Tax law is a good example of overly convoluted laws to benefit specific groups in power.
http://www.taxpolicycenter.org/briefing-book/background/expenditures/largest.cfmTwo of the three largest deductions in the US tax code are the home mortgage deduction and the health benefits deduction. Both are considered to be pretty stupid by the more wonky economist types, they don't create good incentives and they're rather regressive. Both stick around because they are massively popular with voters. And some of the other smaller expenditures are closely related to these, namely the state and local deductions and home capital gains exclusion. So the recipients of the pork here are the taxpayers. It's true that the pork skews towards wealthy taxpayers but that's not exactly surprising seeings as they're the ones with more income and it's income that is taxed, it's not exactly a revelation that tax breaks help the wealthy.
The other major deductions are mostly things that I would be happy to defend on a case-by-case basis such as pension exclusion and capital equipment depreciation. While it's true that there are problems with the charitable contributions deduction, we just passed a major reform to clean that up a lot. Foreign income deferral is infamous of course but guess what, that's a hotly debated political issue that major political players (Obama and Harry Reid for example) have spent a lot of time trying to get a reform though. The only thing left is capital gains treatment, which is less controversial than foreign income deferral but that's probably because it isn't as big (yet).
While it's true that political connections can help the powerful get favorable treatment with tax law, it's arguably less so than with most areas of the law. Look at the unmitigated corporate love fest that is copyright law. While there is some pork in the tax law, it's mostly a case of the voters getting the political system they deserve. A big part of it is knee jerk cynicism like you yourself showed.