasing down the reference to the "Travel Promotion Act of 2009."  But one would think that since it was inserted in a section titled "Border Security and Other Provisions” under the subsection “Additional U.S. Border Patrol and U.S. Customs and Border Protection Officers” that it's presumably related to these functions somehow.

I mean, why else would the authors put the amendment in that section?

Well someone took the time to run down Section 9(d)(2)(B) of that 2009 law, and here's what's up:  That act authorized the Treasury Department to spend $100 million every year on promoting travel to selected parts of the U.S.  It created a government-run public relations campaign, which was to end in 2015.

The single-sentence "stealth amendment" would extend this little $100-million-per-year honeypot indefinitely.

So guess who inserted this stealthy little contribution-fetcher. 

Why, Democrat senate majority leader Harry Reid and RINO senator Dean Heller, both from Nevada.

Now one can see why Reid and Rino Heller put the fetcher in the section they did:  The heading of the section they put it in would lead the ordinary reader to think it couldn't be what it is--a way to extend a little $100-million-per-year slush-fund forever.

Let's wrap up this little civics lesson with a couple of political truths:  First, because this was inserted by the senate majority leader, if any senator were to call attention to the true effect of this stealthy amendment he'd lose any committee assignment more significant than the committee to study typefaces or such.  So once that amendment's inserted it's as good as passed into law.  A slam-dunk.  Nice.

Second:  Of course Reid will claim it's a good amendment.  (Duh.)  But if you really believe it does a good thing that most people would support, senator, why didn't you openly discuss its purpose in open session?  Could it be because too many of us peasants would see what you were really doing?

Finally, why put the stealth change in a section that has exactly zero to do with the purpose of your last-second amendment?

[Let me add that I'm well aware that the Travel Promotion Act was funded by a tax on international visitors, so didn't cost U.S. taxpayers anything.  Commendable as that is, that's not at all the point.  Also, I'm aware that Heller is a nominal Repub, but in fact he's a plant, a ringer:  As has been documented extensively elsewhere, Heller ran on a platform of opposing amnesty but within weeks of winning he suddenly began supporting it.]