Pardon me if folks have already been discussing this, but I saw no mention of 'tax' in the first 50 diaries. This is news to me even though it is
huge.
On Saturday, theledger.com noted that even though the Federal Debt equals $25,195 for every man, woman, and child, and the annual deficit is at a record breaking $375 billion, Congress was getting ready to give Corporations and Tobacco farmers $145 billion in tax cuts and buy-outs in the next 10 years.
Well, the bill has passed the Senate. I'm actually trying to tease apart what it means...
From
Newsday:
The package, the most sweeping overhaul of corporate tax law since 1986, provides a wide range of tax benefits for native Alaskan whalers, importers of Chinese ceiling fans and NASCAR race track owners.
The centerpiece of the tax legislation is $76.5 billion in new tax relief for the battered manufacturing sector, which has lost 2.7-million jobs during the past four years.
Is it good to be helping our manufacturing industries like this? Just maybe? Because they're hurting?
What about the part that says that this is a part of a trade war with Europe?
Says the LA Times:
The corporate tax bill grew out of the need for Congress to respond to a World Trade Organization ruling that a $5 billion annual subsidy for U.S. exporters was illegal. As a result, 1,600 American exports to Europe are being hit by penalty tariffs that now stand at 12 percent and are rising by one percentage point a month.
The bill became the vehicle for the most significant overhaul of corporate tax law in nearly two decades. It includes $76.5 billion in new tax relief for the manufacturing sector, which was broadly defined to include oil and gas producers, architectural and engineering firms and film and music companies.
And more from the L.A. Times:
In addition to the tax relief for manufacturing, the tax measure has $42.6 billion in tax relief for multinational companies. All the tax breaks are paid for by $136 billion in measures intended to close corporate loopholes and tax shelters.
Yeah, the Multinationals needed that! Their tax burden is immense and they gotta get "relief" [/sarcasm]. Because 71% of foreign corporations and 61% of American corporations paid no tax between 1996 and 2000. This trend continues. When they do pay taxes, they don't pay much.
I like the part about how we're closing loopholes in order to give the money right back to the corporations!
I'm just amazed at how little folks generally know about these subsidies. I didn't know we subsidized exporters! We should better divy up our efforts in blogolandia. Half of us should be steadfastly focusing on things other than Iraq. I know... it's hard.
also [WaPo article on the subject]
(None of the articles I've seen say whether the House passed a similar bill, but it seems implied that they did because wording makes it look like this stuff has gone through.)