La. Senator Stalls Corporate Tax Bill

[Brucey]

WASHINGTON - The Senate, in an unusual Sunday session, saw its effort to pass a sweeping corporate tax bill grind to a halt in the face of delaying tactics by a Louisiana senator upset that the measure did not include pay support for members of the Reserves and National Guard.
By a 66-14 vote, lawmakers did agree to limit debate on the tax bill, which provides $136 billion in new tax breaks for businesses $10.1 billion to buy out tobacco farmers' government quotas.
But hoped-for final passage of the measure was delayed until Monday because of objections from Sen. Mary Landrieu, D-La.
Landrieu's proposal would provide a 50 percent tax credit to employers for up to $30,000 in salary payments a year and was estimated to have a $2.5 billion cost over 10 years.
That proposal was in the Senate version of the corporate tax bill but it got stripped out of the compromise reached by a House-Senate conference committee.
Tempers grew short during the rare Sunday session. Republicans fumed about the delay that was forcing the Senate into overtime when they had hoped to adjourn on Friday to go home and campaign. The House wrapped up business on Saturday.
Sen. Rick Santorum, R-Penn., complained that "what is going on in the United States Senate is political demagoguery at the highest levels."

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/20041010/ap_on_go_co/corporate_taxes


Notice that Santorum says it is "political demagoguery at the highest levels." What does he think "highest levels" means? Does he mean that * is involved in political demagoguery?

[Moderator]

1. Brucey

Please snip this article to a maximum of four paragraphs per DU copyright rules.

[Catt03]

2. Thanks for the info

I am so proud of Mary.

I know the article is long but it sure explained a lot and I probably would not have read it if it were not pasted,

I understand the copy right laws also but glad I reas the whole thing.

[joeybee12]

3. Saw this earlier--Good for Mary--I mean, if anyone deserves a tax

break it's these guys (and gals) who have been screwed over by having to serve in Iraq much longer than they ever expected when they signed up for the Guard.

[BOSSHOG]

4. BOTTOM LINE

Mary Landrieu wants to "SUPPORT THE TROOPS" and little dog fucker santorum and his fellow fascists don't. Let us howl this story for the next three weeks. The fascists have the majority in the Senate and yet the Dems are kicking their asses and bloodying their eyes.

GO MARY, GO TED. LETS HOPE THIS IS THE LEAD STORY ON TOMORROWS "LIBERAL" MEDIA.

[w4rma]

5. Sen. Landrieu is awesome! Our soldiers need support. The folks this

bill supports don't need more support. Republicans are war profiteering by giving all this money to ultra-wealthy folks when our soldiers need it MUCH more.

[Amigust]

15. What does it do about forcing more corporations to

pay their fair share of tax? It seems to me that that is the most important thing any corporate tax reform bill must address.

I notice the repuke leadership managed to schedule it right before recess so senators would be unwilling to stick around any longer than necessary to debate it.

[acmavm]

6. This is what all democrats should be doing. If it aint' right, it

shouldn't be allowed to pass.

[Robert Oak]

7. please contact your Senators today to oppose this bill

The reasons are this: (H.R. 4520)

I am not saying we don't need corporate tax cuts, but this version of the bill increases incentives to outsource
US jobs.

This was added in the house and why Ted Kennedy and others are speaking against this bill. The Senate version
was much more in our favor.

What happened was both the house and senate were working on this and truly it was a good idea..
but the house ways and committee CHANGED THE BILL and now it's bad for us!. Read the below snips on bill analysis
with respect to outsourcing and tax breaks to do so:

http://democraticwhip.house.gov/media/press.cfm?pressReleaseID=729
<snip>
B) The amendment does not include the additional tax incentives provided in Title III of the Committee-reported bill for companies to move jobs and operations offshore. The nonpartisan Congressional Research Service, in a recent report, stated that our current system already provides incentives for companies to shift capital out of the United States to take advantage of low taxes overseas. The Committee-reported bill will only increase the incentives provided by current law.
</snip>

http://hrcenter.bna.com/pic2/hr2pic.nsf/id/BNAP-65GPRV?OpenDocument
<snip>

On a largely party-line vote of 215-205, the House Sept. 29 rejected a Democratic nonbinding motion intended to remove incentives for businesses to "outsource" U.S. jobs to overseas locations.

