Curious about Wooden Arrows for Children?
by CalculatedRisk
Excerpt: "The bailout bill has a number of unrelated provisions. This one caught my eye earlier today: SEC. 503. EXEMPTION FROM EXCISE TAX FOR CERTAIN WOODEN ARROWS DESIGNED FOR USE BY CHILDREN.
Bloomberg has the details: Bailout Bull’s-Eye for Kids’ Arrow-Makers’ Tax Break
Senators attached a provision repealing a 39-cent excise tax on wooden arrows designed for children to an historic $700 billion bank rescue that is likely to pass tonight. The provision, originally proposed by Oregon senators Ron Wyden and Gordon Smith, will save manufacturers such as Rose City Archery in Myrtle Point, Oregon, about $200,000 a year."
Apparently the 400 pages of Bailout Bill includes another bill in the senate that it was attached to, and that’s where the strange provisions are coming from.
More from the Bloomberg article:
"It’s one of dozens of tax breaks benefiting Hollywood producers, stock-car racetrack owners and Virgin Islands rum- makers included in the broader legislation in an effort to win support from House Republicans, whose defection contributed to a rejection of an earlier version of the legislation two days ago on a 228-205 vote.
“This is how Washington works,” said Keith Ashdown, chief investigator at Taxpayers for Common Sense, a Washington research group. “A big pot of pork is their recipe for final passage.”…
…Popular with lawmakers, the provisions include 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…
…The Congressional Budget Office said today 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…"
