NunoftheAbove

Well, maybe not, but certainly almost everything else that can be packed into a bill that absolutely has to be passed in order to avert the known universe falling into a financial blackhole.  Among the things that has been thrown in are:

• Tax credit for R&D for innovations in the technology sector which had expired but will now be restored under the bailout plan.
• Tax credits for alternative energy sources including solar and wind power.
• Tax relief for victims of flood and other natural disasters
• Expansion of the child care tax credit
• Increased aid to rural school systems
• Exemption of more families from the the alternative minimum tax

Plus even more earmarks courtesy of Hot Air

New Tax earmarks in Bailout bill
- Film and Television Productions (Sec. 502)
- Wooden Arrows designed for use by children (Sec. 503)
- 6 page package of earmarks for litigants in the 1989 Exxon Valdez incident, Alaska (Sec. 504)

Tax earmark “extenders” in the bailout bill.
- Virgin Island and Puerto Rican Rum (Section 308)
- American Samoa (Sec. 309)
- Mine Rescue Teams (Sec. 310)
- Mine Safety Equipment (Sec. 311)
- Domestic Production Activities in Puerto Rico (Sec. 312)
- Indian Tribes (Sec. 314, 315)
- Railroads (Sec. 316)
- Auto Racing Tracks (317)
- District of Columbia  (Sec. 322)
- Wool Research (Sec. 325)

The estimated cost of all these “sweetners” is $100 billion.  Another reason why Congress’s approval ratings are hovering around 10% and that is on a good day.

As Chucky Schumer said, “it seems there is broad bipartisan support” for the bailout.  No wonder, there is something for everyone hidden under the cloak of national economic meltdown.