While crafting a bill intended to rescue the U.S. economy this week, lawmakers couldn’t stop themselves from adding billions of dollars in tax breaks that have little to do with restoring confidence in financial markets.
Senators quietly tucked a number of earmarks into the tax package of the 451-page bill that was passed Wednesday night and is expected to be put to a vote in the House today: a $2 million tax benefit for makers of wooden arrows for children; a $100 million tax break to benefit auto racetrack owners; $192 million in rebates on excise taxes for the Puerto Rican and Virgin Islands rum industry; $148 million in tax relief for U.S. wool fabric producers; and a $49 million tax benefit for fishermen and other plaintiffs who sued over the 1989 tanker Exxon Valdez spill…
The tax earmarks were scarcely noticed during the Senate debate over a bill that featured a $700 billion bailout package and a $112 billion tax package, including the renewal of popular tax breaks for businesses and renewable energy projects and a one-year effort to shield at least 20 million Americans from paying the alternative minimum tax.
The bill was approved easily, 74-25, winning support even from lawmakers who have crusaded against earmarks – including Arizona Sen. John McCain, the Republican Party’s presidential nominee, who warned last week that he might oppose a bailout bill if it included more pork-barrel spending.“It is completely unacceptable for any kind of earmarks to be included in this bill,” he said in a speech in Freeland, Mich. “It would be outrageous for legislators and lobbyists to pack this rescue plan with taxpayer money for favored companies. This simply cannot happen.”
But, of course, it did.
Paulson’s original proposal was 3 pages long. The Senate passed on 451 pages. The House version is over 1,000 pages. Do you think it has less Pork than the Senate version – or are they all greedy bastards?
Thanks, Cinaedh
Don’t blame the just Republicans (counting Bush) nor just the Democrats. Blame those voting for it. All of them.
What is the price of a Congressional vote? That’s seems to be one of those questions that if you have to ask, you don’t have enough money.
I’m so disgusted and ashamed (and tired of hearing about it – yes I called all of my reps, e-mailed and wrote a number of times) that I really don’t want to hear any more about it. I’m just going to count my money, stocks did go up didn’t they?
The arrogance of both the Dems and the Repubs is amazing. Even with an 18% approval rating and a clear majority against this bill, they proceed to not only pass it but in broad daylight tack on the pork. Why? Because they odds are they will not be voted out and the donations will continue to flow.
All it will take is one more major event and this country will tear apart at the seams. We are too close to the edge.
In normal times, a bill of half this physical size and a tenth the amount would take weeks or longer to pass, and would be subject to a decent amount of scrutiny. (Lots of crap still gets through, but mostly as a result of mutual back scratching).
Here we have a jaw droppingly large bill with all kinds of stuff padded on in a very short amount of time and political leaders standing over everyone’s shoulders with a hatchet. That means: NO due diligence for all the add ons. The main bill itself ($700B) is suspect. The added on lard is almost certainly to be a nightmare. Who knows what kinds of crap was added under cover of night with no oversight?
And that’s just the small stuff. We could also focus on things like bailing out the pension plans for the unions after the crooks running the pensions into the ground got rich. (NB: Is anyone making you whole on your 401K because it has decreased in value? No, I didn’t think so. Too bad for you…you still get to pay to make the unions’ pensions whole).
#11, Amazing isn’t it, how some people think.
However, sometimes “tax breaks” and “tax credits” affect nothing more than import taxes on imports.
So a tax cut on sugar might mean they are raising the import tax on foreign sugar, allowing local sugar manufacturers to raise their prices. Sure, the sugar manufacturer is making more money but the money the gov takes, though the same percentage-wise, is higher overall. All the sugar manufacturer sees is a larger take-home number.
And who pays for the increased cost of the sugar?
This bill bothers me. I let my Congressman know.
# 25 – Your congressman doesn’t care. They all ignored the switchboard being jammed with calls of opposition.
They are trying to use our money to buy our votes while running us all deeper in dept and so for there is no evidence that they have improved much of anything as for as the credit crunch goes.
They handle our money the way a three year old would handle an uzzie, with reckless abandon.
If the reckless behavior doesn’t stop there can be only one outcome and it’s going to hurt, hurt, hurt.
#25
Good job Mr. Confusion. I don’t always agree with you, but at least you’re participating.
Source? Do we have a source for this piece? I like it a lot, but I’d like to know where it’s from.
# 4 BillBC said:
“How can they write a 1000 page bill in less than a week?”
Practice, man, practice!
This really makes me sick. Imagine you got yourself in a financial mess due to the fact that you don’t administer yourself well. Now since you have no credit rating you borrow a large sum from your family, who by the way, have nothing to spare but can get a mortgage on their house. While you’re waiting for the cash you start making plans, new clothes, vacations, new PC and TV etc etc. Eventually you and your family end up living under an underpass. A real loser no? So where’s the difference, aparte from scale, it seems to me to be the same.
Does anyone know whether or not version the bailout bill that passed includes an extension of unemployment compensation benefits?