The $145 Billion Abomination

[acmavm]

http://www.americanprogressaction.org/site/pp.asp?c=klLWJcP7H&b=207691#1

<snip>


What started as a modest effort in Congress to replace a $5 billion-a-year export subsidy that the WTO ruled was illegal has turned into a $145 billion, 633-page corporate tax giveaway. Opportunistic members from both sides of the aisle united and cast aside fiscal responsibility to reward favored special interests and score political points in an election year. The bill still requires final passage by the House and Senate. The one potential bright spot was a bipartisan agreement to allow the FDA to regulate tobacco in exchange for a $10 billion buyout of tobacco farmers. But at the behest of tobacco companies, the provision allowing FDA regulation of their products was stripped out by Congressional negotiators. (The $10 billion buyout stayed in.) Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) called the bill "a disgrace" and "a complete sellout to the tobacco companies." At the urging of corporate lobbyists, lawmakers inserted so many last-minute changes "it will take weeks if not months for even the most skilled tax experts to identify all the deals that took place." Here are some highlights:

$27.9 BILLION FOR CORPORATIONS THAT EARN PROFITS ABROAD: The bill would allow corporations that have accumulated billions in untaxed overseas profits to bring the money back to the United States at a fraction of the normal tax rate. Even Treasury Secretary John Snow admits the provision discriminates "against companies that don't have large overseas operations." It would be a $20 billion windfall for giant corporations like Hewlett-Packard and Eli-Lilly. A separate provision would change the way overseas profits are calculated – at a total cost of $7.9 billion – saving General Electric Co. alone hundreds of millions of dollars.

$101 MILLION FOR NASCAR: The bill makes technical changes in the tax treatment of grandstand facilities, which will be worth $101 million to race track owners struggling to make ends meet.

$44 MILLION FOR IMPORTERS OF CHINESE CEILING FANS: The bill suspends a 4.7 percent duty on ceiling fans through 2006, a provision that primarily benefits Home Depot. Lobbyists for Home Depot also had the provision inserted into the administration's energy bill, but that bill failed to clear Congress.

<snip>

27 MILLION FOR HORSE AND DOG GAMBLERS: The bill exempts foreign gamblers from paying taxes up front on their winnings at horse and dog tracks.

$11 MILLION FOR FISHING TACKLE BOX MANUFACTURES: Excise taxes on tackle boxes would be reduced from 10 percent to 3 percent. One of the biggest beneficiaries would be Plano Molding Co. – which just happens to be headquartered in House Speaker Dennis Hastert's district.

-MORE-

[Robert Oak]

1. write your representatives, reject H.R. 4520

This article is referring to H.R. 4520