What do bow-and-arrow makers, foreigners who gamble in the United States and Oldsmobile dealers have in common? They all deserve a tax break, according to Congress. Tax cut fever has gripped lawmakers, and they're beginning to act delusional.
Consider the Senate tax reform bill that began life as a simple repeal of an illegal tariff on imported goods. Since the bill left committee, 146 special-interest tax breaks have been added and another 70 are pending. A tax watchdog called it "one of the biggest exercises in congressional vote buying" ever, and even a lobbyist who helped write the bill admitted to the Washington Post that it has "risen to a new level of sleaze."
Among the giveaways proposed by Republicans and Democrats alike: Horse and dog tracks would not have to collect withholding taxes on the winnings of foreign gamblers. A single housing project for the elderly would get a $94-million tax credit because it sits in Minority Leader Tom Daschle's home state of South Dakota. Car dealers who meet convoluted criteria that apply only to GM's phased-out Oldsmobile would get a $189-million break. And the archery industry would see $8-million in tax relief, though it's not clear why.
Even Florida Sen. Bob Graham got in on the act, according to the Post, joining Republican Sen. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska to help cruise operators shelter more of their foreign earnings from immediate taxation. And the list goes on and on.
The bill is so irresponsible it deserves to fail, but at least lawmakers chose tax legislation to litter with irresponsible tax cuts. That's not the case with the highway bill.
Undoubtedly, the nation needs more and better highways, bridges and mass transit systems. So why junk up the bill with unrelated tax cuts that will deny revenue for such projects? The answer is that lawmakers will use any opportunity to reward their friends.
Amendments would give tax breaks to casinos, limousine businesses and even the liquor industry, which wants a repeal of the occupational tax on distilleries, breweries and package stores. That last exemption was too much for Mothers Against Drunk Driving, who noted that elsewhere the bill spends money to reduce alcohol-related traffic deaths.
Altogether, such largesse totals $12-billion in the House version of the bill and $3-billion in the Senate. None of it has anything to do with building roads and bridges.
There is no tax help for most working Americans, who face a growing tax burden from the ever-expansive alternative minimum tax. While Congress was busy spiking these two bills with corporate favors, it ignored the looming threat to individual taxpayers.
President Bush has threatened to veto reckless spending bills. While that would be a first for the president, these bills deserve such a fate, because they do more harm than good.
