House vote today on the bailout bill
October 3, 2008 1:54 pm Citrus County Sound OFF, Opinions, PolitcsToday is the day that the House will vote on the new version of the bailout bill. The Senate passed it the other day after filling it with tax cuts and other sweeteners. The process could be a long one today, for more information about that process please see the Fox News Report about today’s session in the House.
The heart of the bill, and the opposition to it, remained the same. It would enable the government to spend billions of dollars to buy bad mortgage-related securities and other devalued assets held by troubled financial institutions. If successful, advocates say, that would allow frozen credit to begin flowing again and keep the economy from a deep recession.
As revised by the Senate, the package would extend several tax breaks popular with businesses. It would keep the alternative minimum tax from hitting 20 million middle-income Americans, and provide $8 billion in tax relief for those hit by natural disasters in the Midwest, Texas and Louisiana.
Another addition, to extend the deductibility of state and local taxes for people in states without income taxes, helps Florida and Texas, among others.
That said the bill would be great for the economy if it were that simple. The lawmakers expect this to have the “trickle down effect” to help out the average citizen. In my personal opinion I feel that this trickle down would be too slow to affect individuals and small businesses. If you are not trying to get a loan right now and you don’t own stock – this bill will do nothing for you.
On top of that the additional “sweeteners” that the senate added in making the bill actually cost $850 billion is what I have the problem with. A couple of things that they added into the package are tax breaks for companies that make wooden arrows for children, to help litigants in the 1989 Valdez Oil Spill, and also ones that import Puerto Rican Rum.
What in the world does this have to do with our economy? These items are by far the dumbest things I have ever heard of. Politicians hard at work as normal I guess. Things like that are what put our economy in this position in the first place. We need to write our Congressman immediately and tell them not to vote for something stupid like that, or we won’t vote for them ever again.
Something needs to be done I agree with that, but politicians need to wake up and figure out the correct way to do it. Help the population out – not the companies who caused our economy to decline by doing stupid things. Put this money into our hands and the economy will turn around. Lower gas prices substantially and it will help the economy.
It’s time to Wake Up America. Here is a link to Ginny Brown-Waite’s website tell her to vote nay!
Network Admin :
Date: October 3, 2008 @ 2:31 pm
Here are some more of the Pork items that have been added.
_Extending for one year a seven-year depreciation timetable that NASCAR and other motorsport racing facilities have had for some years, the same tax break that amusement parks enjoy. Without the extension, the tracks would have to depreciate the cost of their improvements over 15 years, raising their taxes by $100 million.
_Extending for five years a program that reduces import duties on some wool fabrics. The tariff relief benefits U.S. worsted wool fabric producers that use imported fibers and yarns. Cost: $148 million.
_Increasing the single-year deduction in production costs, from $15 million to $20 million, that film and TV productions may take if the costs are incurred in economically depressed areas. In an effort to keep film and TV productions in the U.S., it also allows more companies to use a domestic production deduction. Cost: $478 million.
_Exempting wooden practice arrows used by children from an excise tax of 39 cents per arrow. Oregon’s two senators have pushed for the action, saying the tax was meant for more expensive archery arrows and is untenable for makers of toy arrows that may cost only about 30 cents apiece. The bill would affect about nine manufacturers nationwide, including one in Oregon. Cost: $2 million.
_Allowing employers to exempt from taxation what they spend on some fringe benefits for workers who commute to work by bicycle, for example reimbursing the cost of parking the bikes. Cost: $2 million.
_Extending tax credits that expired at the end of 2007 for certain domestic corporations involved in American Samoa economic development. Cost: $33 million.
Stop all the Pork Vote NO until they remove it.