Senate socks it to the taxpayers - increases $700B by 16%

Posted by Tina Righter at 10/2/2008 7:32 PM
Categories: Finance, Politics
Last night the Senate passed the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008 by 74 to 25.  But they added another $110 billion to the price tag to entice the House to pass the bill.  There are some good albeit costly provisions but most should disgust American taxpayers!

The FDIC insurance top was increased from $100,000 to $250,000.  This is a limit that had not kept with the times and was overdue to be increased.  But many tax breaks were included and this may lose democratic votes in the house.  It’s hard to comprehend an Emergency Economic Stabilization that substantially increases the deficit with its pork.

Some of the ridiculous items added to tempt the house nay-sayers:  
  • $6 million in excise tax exemptions for wooden arrows added by Oregon Senators to benefit manufacturers in their state (then Senator Wyden voted against it)
  • $100 million in write-offs to the owners of racetracks
  • $192 million refund of excise tax to Rum manufacturers
  • $49 million in taxes stays with the Alaskan plaintiffs in the Exxon Valdez litigation
  • $148 million in duty reductions on wool products for fabric and clothing manufacturers
  • $478 million in tax deductions to Hollywood film makers to encourage filming in the US
When the economy is the worst our generation has ever seen with tent-cities popping up in places like Reno, unemployment growing, families losing their homes, and most Americans facing the reality of a significantly decreased quality of life, what do our elected officials do?  The most powerful people in the country close ranks to ensure the rich get richer in this deal.

 

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