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Subscribe to RSSDespite all the talk in Washington about the need to eliminate tax preferences, credits and deductions, the Senate voted just last week to create a new one, and the House is expected to follow suit this week.
Everyone from President Obama's fiscal commission to Republican presidential candidate Rick Perry, the governor of Texas, wants to get rid of them, or at least limit them.
As Perry said in his flat tax plan, the law is “too riddled with loopholes and special interest tax breaks that increase compliance costs and impede economic growth.”
But despite all the talk, Congress is creating another tax break: last week the Senate voted, 94 to 1, to give a tax credit to employers who hire military veterans; it was a small victory, too, for the White House, which had pushed for the new deduction as part of its jobs package. The House is expected to follow suit this week.
The veterans tax credit is just one reminder of how often Congress uses the tax code -– instead of, or in addition to, direct spending -– to help specific groups of Americans.
The bill, sponsored by Sen. Jon Tester (D-MT), would give a tax credit of up to $5,600 for employers who hire a veteran who has been looking for a job for at least six months, and up to $2,400 for those unemployed more than four weeks.
Not only is it hard to argue against helping veterans, but the estimated cost of the new credit, $95 million over 10 years, seems minuscule at a time when members of the deficit reduction “supercommittee” are wrangling over making $1.2 trillion or more in cuts over 10 years. But the supercommittee, in a search for new revenue, may recommend the elimination of some of those long-entrenched breaks in order to meet its deficit-reduction goal.
The conventional wisdom is that once Congress creates one of these tax breaks. They never go away, and year after year, the tax code becomes encrusted with them, while the revenues that would have been collected dribble away.
But we’re approaching the demise of one venerable tax break: the 45 cent-per-gallon credit for blending ethanol into gasoline.
That tax break has been around in one form or another since the late 1970s, and the ethanol industry isn’t pushing Congress to extend it beyond its Dec. 31 expiration date, according to Matt Hartwig, a spokesman for the Renewable Fuels Association.
Why not? Because ethanol, mostly made from corn, has now gained a ten percent share of the vehicle fuel market –- thanks to the tax credit and the Renewable Fuel Standard, enacted in 2005 and expanded in 2007, which essentially mandates the use of ethanol in the U.S. fuel supply.
Even with the demise of the blender’s credit, another ethanol tax break remains on the books at least until the end of 2012: the $1.01-per-gallon producers’ tax credit for cellulosic ethanol, which is made not from corn kernels but from switchgrass, corn stalks, and other agricultural waste. Production of cellulosic ethanol is less than three million gallons a year, compared to about 14 billion of corn-based ethanol.
You can see all the energy-related tax breaks here at the Joint Tax Committee web site.
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Feisty Redhead, don't you dare mention Vietnam Vets in you're rants! We went when we were called, we got cussed spit on and degraded by left wing idiots who blamed us for doing our duty....when we DIDN'T have a choice. So Feisty, when it comes to Veitnam vets, shut your damned mouth!
Buck,,, Actually when you look at how conservative political masters attempted & failed to turn Americans against our troops in Iraq during the Bush days, you will recognize what happened during Viet Nam was identical
And who at the time was running against Kennedy? --- I remember those days quite well, once again history repeated itself for "Right Wing Electioneering Politics"..... USN 67-88
I remember those days quite well, once again history repeats itself for "Right Wing Electioneering Politics"..... USN 67-88
Thank you, I remember those days quite well myself. MRFV 65-67.
The majority of those who served during Vietnam, understood that the opposition to the war was targeted toward the mindless elites who promoted warmongering.
Lastcall,,, Who the Sam Hell do you think did the war mongering? Have you forgotten how hard the right wing attacked Kerry for exposing what was going on? --- Dude, they never stopped Swift Boating John Kerry
It's your conseratives who have always been War Mongers... Damn man, just listen to the conservative candidates wanting more invasions & wars!
Jim,
I agree with you, the majority of those who opposedthe Vietnam war, were against the neocons, not the troops.
