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Excuse Me?
Political Animal —
Excuse Me? Here's a disturbing story : "The financial world was fixated on Capitol Hill as Congress battled over the Bush administration's request for a $700 billion bailout of the banking industry. In the midst of this late-September drama, the Treasury Department issued a five-sentence notice that attracted almost no public attention. But corporate tax lawyers quickly realized the enormous implications of the document: Administration officials had just given American banks a windfall of as much as $140 billion. The sweeping change to two decades of tax policy escaped the ...
Excuse Me?
Obsidian Wings —
... by hilzoy
Here's a disturbing story:
"The financial world was fixated on Capitol Hill as Congress battled over the Bush administration's request for a $700 billion bailout of the banking industry. In the midst of this late-September drama, the Treasury Department issued a five-sentence notice that attracted almost no public attention.
But corporate tax lawyers quickly realized the enormous implications of the document: Administration officials had just given American banks a windfall of as much as $140 billion.
The sweeping ...
A Quiet Windfall for U.S. Banks
Suburban Guerrilla —
What a wonderful Christmas present!
The financial world was fixated on Capitol Hill as Congress battled over the Bush administration’s request for a $700 billion bailout of the banking industry. In the midst of this late-September drama, the Treasury Department issued a five-sentence notice that attracted almost no public attention.
But corporate tax lawyers quickly realized the enormous implications of the document: Administration officials had just given American banks a windfall of as much as $140 billion.
The sweeping change to two ...
Trojan Horse, Anyone?
BlondeSense —
Two words: Fucking. Wankers. Those who thought that the $700 billion bailout plan was A Bad Idea must be feeling a soupcon of vindication today, as it was revealed in today's Washington Post that Treasury Secretary and Economic Czar Hank Paulson slipped by the entire legislative process and repealed a tax law that Congress passed into law - back in 1986. The change to the tax code gives banks a $140 billion windfall. I bet Paulson, former Goldman-Sachs CEO, must be feelig quite pleased with himself (as must be the Randite Republicans who wanted the change made for 22 years). ...
A Quiet Windfall For U.S. Banks-With Attention on Bailout Debate, Treasury Made Change to Tax Policy
Democratic Underground Latest Breaking News —
... several recent bank mergers made possible by the change and send the economy into an even deeper tailspin. "Did the Treasury Department have the authority to do this? I think almost every tax expert would agree that the answer is no," said George K. Yin, the former chief of staff of the Joint Committee on Taxation, the nonpartisan congressional authority on taxes. "They basically repealed a 22-year-old law that Congress passed as a backdoor way of providing aid to banks." Read more: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/20...
Is Oregon Getting Wells Fargo-ed?
BlueOregon —
The Washington Post today reported (click here for PDF) that while Congress and the public were focused on the $700 billion bailout, the Bush Administration’s Treasury Department wrote a five sentence policy that gave banks a $140 billion tax cut windfall.
Our friends at Citizens for Tax Justice have published a short (2 page) clear explanation of the policy change (PDF) and why it is misguided. In a nutshell, the new rule allows banks acquiring other banks whose tax losses are attributable to bad ...
How the Bailout's Fine Print Cost You Another $140 Billion
The Stump —
... The Washington Post has a rather stunning piece on its front page today. It turns out that, amid all the frenzied bailout back-and-forth in September, the Treasury Department unilaterally lifted a ban on a rather egregious tax shelter that conservatives have been lobbying to eliminate for 20 years. The move will cost taxpayers over $100 billion per year, and very few people think Treasury had the legal authority to execute it. ...
Surprise! Paulson’s Team Writes $150B ‘Windfall’ into Bailout Plan
Truthdig: Drilling Beneath the Headlines —
... that limited a kind of tax shelter arising in corporate mergers—came after a two-decade effort by conservative economists and Republican administration officials to eliminate or overhaul the law, which is so little-known that even influential tax experts sometimes draw a blank at its mention. Until the financial meltdown, its opponents thought it would be nearly impossible to revamp the section because this would look like a corporate giveaway, according to lobbyists.
Read more READ THE WHOLE ITEMRelated ...
Surprise! Paulson’s Team Sneaked $150B Bank ‘Windfall’ Into Bailout Plan
Truthdig: Drilling Beneath the Headlines —
... that limited a kind of tax shelter arising in corporate mergers—came after a two-decade effort by conservative economists and Republican administration officials to eliminate or overhaul the law, which is so little-known that even influential tax experts sometimes draw a blank at its mention. Until the financial meltdown, its opponents thought it would be nearly impossible to revamp the section because this would look like a corporate giveaway, according to lobbyists.
Read more READ THE WHOLE ITEMRelated ...
Surprise! Paulson Sneaked $150B Bank ‘Windfall’ Into Bailout
Truthdig: Drilling Beneath the Headlines —
... that limited a kind of tax shelter arising in corporate mergers—came after a two-decade effort by conservative economists and Republican administration officials to eliminate or overhaul the law, which is so little-known that even influential tax experts sometimes draw a blank at its mention. Until the financial meltdown, its opponents thought it would be nearly impossible to revamp the section because this would look like a corporate giveaway, according to lobbyists.
Read more READ THE WHOLE ITEMRelated ...
Transparency? Baucus Says, "We Don't Need No Stinkin' Transparency."
Open Left - Front Page —
I noticed this nasty little excerpt from the Washington Post's expose on the Bush administration's $140 billion taxpayer rip-off:
In an off-the-record conference call on Oct. 7, nearly a dozen Capitol Hill staffers demanded answers from Solomon for about an hour. Several of the participants left the call even more convinced that the administration had overstepped its authority, according to people familiar with the conversation. But lawmakers worried about discussing their concerns publicly. The staff of Sen. Max Baucus (D-Mont.), chairman of the Finance ...
Paulson: Just Write It Down!
BAGnewsNotes —
... Yes sir, yes sir (three bags full).
What you see above is classic, classic photojournalistic commentary on Paulson's press conference this morning in which the wannabe monarch once again flip-flopped on the abusive bailout strategy.
What else can you say but that Paulson is rapidly morphing into another Rummy? On view here is a wonderful visual metaphor of the Treasury Secretary as dictator. Beyond dictating to the press corps (which is not invisible to us, and apparently, to him too), we have the "supreme ruler metaphor" ...
The Silent Change to Section 382
Swampland —
... In just a couple months, I must have read well more than 100 newspaper articles on the financial collapse and the federal response to it. But none is more remarkable than Amit Paley's story in last Monday's Washington Post. (Apologies for posting late; I just got around to reading it.) The story concerns an obscure change in the U.S. Tax Code that was forced through by the U.S. Treasury Department without any public review or Congressional involvement, a change that will grant an estimated $25 billion in tax savings to Wells Fargo and deprive the federal government of somewhere ...
The Daily Muck
TPMMuckraker —
... surrounding a tax code change related to bank mergers made as part of the bailout package. Grassley, the most senior Republican on the Senate Finance Committee, names one of Treasury Sec. Hank Paulson's top aides, and questions whether his and others' ties to Wells Fargo and Wachovia executives might have prompted the change, which pushed the ...
Bush’s IRS Quietly Slashing Corporate Taxes
Wonk Room —
... of the $700 billion bailout debate — which gave “American banks a windfall of as much as $140 billion.” Gandel notes that Wells Fargo will receive a ...
