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Getty Images for NASCAR, file
The fiscal cliff compromise includes tax breaks worth $70 million over two years for the owners of race tracks like Charlotte Motor Speedway in Concord, N.C.
Taxpayers aren't the only ones who won't be flying off the fiscal cliff — this year, at least. Add race cars, movies and asparagus to the list.
As part of their last-second deal to slam the brakes on an economy racing toward the so-called fiscal cliff, lawmakers gave the green light this week to extending dozens of business and industry tax breaks, like a cost-recovery program that will save the owners of "motorsports entertainment complexes" (that is, racetracks) about $70 million over the next two years.
Much of the compromise agreement that President Barack Obama's autopen signed into law Thursday was targeted at individuals and families, notably preserving most of the tax cuts that passed under President George W. Bush, which were set to expire Monday. Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz of Florida, chairwoman of the Democratic National Committee, told MSNBC that the deal was "a big gift-wrapped present of certainty to the middle class."
But the agreement also came loaded with extensions of separate existing tax breaks for businesses and industries, many of which had expired in the past year — about $67.9 billion in all in 2013, as tabulated by Congress' Joint Committee on Taxation.
(The extensions will actually cost much more: Not only were they made retroactive to cover 2012, but some of the breaks and credits would be in effect for 10 years if left in place. Many cover only one or two years, however.)
Read the full 10-year analysis from the Joint Committee on Taxation (.pdf)
In addition to extending tax breaks for racing moguls, the legislation also extended:
• A tax credit for construction of renewable energy projects, like wind turbines and biomass, geothermal and hydropower generation, for one year. It's projected to cost about $116 million, the committee said.
That may seem like a drop in the bucket, but here's the kicker: While the extension to qualify for new projects covers only 2013, the actual tax credit itself is good for 10 years. That means new projects that break ground in 2013 will be able to claim the credit for the next decade, at an overall price tag the committee put at slightly less than $12.2 billion.
• An arcane provision of corporate tax law, called active financing income, that lets U.S. corporations defer taxes on some income they earn from their overseas subsidiaries. That provision will cost the U.S. Treasury more than $9 billion this year and $1.8 billion next year.
• Tax breaks for Hollywood producers who shoot their movies and TV shows in the U.S., at a cost of about $430 million through 2014.
• A program that sends most federal taxes collected on rum produced in Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands back to those territories to subsidize domestic production. Bar tab: $222 million over two years.
• A tax break worth about $15 million a year for asparagus growers hit hard by cheap asparagus imported from Peru.
• $4 million in tax breaks over the next two years for people who buy "2- or 3-wheeled plug-in electric vehicles" — in other words, electric scooters, Segways and the like.
The purpose of the deal was to prevent a series of steep spending cuts and tax increases on the middle class from automatically taking effect in the new year. But "we're not making it (the tax system) better or fairer," Rep. Darrell Issa, R-Calif., chairman of the Oversight and Government Reform Committee, said on the House floor Tuesday in explaining why he was voting against the measure.
Big policy losers in tax deal: deficit reduction and 'certainty'
"We're not getting rid of the NASCAR loophole. We're not getting rid of the electric motor scooter low-speed loophole. We're not getting rid of a whole lot of tax things that are here," Issa said.
Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, D-Fla., tells Ed Schultz how the Democrats and the White House plan to move forward, with or without House Speaker John Boehner, pictured, as a larger fight over the deficit looms.
Neither new nor secret
Although many of the provisions are being characterized as new pork barrel programs that sneaked their way into the bill under cover of darkness, there's nothing new or secret about any of them.
Most of the tax breaks had been scheduled to expire on Dec. 31, 2011, and as long ago as February, lawmakers were seeking a way to revive them.
Industries in limbo as Congress mulls expired tax breaks
Eventually, they were packaged together as the Family and Business Tax Cut Certainty Act of 2012. It was so titled because "people need certainty to plan their finances, and businesses need certainty to hire, invest and grow," as Sen. Max Baucus, D-Mont., chairman of the Finance Committee, said when the committee passed the package in August.
Once it was out of committee, the measure went nowhere. That is, until this week, when — with a lame-duck Congress just hours away from going home without having addressed the fiscal cliff — it was substituted almost word for word into the deal brokered by Vice President Joe Biden and Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky.
It makes up Titles III and IV of the final bill, with many of the alterations reading like this:
Paragraph (1) of section 7652(f) is amended by striking "January 1, 2012" and inserting "January 1, 2014".
