UPDATE: 10-02-08 THE DRAFT COPY IS GENUINE
There is no doubt that this bill contains provisions relating to global warming, energy policy, tax relief for individual companies such as those who produce wooden arrows for children's games and other egregious provisions. This is a bad legislative vehicle and deserves to be discussed and defeated. Some of the pork provisions are unbelievable!
Exemption from excise tax for certain wooden arrows designed for use by children
Original blog entry ...
Most people cannot read a novel in less than two days, so how can we believe that our legislators have ready this hyper-technical 451-page bill and know what is contained in the bill?
I just finished reading the 451-page bill that was purported to be the DRAFT COPY of the Senate Bailout Bill. It was found at what appears to be an official government web site http://banking.senate.gov/public/_files/latestversionAYO08C32_xml.pdf.
At page 113, there was an entire separate division that looks suspiciously like a global warming-type energy bill.
I sure hope that this draft is truly a mistake and that somehow ONLY the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008 was passed.
And if it is a mistake, why are Associated Press news reports claiming that the draft copy was 451 pages?
“Once the Senate was finished adding sweeteners Wednesday to entice reluctant House Republicans to change their minds and vote for the bailout, the bill heading for passage had grown to 451 pages.” <Source>
The same document is referenced as a draft copy by the New York Times at http://graphics8.nytimes.com/images/blogs/dealbook/senate_bailout.pdf
First, let us consider the bailout bill and the people who voted “NO”
| PRINCIPLED SENATORS WHO REFUSED TO BE STAMPEDED BY THEIR LEADERSHIP |
Allard (R) Retiring Standing for re-election |
Can our elected officials be bought with pork?
We are now faced with a crisis of enormous proportions: can our elected officials be bought by packing enough goodies into a single bill –- that passage is almost guaranteed – although the individual provisions and total overall effect of the bill is injurious to the ordinary American citizen?
It appears that is exactly what has happened in the Senate. By adding enough unrelated pork benefits to a bill which hasn’t been thoroughly reviewed by more than a handful of elected officials, the Senate apparently has turned its back on the average American citizen to provide benefits to their political friends who ply them with food, drink and political contributions.
Why is it that one of the most socialistic of all Senators, Bernie Sanders voted NO?
Born of procedural dishonesty …
In their rush to pass legislation, the Senators did not even bother to submit an independent bill, rather they gutted an existing bill and filled it with the bailout text.
Strike all after the enacting clause and insert the following:
DIVISION A—EMERGENCY ECONOMIC STABILIZATION
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE AND TABLE OF CONTENTS.
(a) SHORT TITLE.—This division may be cited as the "Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008."
(b) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—The table of contents for this division is as follows:
Sec. 1. Short title and table of contents.
Sec. 2. Purposes.
Sec. 3. Definitions.
TITLE I—TROUBLED ASSETS RELIEF PROGRAM
Sec. 101. Purchases of troubled assets.
Sec. 102. Insurance of troubled assets.
Sec. 103. Considerations.
Sec. 104. Financial Stability Oversight Board.
Sec. 105. Reports.
Sec. 106. Rights; management; sale of troubled assets; revenues and sale proceeds.
Sec. 107. Contracting procedures.
Sec. 108. Conflicts of interest.
Sec. 109. Foreclosure mitigation efforts.
Sec. 110. Assistance to homeowners.
Sec. 111. Executive compensation and corporate governance.
Sec. 112. Coordination with foreign authorities and central banks.
Sec. 113. Minimization of long-term costs and maximization of benefits for taxpayers.
Sec. 114. Market transparency.
Sec. 115. Graduated authorization to purchase.
Sec. 116. Oversight and audits.
Sec. 117. Study and report on margin authority.
Sec. 118. Funding.
Sec. 119. Judicial review and related matters.
Sec. 120. Termination of authority.
Sec. 121. Special Inspector General for the Troubled Asset Relief Program.
Sec. 122. Increase in statutory limit on the public debt.
