Tax Bill A "Christmas Tree" Of Tax Breaks For Every Donor - Chicago Trib

[hatrack]

WASHINGTON - (KRT) - Congress is on the verge of turning a small tax bill, designed to undo a single corporate subsidy, into a sprawling package of special tax breaks that is leaving reformers and tax fairness advocates appalled. The House and Senate have approved differing versions of the legislation, but both share a long list of special-interest tax provisions pushed by Washington's powerful corporate lobbyists.

There are tax breaks for, among others, bow-and-arrow makers, Oldsmobile dealers, NASCAR racetrack owners and producers of fishing-tackle boxes and sonar fish-finders - not to mention a $12 billion buyout for tobacco farmers. Land developers, ranchers, small-airplane manufacturers, commodity traders and distillers also would benefit from various tax provisions, as would makers of ceiling fans.

EDIT

General Electric Co., for example, lobbied and won House approval of a complex provision enabling it and other multinational firms to avoid paying $2 billion a year in U.S. taxes on foreign earnings. Some economists say this tax break could cause more firms to shift operations offshore - the opposite of what members of Congress said they intended.

EDIT

The ease with which many of the provisions went through both houses not only proved discouraging to tax reformers but also illustrated what they called a lack of fiscal discipline in Washington and a willingness to shred the tax system with new corporate preferences. The Senate approved the bill by a voice vote, so no one will know how senators lined up on final passage."

EDIT

http://www.kansas.com/mld/kansas/news/politics/9214752.htm

Please, PLEASE read this - it's one of the most rage-inducing articles I've seen yet this year. I've you're not pissed off, you're not paying attention.

[hatrack]

1. Shameless self-kick

You need to see this!

[Tyler Durden]

2. Damned right you get a kick.

Greedy, grasping, selfish bastards.

[Nancy Waterman]

3. Is it too late to call our congressmen?

This is an outrage.

[Jeff in Cincinnati]

4. I called mine flaming A-Hole...

...but my congressman is Steve Chabot (R-Berlin) so it's appropriate.

[AP]

5. One encouraging thing about this article is it suggests that small bus's

are starting to get pissed off that the tax code benefits large businesses and hurts small businesses.

That's going to encourage reform much faster than characterizing the tax code as shifting the burden from corporations on to individuals (which is also the case).

When small businesses realize that their intersests (in respect of the tax code) actually are with individuals and not with the big businesses politicians service, then they're will be a real and powerful drive to fix the tax code.

Individuals don't have a big voice in government, but small businesses still do.

[mom cat]

6. And yet we had to cut funds for housing for troops and their

families...How many Dems helped shovel OUR hard earned dollars into the pork barrel..? This is outrageous. :wtf:

[mahatmakanejeeves]

7. Oldsmobile dealers?

You know, GM dropped the line on December 12, 2000, a day that will live in infamy.

[kysrsoze]

8. Hilarious! $12B for tobacco, but not a dime for the ailing airlines

who they've systematically screwed with terrorism and ridiculous oil prices.

[hatrack]

9. And yet another shameless self-kick!! nt

.

[maddezmom]

10. and another...just to get everyone's blood boiling

:kick:

[hatrack]

11. Thanks, maddezmom!!!

I appreciate that! :yourock:

[ILeft]

12. GE is certainly being well compensated...

...for its fine work on CNBC, MSNBC, and NBC. Disgusting.

[tkmorris]

13. Oh man... Been reading the bills..........

(Senate version)

(House version)

(Note: Those links leave the colon off the end when posted here at DU, must be something in the board code. Adding the colon on to the end will make it work, I don't

I found a few gems in the Senate version.

(Sec. 643) Allows a tax deduction from gross income for attorney fees and court costs paid for legal actions involving a claim of unlawful discrimination.

So if you're sued for discrimination, you get a tax break. Isn't that just so cute?

(Sec. 652) Reduces from 24 to 12 months the holding period for horses used in a trade or business for purposes of the capital gains tax.

A tax break for Horse-traders? Umm, ok.

(Sec. 702) Repeals the separate welfare-to-work tax credit.

Bloody hell. We really don't want to give any reason for employers to hire people and get them off welfare do we?

This thing is absurd. It is riddled with special-interest tax breaks and rule changes. I haven't even begun to wade through it and I'm already feeling woozy.

[Malikshah]

14. Why am I reminded of the scene from Frankenstein

with the peasants marching to the castle, pitchforks and torches at hand.

*in best Cloris Leachman voice* "Death to King Louiiiissssssssssss"
Let's end on a high note. "aaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhh"

Seriously, though-- this one is, alas, typical.

It's time to clean the bastards out (sorry to offend all bastards by linking them with the House).

Hope this is kept kicked.

[stevebreeze]

15. how much do we really need another tax cut for corporations?

Corps are now the largest part of the economy ever, and contribute less as a portion of government revenues then ever before.

more info here.
http://www.epinet.org/content.cfm/webfeatures_snapshots_07142004

[MetaTrope]

16. Anyway, kick

[montana_hazeleyes]

17. kick

:kick:

[w4rma]

18. General Electric Co. must be stopped. That company is tratorous.

GE isn't even an American company anymore, imho. They support tratorous acts against America by advocating more benefits for non-American (including some anti-American) corporations over American ones.

[montana_hazeleyes]

19. Kick again

:kick:

[progressivebydesign]

20. Kick for those NASTY ASS republican thieves!! N/T

[Kool Kitty]

21. Kick.

Bastards. :kick:

[yardwork]

22. Truly disgusting.

Of course, if the Republicans were in control this kind of waste would never be allowed..... Oops.