So yesterday I wrote about how the Senate was making the bailout plan bigger but not better in order to get reluctant legislators aboard.
Oh man, you have no idea. It makes me want to cry.
According to the WSJ, A bill that was originally 3 pages is now more than 400 pages. Among the useless ‘sweeteners’ tacked onto the plan:
- Economic development credit to American Samoan businesses
- 50% tax credit for some expenditures on maintaining railroad tracks
- 7-year recovery period for motorsports racetrack property
- Special expensing rules for film and TV productions
- Income averaging for Exxon Valdez litigants for tax purposes
- $10,000 tax credit for training of mine rescue team members
- Deduction for income from domestic production in Puerto Rico
- Increasing cover of rum excise tax revenues to Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands
AND MY FAVORITE …
- Exempting children’s wooden arrows from excise tax
YOU’VE GOT TO BE KIDDING ME!!!!
McCain says all the time that if he becomes President, we will know the names of the politicans who try to push their own pet earmarks. It’s one of the things he says that resonates with me.
I know people say this is the way Washington works. It’s how laws get passed. Give and take. You scratch my back, I’ll scratch yours. Gotta please the constituents … That’s bullshit.
It takes a lot for me to get outraged at something our government does. I’m as cynical as they come. But how dare these politicians use this moment, this time, with the economy on the edge of collapse and the financial fate of millions of Americans on the line, to muddy up an already outrageously expensive plan with such useless additions.
Let’s get something straight: These changes do not make the plan better. And they weren’t needed to get this deal passed. Politicians who voted against the bill were already worried that their ‘No’ vote pushed a teetering economy over the edge, and many of them were looking for a second chance to make amends. A couple of small, but relevant, changes to the plan would have provided all the cover they needed.
All this additional pork is a travesty of the legislative process. And if the candidates really mean it when they spout the word Change like it’s some kind of magical Buddhist mantra, it’s the kind of crap they’ll try to put a stop to when they get elected.
Where in the hell did all that pork come from. If you look at the local media here in NYC they’re making it out like they added all these incentives for small businesses and home-owners which should make it a “slam dunk” in the House. Are they insane? McCain and Obama voted for this? C’mon now!! I thought McCain hated pork barrel projects. If he votes for these bills now, what makes me really believe that he would suddently start veto-ing them as president.
This is just terrible. No matter where you stand on the political spectrum, everyone agrees: this is a wholesale bilking of the American People by their very own government.
ARgh… where in the hell are the grownups.
http://blogs.wsj.com/economics/2008/10/01/most-lawmakers-dont-have-economic-education/
Maybe that’s why nobody gets what’s going on?
One Love,
–Reverend Manny and the Twilight Empire
Reverend Manny,
I wish it was as simple as a lack of relevant education, but I can’t tell you how many well-trained economists didn’t see this crisis coming.
not to mention, this particular problem is really about a Washington that is so broken that politicians felt empowered to fiddle with perhaps the most important piece of legislation this decade by throwing in $100 bln plus in pork and unnecessary additional costs.
During a credit crunch and economic crisis, the deficit shouldn’t be the first thing we worry about … but to be adding costs to this bailout is so irresponsible and myopic it’s frightening … god help the younger generations …
thx for reading and your comments!!
d