Sec. 123. Credit reform.
Sec. 124. HOPE for Homeowners amendments.
Sec. 125. Congressional Oversight Panel.
Sec. 126. FDIC authority.
Sec. 127. Cooperation with the FBI.
Sec. 128. Acceleration of effective date.
Sec. 129. Disclosures on exercise of loan authority.
Sec. 130. Technical corrections.
Sec. 131. Exchange Stabilization Fund reimbursement.
Sec. 132. Authority to suspend mark-to-market accounting.
Sec. 133. Study on mark-to-market accounting.
Sec. 134. Recoupment.
Sec. 135. Preservation of authority.
Sec. 136. Temporary increase in deposit and share insurance coverage.
TITLE II—BUDGET-RELATED PROVISIONS
Sec. 201. Information for congressional support agencies.
Sec. 202. Reports by the Office of Management and Budget and the Congressional Budget Office.
Sec. 203. Analysis in President’s Budget.
Sec. 204. Emergency treatment.
TITLE III—TAX PROVISIONS
Sec. 301. Gain or loss from sale or exchange of certain preferred stock.
Sec. 302. Special rules for tax treatment of executive compensation of employers participating in the troubled assets relief program.
Sec. 303. Extension of exclusion of income from discharge of qualified principal residence indebtedness.
Does that mean that Division B, which looks suspiciously like a global warming initiative, was scrapped? <<<UPDATE: THIS IS REAL>>>
On page 113 we find “Division B – Energy Improvement and Extension Act of 2008” and wonder was this part of the bill also passed by the Senate? <<<answer: yes, it was passed>>
DIVISION B—ENERGY IMPROVEMENT AND EXTENSION ACT OF 2008
TITLE I—ENERGY PRODUCTION INCENTIVES
Subtitle A—Renewable Energy Incentives
Sec. 101. Renewable energy credit.
Sec. 102. Production credit for electricity produced from marine renewables.
Sec. 103. Energy credit.
Sec. 104. Energy credit for small wind property.
Sec. 105. Energy credit for geothermal heat pump systems.
Sec. 106. Credit for residential energy efficient property.
Sec. 107. New clean renewable energy bonds.
Sec. 108. Credit for steel industry fuel.
Sec. 109. Special rule to implement FERC and State electric restructuring policy.
Subtitle B—Carbon Mitigation and Coal Provisions
Sec. 111. Expansion and modification of advanced coal project investment credit.
Sec. 112. Expansion and modification of coal gasification investment credit.
Sec. 113. Temporary increase in coal excise tax; funding of Black Lung Disability
Trust Fund.
Sec. 114. Special rules for refund of the coal excise tax to certain coal producers and exporters.
Sec. 115. Tax credit for carbon dioxide sequestration.
Sec. 116. Certain income and gains relating to industrial source carbon dioxide treated as qualifying income for publicly traded partnerships.
Sec. 117. Carbon audit of the tax code.
TITLE II—TRANSPORTATION AND DOMESTIC FUEL SECURITY PROVISIONS
Sec. 201. Inclusion of cellulosic biofuel in bonus depreciation for biomass ethanol plant property.
Sec. 202. Credits for biodiesel and renewable diesel.
Sec. 203. Clarification that credits for fuel are designed to provide an incentive for United States production.
Sec. 204. Extension and modification of alternative fuel credit.
Sec. 205. Credit for new qualified plug-in electric drive motor vehicles.
Sec. 206. Exclusion from heavy truck tax for idling reduction units and advanced
insulation.
Sec. 207. Alternative fuel vehicle refueling property credit.
Sec. 208. Certain income and gains relating to alcohol fuels and mixtures, biodiesel fuels and mixtures, and alternative fuels and mixtures treated as qualifying income for publicly traded partnerships.
Sec. 209. Extension and modification of election to expense certain refineries.
Sec. 210. Extension of suspension of taxable income limit on percentage depletion for oil and natural gas produced from marginal properties.