(If you want to see what changed, here's the Family and Business Tax Cut Certainty Act of 2012 (.pdf) and here are the changes made to it in the final bill (.pdf).)
Former Sens. Alan Simpson, R-Wyo., left, and Erskine Bowles, D-N.C., co-chairman of President Barack Obama's 2010 deficit commission, said Congress missed a 'magic moment' to reform the tax code.
By taking the clock down to 00:00 and backing itself into a corner, Congress "missed this magic moment to do something big to reduce the deficit, reform our tax code and fix our entitlement programs," said former Sens. Erskine Bowles, D-N.C., and Alan Simpson, R-Wyo., the co-chairmen of Obama's 2010 commission responsible for finding a way out of the country's economic morass.
"We have all known for over a year that this fiscal cliff was coming," they said in a joint statement Tuesday, adding: "Yet even after taking the country to the brink of economic disaster, Washington still could not forge a common sense bipartisan consensus on a plan that stabilizes the debt."
Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., was less diplomatic.
"It's so incredibly disappointing that members of Congress saw fit to add hundreds of millions of dollars in special-interest handouts to the recently passed 'fiscal cliff' bill, which had the simple purpose of avoiding massive tax rate increases on average Americans," McCain said Thursday.
"It's hard to think of anything that could feed the cynicism of the American people more than larding up must-pass emergency legislation with giveaways to special interests and campaign contributors," he said. "And this growing cynicism — largely justified in my view — will make it harder for us to deliver the tough medicine needed to address our crushing national debt."
Unloved for so long, Congress not fazed by public's disapproval
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Leave a Comment:
Before we blame conservatives or liberals for what was added to the bill, we should find out who sponsored the amendments. I'm sure there is enough blame to go around.
What this does demonstrate is that there is plenty of tax pork out there to eliminate before gutting social security, medicare, medicaid etc. I refuse to call them entitlement programs because most of the people who benefit from them spent years paying into them. They are insurance policies. While these programs do need reform, the majority of our recent debt is the result of two unfunded wars so in addition to ending tax breaks for professional sports of all kinds (that should definitely be dependent solely on the market place) maybe we can finally close that unneccessary tank factory in Boehner's district that the military doesn't want anymore and start cutting back defense first.
Our goverment has become the enemy of the people.
This is just an example why our goverment is a train wreck. The goverment has uncontroled spending and they do this sh*t. All of the politicians are criminals wearing suits. None of them should be trusted.
Once again, the leftist comments are entertaining at best and prove how much Americans are dumming down. Where was all the transparency for your President? Doesn't matter who votes for what, right? obama signed it. But, this battle was won for your President, but the war is not over. Gotta go, good job fellow Republicans/Conservatives!!
It is astounding the hypocrisy we see on the right.....
Let's quickly review what just occurred with this bill. While, I agree I am not ecstatic about all of the add ons (some are actually quite important)......but when it becomes official, Obama will have PERMANENTLY cut your taxes. As it stands right now, your tax rates are the same they were in 2000 before GW's TEMPORARY cut. If a Republican President would've passed this, giving YOU certainty that your tax rates will remain permanently low....you all would've started having unthinkable explosions in certain pants places.
I would love to see the right wing, including some of the idiots on this message board, acknowledge the good things Obama HAS done to improve your livlihoods (like permanently lowering your taxes). When you refuse to do so..you become just another hack that obviously only cares about ideology, not policy.
"thinkerer"...
If there is inflation...there is a growing economy. You nitwits always say we are NOT growing. You obviously don't have a clue how the economy works.
fascist...
What happened in 2011? The "budget control act' cut $1.2 trillion in spending with ZERO in revenue.
It is astounding the ignorance we see on the left. The low information voters.....
Funny how I'm told by liberals that Obama lowered my taxes. First of all he hasn't lowered anything. He has extended and even made some of the current rates permanent, but nothing lowered.
The fact is he actually raised taxes on everyone that works and has an income. EVERYONE...By 2% he increased the payroll taxes. That adds up to about $2K for a $50K income.
So you can talk about hypocrisy all you want, but you will never hear a liberal speak of these facts...
It's amazing how much you don't know. Learn about how economy works before making such baseless statements.
I love hearing a liberal speak of hypocrisy and yet just in October, when Obama was running for reelection he spoke of a balanced approach, that included taxing the top 2% with huge spending cuts and entitlement reforms...
