Didn’t realize exempting wooden arrows from excise tax was an emergency economic stabilization method

Posted on October 2nd, 2008 by bile Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

H.R. 1424 [PDF][HTML], page 300:

SEC. 503. EXEMPTION FROM EXCISE TAX FOR CERTAIN WOODEN ARROWS DESIGNED FOR USE BY CHILDREN.

    (a) In General- Paragraph (2) of section 4161(b) is amended by redesignating subparagraph (B) as subparagraph (C) and by inserting after subparagraph (A) the following new subparagraph:
      • `(B) EXEMPTION FOR CERTAIN WOODEN ARROW SHAFTS- Subparagraph (A) shall not apply to any shaft consisting of all natural wood with no laminations or artificial means of enhancing the spine of such shaft (whether sold separately or incorporated as part of a finished or unfinished product) of a type used in the manufacture of any arrow which after its assembly–
        • `(i) measures 5/16 of an inch or less in diameter, and
        • `(ii) is not suitable for use with a bow described in paragraph (1)(A).’.
    (b) Effective Date- The amendments made by this section shall apply to shafts first sold after the date of enactment of this Act.

That’s not all… just perhaps the most ludicrous. The New York Post gives us more:

WASHINGTON - Here, little piggies!

Congressional deal-brookers yesterday slopped a mess of pork into the $700 billion financial rescue bill passed by the Senate last night - including a tax break for makers of kids’ wooden arrows - in a bid to lure reluctant lawmakers into voting for the 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.

“This is how Washington works,” said Keith Ashdown of Taxpayers for Common Sense, a Washington research group. “A big pot of pork is their recipe for final passage.”

The special provisions include tax breaks for:

  • 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.

Another measure inserted into the bill appears to be a bald-faced bid aimed at winning the support of Rep. Don Young (R-Alaska), who voted against the original version when it went down in flames in the House on Monday.

That provision - a $223 million package of tax benefits for fishermen and others whose livelihoods suffered as a result of the 1989 Exxon Valdez oil spill - has been the subject of fervent lobbying by Alaska’s congressional delegation.

I’ve got nothing…

Ron Paul on Glenn Beck

Posted on June 19th, 2008 by bile Tags: , , , , , , , , , , ,

Now that he’s out of the race he seems to be talking in a purer libertarian tone.

Some comments on the pork filled supplemental bill



Mises.org

© 2008 blog of bile is powered by Wordpress