Sec. 211. Transportation fringe benefit to bicycle commuters.
TITLE III—ENERGY CONSERVATION AND EFFICIENCY PROVISIONS
Sec. 301. Qualified energy conservation bonds.
Sec. 302. Credit for nonbusiness energy property.
Sec. 303. Energy efficient commercial buildings deduction.
Sec. 304. New energy efficient home credit.
Sec. 305. Modifications of energy efficient appliance credit for appliances produced after 2007.
Sec. 306. Accelerated recovery period for depreciation of smart meters and smart grid systems.
Sec. 307. Qualified green building and sustainable design projects.
Sec. 308. Special depreciation allowance for certain reuse and recycling property.
TITLE IV—REVENUE PROVISIONS
Sec. 401. Limitation of deduction for income attributable to domestic production of oil, gas, or primary products thereof.
Sec. 402. Elimination of the different treatment of foreign oil and gas extraction income and foreign oil related income for purposes of the foreign tax credit.
Sec. 403. Broker reporting of customer’s basis in securities transactions.
Sec. 404. 0.2 percent FUTA surtax.
Sec. 405. Increase and extension of Oil Spill Liability Trust Fund tax.
TITLE V—ADDITIONAL TAX RELIEF AND OTHER TAX PROVISIONS
Subtitle A—General Provisions
Sec. 501. $8,500 income threshold used to calculate refundable portion of child tax credit.
Sec. 502. Provisions related to film and television productions.
Sec. 503. Exemption from excise tax for certain wooden arrows designed for use by children.
Sec. 504. Income averaging for amounts received in connection with the Exxon Valdez litigation.
Sec. 505. Certain farming business machinery and equipment treated as 5-year property.
Sec. 506. Modification of penalty on understatement of taxpayer’s liability by tax return preparer.
Subtitle Paul Wellstone and Pete Domenici Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act of 2008
Sec. 511. Short title.
Sec. 512. Mental health parity.
TITLE VI—OTHER PROVISIONS
Sec. 601. Secure rural schools and community self-determination program.
Sec. 602. Transfer to abandoned mine reclamation fund.
TITLE VII—DISASTER RELIEF
Subtitle A—Heartland and Hurricane Ike Disaster Relief
Sec. 701. Short title.
Sec. 702. Temporary tax relief for areas damaged by 2008 Midwestern severe storms, tornados, and flooding.
Sec. 703. Reporting requirements relating to disaster relief contributions.
Sec. 704. Temporary tax-exempt bond financing and low-income housing tax relief for areas damaged by Hurricane Ike.
Subtitle B—National Disaster Relief
Sec. 706. Losses attributable to federally declared disasters.
Sec. 707. Expensing of Qualified Disaster Expenses.
Sec. 708. Net operating losses attributable to federally declared disasters.
Sec. 709. Waiver of certain mortgage revenue bond requirements following federally declared disasters.
Sec. 710. Special depreciation allowance for qualified disaster property.
Sec. 711. Increased expensing for qualified disaster assistance property.
Sec. 712. Coordination with Heartland disaster relief.
TITLE VIII—PENDING REDUCTIONS AND APPROPRIATE REVENUE RAISERS FOR NEW TAX RELIEF POLICY
Sec. 801. Nonqualified deferred compensation from certain tax indifferent parties.
What the hell is contained in this document?
Either this document contains deleted material or the American public has just been screwed over with one of the most deceptive pieces of legislation ever passed by the Senate under the pretense of being an Economic Stabilization Bill.
I am waiting for someone to explain what this draft was used for and where the real bill passed by the Senate can be found. <<update> This is apparently the bill that was passed and it contains over $150 BILLION in tax incentives and additional spending. The final analysis will take time.
CALL YOUR HOUSE REPRESENTATIVES AND TELL THEM NOT TO VOTE FOR THIS BILL OR FACE A ROCKY RE-ELECTION!
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