Falcon:
I see where the Fiscal Cliff deal was pay day for many special interest organizations that will receive millions from the current administration even though the U.S. is broke.
Hollywood payback by Obama
Hollywood racked in $430 million in tax breaks for filming in the U.S. It’s funny they would give an organization that has no morals and warps the minds of our children tax breaks which are probably tied to their support of Obama.
$9 Billion “sop for Wall Street banks and major multinationals”
As Dan Eggen has reported, this provision, first created in 1997, allows manufacturers and banks to defer taxes when they engage in a special type of financial transactions known as “active financing.” The break now costs $9 billion per year, and critics claim it encourages firms to create jobs overseas. But it’s a top lobbying priority for companies like GE and JP Morgan, who say that it helps them compete abroad, and it will get extended another year.
A Rum tax for Puerto Rico
Another longstanding item—this one dates back to 1917. Congress currently levies an excise tax worth $13.50 per gallon on all rum produced in or imported to the United States. Most of that money is transferred to Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands, who use the revenue to support their rum industries. In 2009, this tax raised some $547 million. The cliff deal would extend the current arrangement another year. (By the way, Puerto Rico’s non-voting representative in the House, Pedro Pirellis, thinks this tax set-up is too favorable to rum distillers.)
Cheaper office space for Goldman Sachs
Okay, it’s certainly not called this. Section 328 of the bill extends tax-exempt financing for the “Liberty Zone,” the area around the former World Trade Center, for another year. As Matt Stoller points out, this tax provision was supposed to help fund reconstruction after 9/11. Yet a recent Bloomberg investigation found the bonds have mostly helped finance new luxury apartments, not to mention the construction of Goldman Sachs’ new headquarters. Developers say the bonds were necessary to revitalize downtown Manhattan, but there’s a fierce debate over how they’ve been used.
Wind energy payday
The fiscal cliff deal has a bunch of provisions for clean energy—notably; it extends a key tax credit for wind power for one more year, thus preventing the U.S. wind industry from downsizing. (That credit will cost about $1.2 billion per year for 10 years.)
Help NASCAR build racetracks
Okay, it’s certainly not called this. Section 328 of the bill extends tax-exempt financing for the “Liberty Zone,” the area around the former World Trade Center, for another year. As Matt Stoller points out, this tax provision was supposed to help fund reconstruction after 9/11. Yet a recent Bloomberg investigation found the bonds have mostly helped finance new luxury apartments, not to mention the construction of Goldman Sachs’ new headquarters. Developers say the bonds were necessary to revitalize downtown Manhattan, but there’s a fierce debate over how they’ve been used.
Promote plug-in electric scooters
For years, Congress has been trying to promote electric cars through various tax breaks and subsidies. But what about electric bikes and scooters? Section 403 of the bill extends a credit for “2- or 3-wheeled plug-in electric vehicles.” Yes, these things do exist: The Observer recently reported that e-bikes have become ubiquitous in New York City, used for everything from Chinese food deliveries to expensive joyrides. Only problem? They might well be illegal to ride in New York, although the rules here are awfully confusing.
I think this enough of a sample to tell the American voter how their being constantly fleeced by Washington special interest debt paybacks.
LJ
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