Thursday, May 27, 2010

Milk Bills: Extortion By Legislature

We mentioned a version of this a few weeks ago. Here's the setup.

IBM is lobbying against a bill even though it would extend a favorite bipartisan policy, the federal tax credit for R&D.

IBM and other business lobbies oppose the bill because of provisions that would increase taxes on money earned overseas by U.S. companies,........

Got it? (The details of this are not really important.)

If Congress really believed R&D was a priority, it could make the credit—which expired in December, the 13th time it has done so since it started in 1981—permanent. But that would make it harder to string out corporate bidders for more PAC contributions, as well as depriving Members of the annual fire drill that gives them a chance to boost taxes. --WSJ Editorial

Back in the days of Gray Davis, California operatives would tell me about “milk bills” — legislation the governor would openly hem and haw about in order to raise funds from both the side that would get rich off the bill, and the side that would suffer

In other words, extortion-by-Legislature (or Congress).

It's not a question of the national interest.

It's a question of selfishness.

No wonder I'm hearing the rumble "Throw ALL of the bastards out!!"

HT: Examiner

No comments: