Rep. Henry Waxman (D-CA) has cancelled a hearing scheduled for later this month on major companies who took big earnings charges in anticipation of higher costs under the new health care reform law.

"Waxman Inquisition cancelled" trumpeted conservatives like Michelle Malkin who had blasted Waxman for putting on nothing less than a show trial.  

But a look at some documents released by the House Energy and Commerce Committee made the story seem a bit more complicated, with check marks for both sides.

Waxman issued a statement and a five page memo by staff investigators who had been reviewing moves by AT&T, Verizon, Caterpillar and others to take billions of dollars in writedowns related to changes in how one subsidy used by those companies is taxed starting in 2013.

The staff review found that the companies acted "properly and in accordance with accounting standards," when they took their big writedowns.

But, the memo said the "actual impact on annual company cash flows will be only a fraction of the amount of the noncash charges reported to the SEC."

"AT&T reported a one-time charge of $1 billion to the SEC, but documents provided to the Committee estimate that the tax change will reduce the value of the subsidy by just $44 million annually," said the staff review.

"Caterpillar reported a one-time charge of $100 million, but the documents it provided to the Committee estimate that the annual cost will be just $8 to $10 million."

You can find that specific note at the bottom of page three - the document is at http://bit.ly/cFsUYX .

I'm sure some of you are saying - "$44 million is a lot of money" - and there is no doubt about that, no matter the size of the company involved.  

But the committee - and the companies - definitely seemed to agree that the amount of cash involved is a lot less than the numbers mentioned in the public writedowns.

The memo went on to reference reports by Credit Suisse and UBS, saying "they have discounted the impact of the tax law change on companies."

It was a curious way to deal with this matter, since everyone was expecting a hearing filled with fireworks - Waxman versus the CEO's - with Republicans and Democrats battling over the new health care law as well.

Waxman argued that while this provision - dealing with prescription drug coverage for retirees - might cost these companies money, other provisions in the law should reduce their costs.

"As several of the companies recommended, the Subcommittee will closely monitor the implementation of the new law and will schedule hearings on the impact of the law as appropriate," said Waxman.

We'll see.