Well, he got the taxes...Where are the spending cuts and reforms he promised (yeah I know- promised right)...
But with liberals, it's really not hypocrisy. It's just down right lies....
Doctor there is inflation because the FED is and has been printing money for a few years.
I just love how cons keep whining about high taxes when in reality they are the lowest they've been in decades.
You don't want to pay taxes but you want everything those taxes pay for.
If you want few if no taxes, go to Somalia. Let us know if you can find a paved road or a competent Doctor.
And there's no hypocrisy, ever, on the left.
Riiiiiight.
We're doomed, people.
@rosieodonnellsmoustache
Just another troll.
Oh, who to blame. Let's see, it can't be George Bush. He's the one who gave us the tax cuts in the first place. Without him, the Dems could not blame the current Repubs for wanting to raise taxes. And you people wouldn't have had 10 years of lower taxes. How about the current Repubs. Yep, they didn't want to raise taxes on ANYBODY. Such mean people. How about the Dems and Obama. Seems to me I remember Obama wanting to raise taxes on EVERYBODY until it got close to the election and he changed his mind. Wonder why he did that? Then Obama insisted on a BALANCED approach. Meaning raise taxes on the rich and cut spending at the same time. So, why did this go down to the very last minute? Sure the Repubs took their sweet time agreeing to raise taxes on the wealthy. But they did that by mid December. However, the Dems would NEVER agree to ANY spending cuts, period. In fact, at the last minute they wanted to RAISE spending. So we ended up with the Repubs caving again and agreeing to kick the spending can down the road. Instead of some of you Libs calling me bad names, can you tell me what I said that is wrong?
both sides piled crap in this bill, its what congress does, at least the hollywood producers part is a break when they shoot their films in the US, that creates jobs. Give the pres line item veto power to remove the stuff. Look at how much of this stuff goes to red states compared to blue states you will see that they both get plenty. None of them dem or repub really care about balancing the budget. Get america working, tax revenue is what pays down the debt. A strong jobs bill like the one Obama has tried to get though congress that boner won't even let get to the floor would do more to help than removing all of the pork from this bill. While your at it get the rethugs to stop the billions that they give to big oil, wall street, and pharma, oh what hand outs to the rich and big corperations is ok
And yet they don't have a problem with their taxes going up. Where as, the Republican donors tried to buy the Presidency to stop taxes from going up. I'll take the winners any day of the week. The Republicans just aren't up to the job of governing. Hence their complete failure last November. Look out for 2014.
NBC, you did a moderately good job in this article by identifying some of the 'pork' hidden in this piece of legislation. What we would really like to see in a follow up report is the names of the representatives that submitted these 'pork' bills to be included. I really don't care if it was a Dem. or Rep. . Just print the list and allow your readers to decide. Thank you.
Why do Obama lovers hate individual freedom? Why do they attack individual achievement and insist these people owe the government more?
Obama is a compulsive liar elected by the uniformed. His goal - to change the USA into the United Socialist States of America. All Americans that believe in individual freedom and individual rights, that believe they do not work for the government need to do everything they can, legally, to stop, sabotage and block every law, executive order etc that Obama and the democrats want to pass. Obama is a left wing radical that will lead this country to financial ruin.
Obviously, Those big brave individualist you tout couldn't survive without pork barrel tax breaks!
Thanks for proving my point. Individualist do not pass any laws do they? It the congress and OBAMA that sign everthing into law.
You don't get $70 billion dollar tax breaks unless your lobbyists in Washington BEG for them! Where is NASCAR Headquartered again?? OPPS!
Did you notice that in the liberal press story above, they didnt tell you who sponsored all the pork, THAT IS BECAUSE IT WAS DEMOCRATS, if it were republicans, they would of listed them. Waste, just waste.
and this is whats wrong with this country .STOP voting for the same people and this is the dems bill .yeah they got our back. so angry .
Didn't Obama say he would veto any bill that came to him with pork????
Would you rather your taxes go up about $3K next year?
yes he did
Just another in a long string of Obama lies. This guy is a compulsive liar. Before he left for Hawaii (the second time) he also said the bill would lower the deficit (another lie)
Doctor logic? Just can't figure it out eh?
Hey doc why don't you go respond to my answer on your remark or what don't have any is that why you ran away from it.
it is at page2 34.8.
