Come to think of it, why was an expiration put into the original bill to begin with? It's not anyone would have been able to stop them if they passed a permanent law to begin with.
the climate was such that the desire for Congress to do _something_ necessitated compromise for speed of decision. "No one actually read it" reflects the reality that the bill was _going_ to pass. the accommodations made for people who _would_ have been on the fence were made to speed the process.