Amazing concept.: Lower taxes and create jobs. Why can't Obama and the democrats get this? Why does it work for vets and not for everyone? If this is a small victory for Obama, then why is he opposed to lowering taxes to create more jobs?
Seems to me the dems get it, but are more interested in their agenda than creating jobs
Bill...This Amazing concept has proven itself to be false.
If it were true...we would not be in the economic depression we are in.
I agree that veterans deserve our respect and help.
But not because these veterans of the Irak or Afghan wars went there to "protect us" or to "fight for us." They went there because it was their job, they followed orders, which is what they are supossed to do. But they went to war to please a deluded policy and a deluded president. We were not in danger of anything from those countries, but instead of keeping the troops at home to REALLY protect us Bush sent them to die for his macho image.
Since WWII we have had adventurism of the worst kind all over the world, but none of it was to protect the United States from attack from a foreign power. I salute the veterans for doing their job and hope the best for them.
Of course we were in danger from Afghanistan, moron, that's where the leadership of Alqaeda that sent in the 9/11 hijackers was based.
No revisionist history 10 years later thank you. Alqaeda was based in Afghanistan in 2001.
No revisionist history 10 years later thank you. Alqaeda was based in Afghanistan in 2001.
That from a FAUX news watcher. Those hijackers were not Afghan, they were Saudis. And Iraq didn't have bottled mushroom clouds.
Alqaeda was based in Afghanistan. At no time ever in the history of Alqaeda was a majority of the terrorist group Saudi. OBL chose mostly Saudis to provide the muscle protecting the pilots (who were 3/4 non-Saudi) so that ignorant people like you would help stir up strife between his two most hated countries the US and Saudi Arabia.
Alqaeda was based in Afghanistan and that's why we went there. We could have stupidly ignored where Mohammed Atef the miliitary commander of Alqaeda, Osama Bin Laden the leader of Alqaeda, Ayman Al-Zawahiri the #2 in Alqaeda, and Khalid Sheikh Muhammed the planner of 9/11, along with most of their forces were, in Afghanistan, and idiotically invaded Saudi Arabia where they weren't, but thankfully the people in charge aren't as stupid and gullible as you, and as easily manipulated by a bearded neanderthal OBL as you are.
Alqaeda was based in Afghanistan in 2001, and that's where the majority of the terror group, and its leaders, all were. Invading Saudi Arabia first and not Afghanistan, is something only an idiot could suggest.
By the way, the rundown of the ethnicities of major Alqaeda figures, yes OBL was Saudi, but Zawahiri was Egytpican, Mohammed Atta was Egyptian, Khalid Sheikh Muhammed was Pakistani, I believe Mohammed Atef, the military commander of Alqaeda on 9/11 that we killed in Afghanistan that same year was Egyptian, Abu Musab Al Zarqawi was Jordanian, Abu Zubaydah was Pakistani...the majority of the leadership was non-Saudi and the biggest ethnic group of leaders were Egyptian like Zawahiri.
"well except for many liberals and unions that require them to become to be second rate journey men?"
As a licensed builder, I'd have to say that comment stunk like something coming from the mouth of someone who couldn't even make it through an apprenticeship program in any of the trades. Nothing more than partisan rhetoric, and a total ignorant waste of posting time.
Fiesty is typical left winger Ho. NOthing matter but spending more tax payers money for her Johns. What a waste of humanity
You do know that this had overwhelming GOP support
Or do you even read the posts?
Probably not, you're too stupid to know that the GOP is the overwhelming spenders throughout US history.
You just watch fox news and they tell you it's not them and you're too uneducated to think otherwise.
No wonder the GOP hates education.
They need voters like you.
hahahahhahahahhaha
"Hello Mr. Job applicant, are you a veteran? No? Well then sadly I must tell you I can't hire you to work for my company. I here welfare is nice this time of year though.............."
I am a vet, and I think lots of things should be done to help vets. But I also see this as another area that could create a perhaps unintended consequence. Namely making it even harder for Americans to go back to work, and a lovely election year excuse for congress to claim they have really been working hard to solve the problems of the country.