But I am sure you will not respond.
So the pork that was supposed to end is back in full force. The rich still get to keep millions and the middle class get a thousand or more taken out of their checks. Nice job ya @!$%#in meatheads.
"Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz of Florida, chairwoman of the Democratic National Committee, called the deal 'a big gift-wrapped present of certainty to the middle class.'" REALLY?? a big gift for us??! This is the mindset of these SCUMBAG politicians. Trillions in incomprehensible spending for ONE REASON - the preservation of each and every one of these SCUMBAGS' bedazzled jobs from which each and every one of these SCUMBAGS are guaranteed a lifetime of personal wealth. *explain to me how, for example, Nancy SCUMBAG Pelosi is worth $35Million when the only career she has ever had is SCUMBAG politician. But we the sheep are bestowed this gift from the gaggle of little emperors in Washington. WOW. Thanks. Awesome.
I like how NBC focused on Nascar verses the Hollywood thugs who got 5 times the tax breaks. Nascar does so much for this country and our troops. Hollywood Celebrities (how few their are) get trashed when they speak about voting republican or being a conservative. These dems added a majority of this pork that will hit all taxpayers next year.....here we come Greece!
Who cares? It's all wasted money.
This is exactly the type of BS I expect from our Government. When CBS had there 'It's your money' section on world news they exposed alot of this crap. Did anything chang? F*%( NO.
How can we really fix this? Bitching does not work. The web of full of it on every blog. They just don't care.
I hope Obama is enjoying all of his vacation time in Hawaii while the rest of us are scraping by, I am doing the best I can to keep my head above water, while that Obama loser, lier, and silver tongue devil is vacationing spending millions of our tax dollars.
You mean to tell me you don't get a multimillion dollar Hawaiian vacation paid by the taxpayer. Oh, sorry I guess you are one of those taxpayers. Time to get back to work. Michelle needs a new 747.
Can either of you tell me how the Obamas' vacation cost millions of tax payer dollars?
from the huffington post 11/20/2011
The Obamas will once again vacation in Hawaii over the holidays this year, but this time it will be a bit more expensive than previous trips.
The Hawaii Reporter writes that the President and First Lady's separate trips to Hawaii (Michelle and the girls arrived Friday; check out photos of President Obama arriving last year here) as well as the extended stay of the vacation will cost American tax payers nearly $4 million, roughly $2.5 million more than the President's 2010 trip.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/12/20/obama-hawaii-vacation-cos_n_1158825.html
@golf
next time do yourself the favor and do your homework.
stop being such a lazy democrat and having others do it for you, from now on, look up the info yourself.
A story in the Huffington Post is not proof. Look who they got their info. from. Do you think the tax payer is footing the bill for the press corp.?
From that story: "The Hawaii Reporter states that the Obamas are not staying at the "Winter White House" (check out video of it here) this year and instead have rented and paid for their own accommodations"
Air Force One coast about 150K an hour to fly, so the round trip air fair alone is about $4.5 million
Hint to libaturds: type obama vacation into your search engine (not your car engine this time) and you can read all about the cost of Obamas multi-million dollar excellent Hawaiian vacation.
And these are the people who are sworn to govern by our constitution? Isn't living in Scamerica special?
Peace
Where are the liberals who every time someone disagrees with them say "shut up WE won!!!" Indeed, YOU did win and because of this, all hard working Americans have lost!! Shame on this government and shame on the people who refuse to see the forest for the trees regardless of which "forest" you are in. God bless America!!!
President Obama promised Tuesday night that he will veto any bill that includes earmarks.
http://thehill.com/homenews/administration/140189-obama-to-issue-earmark-veto-threat-in-state-of-the-union-address
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Why is anyone surprised by this? Did they really think our Congress read the bill? All you are going to hear is deflection ("...well, we aren't as bad as so and so...") about this. Why do you think people don't want their taxes to go up? Because they know it will be wasted.
I'm sorry, but a true investigative reporter would find out which Senator/Representative put each of these in there and call them out on it.
DC is so broken it's Pathetic! Wake up America,before it's to late.
The Pols only watch out for themselfs, the media has given up holding this Pres. feet to the fire and the American people keeps electing these losers. Are we done or what?
I wonder where Obama got all his campaign money from..anyone know?
Special Interest...where have I heard that term before? Aren't they the fat cats who own the politicians and make them perform like puppets...
So much for "The People"...