Thursday, October 09, 2008

The Bailout Bill: 13 Examples of Pork

A three-page bill becomes 450…..ten dollar words, more compound sentences, extra commas, a list of definitions…..What caused the bill to grow, and grow, and grow?????

Specifically....pork.

With enough thrust pigs have no problem flying.

I’ve been hanging on to that statement for awhile now….just looking for the right place for it, I guess.

Well, with the thrust of of a few million here and a few million there the bailout bill has become the largest pig I’ve ever seen, and it has been thrust upon the backs of John and Jane Q. Taxpayer.

Here are 13 examples of pork Congress has thrust down our throats:

1. Let’s start with section 305 of the bill titled “Modifications of Energy Efficient Appliance Credit.” This is the part of the bailout where manufacturers of energy-efficient appliances will qualify up to $250 in federal tax credits for each machine they produce over the next three years. You and I will be paying over $322 million for this serving of pork over the next 10 years.

2. Are you a rum drinker? Thanks to the bailout bill Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands will receive an extension on tax rebates they already receive on rum duties (taxes).

3. Hollywood has nothing to fear….the bill includes two separate tax breaks for film companies that produce movies in the United States…..$500 million in tax breaks.

4. U.S. Representative Don Young (R-Alaska) voted against the bailout at first. I wonder...what could have changed his mind? Could it be the fact that the bill now signed into law contains six pages of earmarks to benefit Alaskan fishermen who were victims of the 1989 Exxon Valdez disaster for a whopping total of $239 million?

5. Check around the exterior of your workplace tomorrow. Look for all of those bike racks that surely must be there. Our esteemed legislators approved a $10 million credit to help employers defray the cost of storing the bicycles of their employees who commute to work.

6. NASCAR fans have nothing to dread. The bailout bill creates a seven-year cost recovery period for construction of a motorsports racetrack. The IRS wanted to increase the depreciation period from seven to fifteen years cutting the trackowner’s depreciation in half. You and I will pay $100 million to help out the trackowners.

7. Texas, Nevada, Florida, Washington, and Wyoming apparently are very concerned about citizens in their states who do not pay state income taxes. Now they will be able to deduct the amount of sales tax they pay over a year from their federal income tax for two additional years.

Let me get this straight….the citizens aren’t paying state income tax AND they get to deduct sales tax they have paid on their Federal return?

8. This one makes me feel all warm and fuzzy…..$148 million for the extension and modification of duty suspension on wool products, wool research fund and wool duty refunds. Ok, change warm and fuzzy to itchy.

9. American Samoa will benefit from provisions costing you and I $33 million that are meant to help economic development.

10. Around pages 262 and 263 of the bill you can locate the following language….”certain wooden arrows designed for use by children”. Basically the bill exempts arrows from an excise tax of 39 cents. Huh? Are large amounts of American children using arrows?!?!

11. $3.5 billion (yes, billion with a “B”) has been set aside to force health insurance companies to cover mental illness.

12. Section 324 of the bailout bill extends an existing program through December, 2009 regarding the contribution of books to public schools and the tax credit that goes along with it.

13. Finally, Section 201 involves cellulosic biofuel and the tax deduction that goes along with owning a facility that produces it.

Would you like a little sauce with your pork?

You can locate other blogs participating in Thursday 13 here

8 comments:

Hootin Anni said...

....and news now tells us that AIG had a 'celebratory gala' after the bailout was signed. The cost of the party?===nearly $50k!!!!!

I'm sick of the whole thing personally.

Come on over to my place and read about the Headless Horseman and Icabod Crane from the legendary short story...it's loaded with pictures and some historical facts today. See you there!!

Happy Thursday.

Kara said...

Wow. This is ridiculous, and a lot of good it's going to do... I find #5 particularly sad.

Denise Patrick said...

I always knew the bailout wouldn't help anyone who really needs it. The Republicans are only interested in themselves and their corporate buddies, and the Democrats are only interested in looking good to the most number of people while doing very little.

Happy TT - such as it is!

Anonymous said...

Oh my...this all makes my head spin. It's just so sad, really the state we're in. :(

My Thursday Thirteen is here.

Ms. Longhorn said...

This post makes me want to pull my hair out and run into a wall... YIKKKES.

your seeeeeester said...

Sister Dear, you obviously GET IT and can actually explain it. Why arent you running for president?

Let the AIG's of the world go out of business. I'm sure there's another corporate conglomerate waiting in the wings to take over.... And how stupid can people be? Buying houses they knew they couldnt afford. Do like hubby and I did- live in an apartment and save until you can buy something you can actually afford.

Arrows?..... you've got to be kidding!

EHT said...

Hi everyone. Thanks for the comments. It's a shame we keep getting ripped off like this. Look for my post later today regarding a little historical background with pork barrel spending.

...and wow, Dear Seeeeeester! When did you start commenting? Great! Of course I agree with you totally. I heard Pelosi wanted to insuse even more money to fix things. She doesn't get it at all.

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