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

Wordless: Jenny the Elephant

When I was a little girl and would walk through the gate at the Atlanta Zoo I always wanted to head to the elephant exhibit first. They were my favorite animal. Due to the nature of my curriculum I have never been able to lead a field trip to the zoo, but I have gone along on my fair share of trips with my own children and their classrooms as a chaperone. The kids always enjoyed visiting with Starla, the Elephant. She could hold a paint brush in her trunk and painted several masterpieces each day. The children were entralled.

Today, the Atlanta Zoo is one of the most premiere facilities in the United States, but as the zoo’s own website states, in 1984, a series of highly publicized events belied deteriorating conditions at the Zoo, prompting Parade Magazine to label the institution as one of the top 10 worst in the nation. A subsequent investigation lost the Zoo its accreditation, and an outraged public demanded that the facility be closed. Mayor Andrew Young appointed an emergency crisis team. In support of a new vision for the Zoo, Young appointed Dr. Terry Maple as interim director. The team set out to address immediate issues, beginning with reducing the collection in order to provide more appropriate living spaces for the animals.

Since it is 2008 you would think all of our nation’s zoos are up to speed regarding animal facilities, but apparently some are not including the Dallas Zoo. My blog friend NYCEducator posted a video and some information yesterday about Jenny, the Elephant and how comedian Lilly Tomlin has been speaking out about Jenny’s living conditions.

It seems some folks want Jenny to live out her final days in Tennessee at an elephant sanctuary while just a few days ago the zoo decided to upgrade the elephant facility and keep Jenny where she is.

Situations like these beg for use in the classroom. Students could research the problem and obtain the various points of view before arriving at their own. This activity hits on activism, citizen responsibility, research, letter writing, analysis, etc.

Here are some links if you want to get involved:

The mayor’s email address tom.leppert@dallascityhall.com
News stories here and here regarding the zoo’s decision to keep Jenny.
an article regarding Lilly Tomlin's involvement and a blog article that attempts to stay with the facts

Other bloggers are participating with Wordless Wednesday today. You can find them here