Bailout: Sweet & Sour Pork

After taking a 3 page bill and porking it up to 451 pages, the Senate passed the Bailout Bill by a vote of 74 – 25. It's expected to go to the House for a vote Friday morning and then to President Bush for signing into law.

But wait, it's not that simple. Let's look at some of the so-called sweeteners our senators put into the bill. The facts may surprise you – they sure surprised the heck out of me! Are our elected officials truly serving the interests of the people or is this a case of legislative abuse being foisted on the taxpayer at a time of crisis?

The Bailout Bill, known as HR1424, began life as The Paul Wellstone Mental Health and Addiction Equity Act of 2007, but it's now being called The 2008 Emergency Economic Stabilization Act.

Don't let the name change fool you -- the original bill's proposed spending for mental health remains in the bill and it is going to cost the taxpayers an enormous amount of money over a very long period of time. That's how they do things in Washington. They should have been honest with the public and kept the bill's original name – the very concept of a $700 Billion bailout (plus) certainly toys with my mental health, and for all the pols who are addicted to pork, there's a nice fix in there for them.

Nuff said. Let's look at some of what's included:

Sec. 503. Exemption from excise tax for certain wooden arrows designed for use by children. A proposal to exempt the excise tax for any wooden arrow shaft consisting of all natural wood with no laminations or artificial means to enhance the spine. Estimated cost to the taxpayer = $2 million.

Sec. 317. Seven-year cost recovery period for motorsports racing track facility. Track owners want to be able write-off the cost of their facilities, including grandstands, parking lots and concession stands, over seven years. Auto track owners are trying to get out of paying more taxes - which they'd have to do if they deducted less every year. Estimated cost = $100 million.

Sec. 308. Increase in limit on cover over of rum excise tax to Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands. A rebate on excise taxes charged on rum imported from Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands. Estimated cost to the American taxpayer = $192 million.

Sec. 301. Extension and modification of research credit. Extension of a lucrative tax credit for companies doing research and experimentation in the United States. Companies that have benefited from this provision include Microsoft Corp., Boeing Co., United Technologies Corp., Electronic Data Systems Corp. and Harley-Davidson. Estimated cost $19 billion.

Sec. 504. Income averaging for amounts received in connection with the Exxon Valdez litigation. A tax break for Exxon Valdez plaintiffs. Rep. Don Young (R-AK) is a supporter. Estimated taxpayer cost = $49 million.

Sec 502. Provisions related to film and television productions. Special tax incentives to attempt to keep film and television productions in the U.S. Rep. Diane Watson (D-CA) is a primary supporter. Estimated cost to the taxpayer = $478 million.

Sec. 325. Extension and modification of duty suspension on wool products; wool research fund; wool duty refunds. Tariff relief for the U.S. worsted wool fabric producers that use imported fibers and yarns, as well as U.S. tailored clothing manufacturers that use imported fabrics as inputs. Supported by Reps. Louise Slaughter (D-NY) and Melissa Bean (D-IL). Cost to the taxpayer = $148 million.

Sec. 309. Extension of economic development credit for American Samoa. A tax credit for certain corporations operating in American Samoa. Estimated cost = $33 million.

And there's more, but you get the idea.

Memo to Washington: When election time rolls around, you campaign for our votes and you ask us to trust you; yet, during what could be a Herbert Hoover moment for our country, you refuse to give us a clean bill that directly addresses only the important issue at hand.

Make no mistake, something must be done to loosen the credit markets but we do not need this porked-up legislation that absolves the guilty while weighing heavily on the backs of the innocent. Simply stated, this is a bad bill. You could have -- should have -- done much better for those you claim to serve.

Don't tell us our economy is crashing, that the entire financial world as we know it is about to come to an end if this bill isn't passed, and then have the audacity to stuff your pork into the folds of a $700 Billion piece of legislation that will burden our children, our grandchildren, and perhaps even our great grandchildren, all the while hoping that we won't notice.

The sad part is, usually we don't.

Nikki