Oct 03 2008
What’s included in Bail-out? Stinking Pork.
To our dismay, this is the way Washington works pork into every bill that is passed and sent to the president for signature or veto.
The sneaky way it works. “…it’s one strange piece of lawmaking.”
The “bailout plan” itself, H.R. 5685 (the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008) , is being bundled as an amendment to H.R.1424, a Patrick Kennedy (D-RI) Bill that modifies sections of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 “to require equity in the provision of mental health and substance-related disorder benefits under group health plans.”
The new Bill also snuck in Charlie Rangel’s (D-NY) H.R. 6049 (the Energy Improvement and Extension Act of 2008) which had already added the ‘Tax Extenders and Alternative Minimum Tax Relief Act of 2008” in addition to “Heartland and Hurricane Ike Disaster Relief” to its broadly green legislation.
Now here comes the pork rolled up into one burrito type package.
Stuffed into the 451- page bill are more than $1.7 billion worth of targeted tax breaks to be doled out for a sty full of eyebrow-raising purposes over the next decade.
* Manufacturers of kids’ wooden arrows - $6 million.
* Puerto Rican and Virgin Is- lands rum producers - $192 million.
* Wool research.
* Auto-racing tracks - $128 million.
* Corporations operating in American Samoa - $33 million.
* Small- to medium-budget film and television productions - $10 million.
Add some whipped topping to make it more palatable to Patrick Kennedy (D-RI), who authored this part of the package. The bill forces the health insurance industry “to require equity in the provision of mental health and substance-related disorder benefits under group health plans.” In plain English it means that mental health treatment must be covered at the same level as physical health is covered under insurance plans. Think of what that will do to group health insurance premiums.
Some further reading: The Bailout Bill: A Cow Patty for All of Us That’s how TIME read’s the bill. Time magazine?
It’s the way that Washington works.
How will Obama “change” this pork filled maneuvering?
How will McCain change the way Washington works?
this is crap, there is nothing in this bill that help struggling homeowners. What is most disturbing is that they all sat down and hatched out this bill and not one of these people had a heart enough to consider the real estate crisis is affecting the average homeowner so much so they would have a provision for real relief.
This is a sad day in America, they have taken us back many years to the days of slavery, because only a slave could be this helpless to be forced to stand by and watch all your money being funneled to the rich with no recourse while you starve and die for want.