*Note:  The video that was originally included in this post has now been removed at the order of my employer.

Senator Max Baucus (D-MT), the chairman of the US Senate's powerful Finance Committee, says he hasn't seen a new report by The Washington Examiner's Tim Carney, and claims the middle class won't see an increase in their taxes after the so-called "fiscal cliff" deal. (See video above as I questioned Baucus following his speech to the Montana Chamber of Commerce on Monday night.  Editor's note:  numerous requests to interview Senator Baucus have never been granted.)  *As of Thursday afternoon (1/10/13),The video that I referenced in this blog post has been removed at the order of my employer here at Northern Broadcasting System, Inc.

Last week, Carney and The Wall Street Journal reported on the slew of corporate tax breaks thrown into the cliff deal at the last minute by Senator Max Baucus at the insistence of President Obama.  Now, Carney details the numerous members of Baucus' former staff who helped hand-deliver the perks to their corporate clients.  All this, as the middle class here in Montana will see their taxes go up in the form of payroll taxes. 

Click here to read the full column by Carney; here's an excerpt:

Tax breaks for Hollywood, NASCAR, windmills, algae and multinational corporations ended up in the "fiscal cliff" bill thanks to President Obama, according to Senate Republican sources. But they were spawned by a web of lobbyists, donors and staffers surrounding Democratic Sen. Max Baucus of Montana.

Baucus' Finance Committee passed a bill in August extending 50 expiring deductions and credits for favored industries. At Obama's insistence, the Baucus bill was cut and pasted word for word into the cliff legislation. Set aside for a moment how this contradicts Obama's talk about "fair shares" and the need to diminish the influence of lobbyists, and look at what this raft of tax favors shows us about the Baucus Machine.

Pick any one of the special-interest tax breaks extended by the cliff deal, and you're likely to find a former Baucus aide who lobbied for it on behalf of a large corporation or industry organization.