If congress would go to the trouble to solve the unemployment problem in this country it would not be necessary to come up with new tax loopholes to help the vets.
LOL - what do you want to bet that no one in government will check to see if all those claimed are actually vets?
Actually, I rather imagine the IRS will have to establish another few thousands rules, regs and forms that their new (non-veteran) workforce will enforce in great abandon.
John-2512223:
When was that the responsibility of the Congress?
well said !
well except for many liberals and unions that require them to become to be second rate journey men?
Or the conservetards who actually prefer un-educated/under educated workers so they can pay them less, give them no benefits and cheat them in a multitude of ways. It is actually UNIONs that DEMAND that workers have intensive training and education to do excellent jobs - as compared to conservetards who accept second class work because they don't want to buy fair wages for fair work. - then blame Liberals who don't accept that kind of work.
businesses don't prefer undereducated workers, there's a huge market for smart and skilled people which businesses often have to bring in Asians to satisfy here in the States.
Thanks to our leftist controlled Third World education system.
If you're smart and have a degree, you have it made in 2011 America. The unemployment rate is like 4% for people with degrees. The people who have it tough are the self-made morons. Those are the ones that can't compete with the villager over in China because they're no smarter, and the Chinese villager will do the same work for 1/10th the pay.
Businesses are constantly complaining that they can't find enough engineers etc; that are American.
businesses don't prefer undereducated workers
LOL - depends on the business and the business owner. Liberals and Unions want educated/skilled workers. Conservetards want un-educated/undocumented workers.
Compete with the villager in China? The ordinary worker in the US can't compete with the uneducated illegal workers from Mexico or China. Conservetards would rather hire them than Veterans or other American workers - they would rather have their products made in China with uneducated workers than the more educated/skilled workers in American. That is why we get so much Chinese junk products instead of well made American products.
Obviously - you need to get a clue of what is actually going on in the job market in the US. Not every American is smart or has a degree. The point is (and conservetards do understand this) put Americans to work - NOT - illegals or Chinese.
No the point is, you made a bullcrap statement that American companies want undereducated workers when in fact the truth is their dying for the educated/highly skilled or math or science or engineering workers they need.
This is 2011, we don't need 50 million people in factories anymore, we can produce the same output with 1/5th the labor thanks to machines. This is a service economy, has been for decades, and we need smart and/or educated and/or highly skilled workers the most.
If it's just a job anyone can do, the demand for that type of skill will get less and less and less over time, and the pay will go lower and lower for that type of work...unless no one else will do it, then demand will outstrip supply and keep wages high...like in garbage disposal.
not only tax breaks for switch grass but grants that will never be paid back to process it.
No New tax break for hiring veterans. We can't afford it, no new tax cuts of any kind till the budget balances unless they are tradeoffs where the rate is lowered but loopholes are taken away so that the net initial revenue effect is 0.
Veterans did a great job for us in Iraq and Afghanistan, contrary to reports you may have heard from the Marxist left, they won the war in Iraq in 2007-08, and were the most humane in the history of warfare for any moderate sized conflict.
Nonetheless, we have no new money. Vets get a lot of benefits already, and employers already recently received incentives for hiring new people, such as I believe a payroll tax holiday where they don't have to match payroll tax like they normally do.
End the payroll tax holiday as well, or end Medicare and Social Security which payroll taxes pay for.
Stop making the budget situation worse. Stop finding irresistible groups (veteran, the elderly, children, etc;) that you just "must" spend more on when we have no money and are trillions in the red.
just another way for the rich to fleece the taxpayer.. instead of giving to veterans they will give it to an employer, god bless the job creators... who's motivation will be to hire a vet for a couple of months then dump him for another and collect another 5600 bucks.. sounds pessimistic but in a year its over 20000 bucks. and they can use that money to create more jobs.. or more likely give themselves a bigger bonus..
Teapublicans, Demo(lition)crats and In(sane)dependents.......... we are screwed with either/or, there is not an honest one in the bunch. If there ever was an honest politician that won a high ranking office position, the corruption and pressure of the other established politicians have always swiftly converted them to the dark side. It amazes me how after years and years of the same political rape and theft of America displayed by all parties, the American people still blindly believe in one party or the other.
