Just after 5:30 a.m. Friday morning, Congress moved to end the blink-and-you-missed-it five-hour government shutdown. The deal sets spending levels for two years, including a massive increase in military spending and a significant boost to domestic programs.
It also includes coveted tax breaks for the energy sector.
As part of the package, several energy sectors secured long-sought tax breaks designed to give a leg up to up-and-coming forms of energy production. Other types of energy sources, meanwhile, were left in the cold.
In total, critics say, the last-minute negotiations, which often apply tax breaks both going forward and retroactively, make for a haphazard way of setting government goals.