The motion would have instructed members of a conference committee on an export tax bill (H.R. 4520) to remove from that bill any increases in tax benefits for overseas operations of multinational corporations. The motion also asked conferees to "provide the largest effective rate reduction for businesses that have not moved operations offshore."

</snip>



http://kennedy.senate.gov/index_high.html

<snip>

Finally, this bill outsources jobs.

Middle class families across America live in fear every day that their good jobs will be shipped overseas. The people expect us to protect their jobs. But this bill provides a stunning 42 billion dollars in new tax breaks for multinational corporations that will make it easier for them to export your jobs. It has 24 different provisions that will use your taxes to create jobs overseas rather than here at home.

Imagine that. You are working hard every day, playing by the rules, trying to provide for your family, and faithfully paying your taxes. And this bill uses your tax dollars to ship your job overseas.

Why should a bill that the sponsors claim to be a jobs bill contain new special interest loopholes for importers of ceiling fans? And of the 276 new tax breaks in this bill, why on earth should we exclude from taxation the winnings of foreigners at horse and dog racing tracks? How does that strengthen America? How many new jobs will that one create?

This bill is of the elite corporate interests, by the elite corporate interests, for the elite corporate interests. It's a lobbyist's dream and a middle class nightmare. It's an embarrassment to representative government. I urge my colleagues to reject it.

</snip>


Bill summary:
http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/bdquery/z?d108:HR04520:@@@L&summ2=m&

[sundancekid]

11. and for added "need wood" irony, bill gives tax breaks to timber companies

see link below: it's the executive summary from the bill's conference report -- specifically, see bottom of first page (3rd bullet under Tax Relief for Farmers and Small Manufacturers)

TAX RELIEF for TIMBER companies ... GEEZ LOUISE!!!!!!!!!
and smarmysmirk doesn't know he's part owner of one????

http://waysandmeans.house.gov/media/pdf/hr4520/hr4250confreptshortsummary.pdf

[punpirate]

8. This bill was first intended...

... remove a $50 billion tax break to corporations for offshore operations which the WTO determined to be an illegal subsidy. Instead, we get, potentially, up to $190 billion in new tax breaks for corporations.

And, this tax credit isn't going to Reservists as some think--it's going to the employers of reservists.

Why any Democrat is supporting stripping even more tax revenue from the national treasury, especially to give more tax breaks to already profitable corporations is beyond me. Very, very soon, corporations will have achieved their aim--to get more money back from the federal government than they put in--and that the ordinary taxpayers subsidize them. That is very close to happening now, especially since annual corporate taxes for 2004 will likely be eight percent or less of total tax revenues.

[Catt03]

9. I understood it to give the tax cuts so reservists would have a

job to come back to and benefits kept.

I agree that it is a national shame that we have to pay corporations to keep jobs for memebrs of the guard, who are fighting in Bush's war
but I took it as a best case scenario.

[Cheswick2.0]

10. Poor babies wanna go home and campaign

Wwaaaaaaaaa! Then leave the bill undone until you get back in november!

[cthrumatrix]

13. exactly....let everyone see how the rethugs work to screw americans

[flaminbats]

14. Daschle and Baucas are such great leaders!

normally a bill loaded with subsidized outsourcing and over $400 million for energy companies couldn't pass, but thanks our ranking DINO on the finance committee and the brave yet noble Senate leaders...cloture was ended exclusively under the cloak of aid to suffering hurricane victims!

Did this make anyone else proud to be partisan? :yourock:

[joanski01]

12. Senator Tom Harken is also

helping Mary Landrieu fillibuster. He's doing it on behalf of the farmers. Apparently the House also stripped the money for the farmers that were the victims of tornados, but they left in the money for the States hit by the hurricains.

As for Rick Santorum -- he's got a lot of room to complain after he wasted three days talking about gay marriages. He was so disgusting. You should have heard him yelling at Mary Landrieu. What a pig!