Thanks to our leftist controlled Third World education system.
Actually - conservetards have done more to destroy the Public Education System in the US than anyone. They prefer not to pay taxes for the education of America's children. That old - don't take my money and give it to someone else. Or the religious conservetards who don't want their child to learn anything that doesn't fit with their "sick" version of religion.
The people having the children should be the ones to pay for their education. Liberals are the ones breeding out of control, and are poorer because of it. Why should taxpayers pay for the education of someone elses children? A financial means test should be required before allowing a woman to have a child. That and forced abortions of those who fail would solve the problem.
Oh yeah....I forgot we didn't have an education system or taxes when the right was in charge. We just had jobs, money and opportunities. You really are a brickwall, So lets take more of the taxpayers money to cover the drunken liberal spending spree they have been on and then what??? Where do you stop? If taxes were 100% they would find a way to spend it all plus more. Think about it.....
INF,,,, Dude, your information sucks.. Get a life!
Sometimes the truth hurts Jim......maybe you should go look something up so you could paticipate in the intelligent conversation the rest of us are attempting to have.
Just another re-election technique to get the veteran's vote. Obama & the democrats are going to target any group they can until the next election. This REALLY STINKS if it passes. Now the public has to pay even MORE for elections.....It really is not even comprehensible to me the lengths that some people will go to hold on to the power they have.
our government and american business has lost all credibility.. they still do a job but no one actually believes them... at least no one with their own thoughts...
Ok so what few jobs are left will be filled by veterans. Maybe the liberals should just work on creating more opportunity for all....but wait, they are the ones who took it all away.
INF,,,, Maybe if you paid more attention to the issues you wouldn't have to ask stupid questions --- Look it up, you'll remember things longer!
Just be thankful for our troops that conservatives in Congress liked at least one part of the President's bill... Conservatives have made no other attempt to give anyone jobs just because of party politics & electioneering
I didn't ask a question stupid. Look it up!
Not all business owners but many are nothing but money hungry, greedy SOBs. They will simply fire their current workers and hire a Veteran for that money. Some of them would fire their own mother and put her on the street for this tax credit.
Taxes are at their lowest in decades and has NOTHING to do with the economy meltdown. The lies hidden within the word FREE has created the meltdown in the free world. Corporations are working hard to recreate the Medieval Times, so get ready to be SERFS.
You are correct that when you give something to someone, that means you have to take from someone else. Few liberals understand or care about that fact. You have made a valid point.
If you're smart and have a degree, you have it made in 2011 America.
I'd love to see you post links to prove your rosy claims, but I know that'll 'neba hatchi'.
Great.. one more emotion-generated tax break that a country 75 TRILLION in debt cannot afford. ALL tax breaks need to be eliminated for all groups including churches and all religions. No tax breaks or deductions for anything! How simple. EVERYONE pays the same tax rate on their income, no matter the source. Eliminate all welfare and handouts. Simple solutions that turn the US around that will work. Pay poor women to be sterilized, not to have more poor babies. Execute all violent offenders and clean out the prisons of scum that is not worth keeping alive. Naturally, those of you who pay no taxes and get welfare will object.
appletoad, until you wake up to the lies of the FREE market and LOL, FREE trade, you won't be able to tax enough to help, not even at 80%. By the way you sound like you would have made a great NAZI.
Look up Capitalist and educate yourself. If you spend more than you take in, you will go bankrupt. It is a simple concept. Welfare has done nothing but reward people for being poor, and has created even more poor. The breeding of poor people who need welfare to live must stop. Common sense should tell you that. You clearly have no understanding of what a Nazi is... which does not surprise me.. libs like you simply parrot terms you have heard others of your ilk use... with no understanding of what you are saying. The dumbing down of the USA is complete.
I am so tired of the lower class begging for tax breaks. The so called greatest generation and their goofy boomer children have sucked this system dry. Please don't join the military if you think the government is suppose to provide for you the rest of your life.
