Senate Bill Loaded with Pork
Hensarling Releases Statement

Don Purdum
Post Editor

October 2, 2008

For months, both Barak Obama and John McCain have said earmarks and pork barrel spending must end. Yet, last night they voted for a bill that the Congressional Budget Office said yesterday the tax provisions will add about $112 billion to budget deficits over the next five years because the legislation doesn't contain enough offsetting revenue increases to keep the budget balanced. The senate bill now increases the amount from the original $700 billion to $800 billion.

The Bailout bill sweetners may place the bill in jeapardy in the U.S. House of Representatives, who rejected the bill on Monday in which one-third of democrats and two-thirds of republicans voted against it, including Rep. Jeb Hensarling, who represents Forney and Kaufman County, among others.

This morning, Press Secretary for Rep. Hensarling Debee Keller said via email, "The congressman continues to believe that inaction is not an option and remains committed to finding a taxpayer friendly alternative. Congressman Hensarling remains extremely concerned about the $700 billion in taxpayer exposure and that the Senate bill still represents a bailout instead of a work out."

Some of the items include:

* A provision repealing a 39-cent excise tax on wooden arrows designed for children.

* A provision that will save Nascar track builders $109 million this year.

* Hundreds of millions of dollars of tax incentives for companies that invest on Indian reservations, in the District of Columbia, and American Samoa.

* A research tax credit worth about $8.3 billion a year for companies such as Microsoft Corp. and Harley-Davidson Inc., and subsidies for the overseas financial services earnings of U.S.-based multinational corporations such as General Electric Co. and Citigroup Inc.

* Other breaks would subsidize renovations of restaurant franchises and cut import duties on wool and wood.

Other tax earmark “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)