With all of the Republican opposition to using taxpayer money to pay for food stamps, you would think that they would propose cutting a type of taxpayer subsidy given to certain rich people for the purchase of food in expensive restaurants. However, I have yet to hear of any such proposal coming from the Republicans.
Yes, it is true that under the current U.S. Tax Code you and I are subsidizing meals at expensive restaurants for corporate executives. This comes in the form of tax deductions for entertainment expenses. The current law allows entertainment expenses meeting the IRS's criteria to be deducted at 50%.
An example given in IRS Publication 463 explains this deduction:
A meal as a form of entertainment. Entertainment includes the cost of a meal you provide to a customer or client, whether the meal is a part of other entertainment or by itself. A meal expense includes the cost of food, beverages, taxes, and tips for the meal. To deduct an entertainment-related meal, you or your employee must be present when the food or beverages are provided.
http://www.irs.gov/....
How much do you want to bet that the cost of a single meal under this deduction exceeds the amount of money a food stamp recipient receives in a week.
While I have no problem with using taxpayer dollars to provide food to those who really need it, I have a major problem with the entertainment deduction because it means that taxpayers are indirectly paying for rich people to eat in expensive restaurants as part of the marketing of businesses. Businesses who want to market to customers should do so on their own dime, not with taxpayer subsidies.
This is yet another example of hypocrisy by the Republican Party.