This Week in the Mercury
Wednesday, October 1, 2008
Politics Bailing Out Rum and Racetracks
Posted by Patrick Alan Coleman on Wed, Oct 1, 2008 at 1:45 PM
The U.S. Senate is hard at work trying to push through their version of the Bailout Bill in Washington today. The 451 page bill includes some interesting tax breaks. Here's a sample courtesy hotair.com:
New Tax breaks in Bailout bill
Film and Television Productions (Sec. 502)
Wooden Arrows designed for use by children (Sec. 503)
6 page package of earmarks for litigants in the 1989 Exxon Valdez incident, Alaska (Sec. 504)Tax break "extenders" in the bailout bill.
Virgin Island and Puerto Rican Rum (Section 308)
American Samoa (Sec. 309)
Mine Rescue Teams (Sec. 310)
Mine Safety Equipment (Sec. 311)
Domestic Production Activities in Puerto Rico (Sec. 312)
Indian Tribes (Sec. 314, 315)
Railroads (Sec. 316)
Auto Racing Tracks (317)
District of Columbia (Sec. 322)
Wool Research (Sec. 325)
Alright. I get tax the tax breaks for mine safety and mine rescue teams... But WTF on "wooden arrows designed for use by children"? Also, "Auto racing Tracks"? Someone, for the love of God, tell me what these have to do with the current economic situation. I get the rum thing. There will definately need to be increased rum production so that we can drink ourselves through this mess.
No matter how the vote goes down, I have faith that our senators have perused all 451 pages of this bill. How else could we expect them to make an informed decision? I mean, surely they wouldn't just vote in blind panic because of an imminent financial meltdown... Would they?
2
Belose is my recent post on The Economist website concerning the President's boloxed "rescue plan".
"September 30, 2008 14:39
Jacomus d'Paganus-Fatuus wrote:
Most Americans realize that Mr. Bush has a strong tendency to panic then aggresively pursue the first "solution" that comes to mind. He also lacks the ability to change his mind as more information becomes available.
We do need to resolve this problem, but not by throwing cash at it - this is no solution. There appear to be accounting rule changes to be made as well as provisions for home owners who are at risk of losing their primary residences.
Most Americans have no concern about the Wall Street elite. If they go belly up, it's no skin of our noses. In fact, most Americans want to tie criminal investigations to any money ear marked for the lending and investment institutions that created this mess.
Please don't buy in to George's panic. Panic is his first reaction to everything and anything he doesn't understand. He is, after all, a callow fool selected to front a now discredited "Neo-con" revolution.
We plead patience to our friends in Europe and around the globe. We will solve this crisis forthwith, but not with President Bush's plan. I'm sure he's back upstairs at the White House trying to figure out what's going on.
Recommend (30)"
Okay -- as per the bail out, it's not going particularly for poor George. His credibility is so low that they're fronting a day-trader to guide their plan -- a man with no idea what's going on other than he wants to save his Wall Street buddies.
As Peter DeFazio and others have pointed out, there are rules changes alone that would free up capital for loans without throwing 700 thousand million dollars at it. I don't know about you, but this is preposterous.
Now they're adding taxes breaks for this sort of nonsense. Unbelievable.
Call your Congressman and scream.
David Wu - First District
Greg Walden - Second District
Earl Blumenauer - Third District
Peter DeFazio - Fourth District
Darlene Hooley - Fifth District
Make lots and lots of noise. Before we're so totally screwed we won't be able to walk.
I remain,
Jacomus
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