well, now i begin to see how they got around the constitution: they retitled and amended another bill already passed by the house.

originally H.R. 4853 was called the Airport and Airway Extension Act of 2010, Part III. it was introduced on march 16, passed by the house the next day, sent to the senate, and passed by the senate with some changes on september 23. the differences were never resolved by the conference committee, so the bill was in limbo. the senate took it back, changed the title to the Middle Class Tax Relief Act of 2010, and added all the stuff about tax cuts and unemployment we've been hearing about in the news.

that's how they got past the constitutional requirement that revenue bills must start in the house.

it's either arcane or byzantine or both, i'm not sure which, and it means the framers wasted their time writing article i, section 7, clause 1.