Lastcall , just your using the term " lower class " says volums about who you are and what your story is. JERK !
the truth hurts... lower class poor people are the cause of the problems... they breed out of control having children that welfare supports. This is a fact.
lastcall,,,, Looks like you missed your "last call" dude.
That is one of the many reasons people enlist & decide to make the military a career!
Chuck Tillinghast
surely you don't think that we are all on equal ground.
are we talking apples and oranges here or what ? these are hardly breaks if they provide incentive to put deserving people back to work.....IE: no hire , no break ....simple.
people will be fired and replaced with the tax break workers.... when you give something to someone, you have taken from someone else... it is so hard to get that concept rooted in the liberal brain
Well that should take us from 9.1 % unemployment to 9.0999999999999999999999 % .
Thanks for your help Obongo !
I know it has probably been stated in here 10 times already but tax breaks do not create jobs. There is only one thing that creates jobs and that is increasing the demand for goods and services. The middle class has pulled America out of every recession since the 19th century, except this time. Why? Because they are finally, and irretrievably broken. The economy is not going to come back to the heyday of the 1990's. The middle class has been beaten into the ground and the republicans will finish them off this time around. They have had their wages stagnated for 30 years by busting unions, creating right to work states (I call them right to make $8 an hour states), jobs shipped overseas, importing 15 million illegals, a republican party that only helps the rich at the expense of the middle class, and their home values are gone.
You want to fix the debt problem? Stop both wars and get out, let the Bush tax breaks expire. The wars and tax breaks make up ten of the forteen trillion of our debt. You want to fix the illegal problem without building a three billion dollar fence? Hold corporate directors and chiefs criminally liable for hiring them. Put one CEO and HR director in jail on felony charges and the illegal hiring problem will end tomorrow. They will pack up and go home on their own. No jobs for illegals and they're gone. The problem with letting them stay here is that there's no incentive to fix their own country. They need to go home and fix their own homeland. If you believe that less regulation is better for creating jobs, there's only one reason for regulations, to stop crooks and bad guys. Hold the bad guys (Citigroup) criminally liable for their misdeeds. Right now there's no incentive to being completely honest. If these creeps start doing hard time, they'll straighten their acts up real quick
If you are sick and tired of partisan politics, go to: WWW.AMERICANSELECT.ORG It is a political site started by two prominent and fed up politicians. One republican and one democrat. It is a non-partisan group with 2 million delegates (just since July).
Ending both wars isn't easy,,,, Especially when we have 3 top candidates on the right who want to invade Iran
Yeah and one incumbent on the left who wants to do the same.
INF,,,, Once again you are very badly informed ---- Look it up, you'll remember things longer & you won't be embarrassing yourself by asking stupid questions or making stupid statements
What a bunch of happy crppy! If you have 1000 dollars and 101 people but one person has 900 the other hundred have only 1 dollar if it was evenly spread out.OKay all you brain washed lemmings go ahead and complain about unions. They are the only thing that equalizes the odds. Go ahead and echo your ideas of paying off the national debt and make our economy strong and fester in your ignorance. If all the dollars that exist were paid towards the national debt there would be no dollars left to pay anyone for any job. There is more debt than dollars that exist. Duhhhh surprise surprise you've been eating the horse doodoo. The debt can't be paid off....ever for anyone that believes it can be then go back to school and learn about the fractional federal reserve system and how it works. The problem with the economy is there aren't enough dollars in circulation for anyone to earn. AND why not? Because they're being horded by the wealthiest people on the planet and they make the rules, the laws, and they brainwash you into doing their work to further their cause! Get a brain!
You sound like someone who is a failure in life. Blame yourself, not your rich betters.
You sound like someone who is a failure in life. Blame yourself, not your rich betters.
Stop acting stupid, social climber.
TAX breaks for the wealthy is one thing . Tax breaks to stimulate the economy and job growth is another . And this is what republicans have been against is putting people back to work .
The only reason conservatives got on board with this part of Obama's plan is because they couldn't afford not too... Catch them voting against our troops as they did during the Tea Party Downgrade & the troops and veterans will tar & feather them