Sophisticated followers of politics such as the readers of PowerBlog will not be surprised by this story, but I’ll bring it to your attention anyway. The US House recently passed a bill that includes a dramatic tax increase on mining businesses. Supporters argue that the tax helps reign in the environmentally abusive mining industry. Higher taxes. Environmental concern. Senate Democrats would be scrambling to get on that bus, right? One problem: Majority Leader Harry Reid is from Nevada, whose economy depends heavily on the extraction of minerals and metals.

It reminds me of one of Hillary Clinton’s recent controversies, the ethanol flip-flop. Her spokesman explained: “She has always been a supporter of ethanol except for a time when there was evidence that New York would be hurt economically.” No doubt. If only pro-tax, “pro-environment” politicians would be equally sensitive to the economic ramifications of their policies even when they’re not immediately obvious to their own constituents.