Washington, DC – U.S. Rep. Dave Camp today issued the following statement regarding the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act. The bill passed the House by a margin of X to Y.
“When the President sent us a Wall Street bailout package two weeks ago, I refused to support it. Main Street should not and will not pay for the failures on Wall Street and the failures in Washington.
“After some very tough negotiations we now have a package that 1) protects taxpayers by requiring assets in exchange for funding, 2) punishes Wall Street executives who put our economy on the brink of disaster by capping and even eliminating pay and golden parachutes, and 3) establishes necessary reporting on and oversight of how and how much taxpayer funds are spent.
“Equally important, this bill addresses the mark-to-market accounting rule that incorrectly undervalued mortgage assets. And, to shore up confidence in our banks, especially for our small businesses, the FDIC limit was increased from $100,000 to $250,000.
“Unfortunately, some have described the tax items added to the bill as ‘pork projects.’ They should be ashamed of spreading such blatant lies. Let’s look at some of those provisions, like extending the Research and Development Tax Credit. That is not pork. It helps keep jobs in America. Canada has a permanent R&D credit. India and China directly subsidize R&D. If we are going to keep and create good, high-paying jobs we must reenact the R&D credit.
“Credits for solar energy production and credits to buy an alternative fuel vehicle aren’t pork either. I wrote each of these provisions and can unequivocally say they are good for Michigan and good for America. They should have passed on their own, but their inclusion in the economic rescue package is legitimate and necessary.
“Still, this bill was far from perfect. But the clock was running down and there was precious little time to diffuse the financial ticking time bomb that could destroy our economy for years to come. Make no mistake: this isn’t just about the stock market; this is about jobs and the ability to find work.
“Don’t just take my word for it. Robert Dumont, who is the President of the Farmington Hills based Tooling, Manufacturing and Technologies Association, told the Detroit Free Press earlier this week that many already hard-hit tool and die shops would go under if the credit markets collapse. That is a hit we can hardly afford.
“The same is true for many students seeking college loans, young couples looking to buy their first home and certainly anyone looking to buy a car or truck.
“Clearly, we had to act, and act immediately. So, I supported the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act. More importantly, I promise my constituents that this is not the end of it. I will continue to push for reforms and greater oversight so that hardworking Americans are never faces with this situation again.”
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Tax Cuts are Not Pork
Research and Development Tax Credit: Encourages cutting edge research – and the good jobs it supports – to be conducted here in the U.S. Michigan utilizes this credit more than any other state in the nation.
Renewable Tax Credits: Encourages the installation of wind, solar and biomass power plants, helping reduce our dependence on imported oil.
AMT Patch: A one-year patch of the AMT. If it is not extended, it will subject 21 million additional families to the Alternative Minimum Tax on their 2008 income, with the total tax increase exceeding $62 billion on American families.
Clean Coal: Tax credits for construction of clean coal facilities.
Refinery Expensing: Extends both the refinery expensing contract requirement and the placed-in-service requirement for this expensing provision for two years. The bill also qualifies refineries directly processing shale or tar sands for this provision.
Hybrids: New tax credits to help people purchase a plug-in hybrid vehicle.
Rum Cover-Over: An expiring tax provision that directs the Treasury to return to Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands the excise taxes collected on rum produced on those islands but sold in the fifty states is not a hand-out to the rum makers. In reality, the money is returned to their respective governments for general use. And this is hardly special treatment; it reflects long-standing excise tax practice on goods produced on those islands and sold in the fifty states.
Children’s Arrows: There are a series of excise taxes on recreational sporting equipment and motor fuels. The revenue raised from these taxes is placed in a trust fund used for wildlife preservation and maintenance of recreational areas. This section of the extenders bill corrects a mistake made in the 2004 JOBS Act, when the excise tax on arrows was changed from a percentage tax to a flat tax of 39 cents each. As a result of the switch, wooden practice arrows that can cost just 30 cents each are now subject to a 39 cents excise tax on each arrow – more than doubling the cost of these arrows. The fixed tax 39 cent per arrow might be well-suited to higher-priced hunting and professional arrows, which sell for up to $100 apiece, but it is not suited for the less costly practice arrows used by summer camps and the Boy Scouts. These practice arrows should be made exempt from the excise tax as this legislation would do. Moreover, there is a clear precedent for exempting practice arrows not used for hunting, because section 4161 of the tax code exempts youth bows, defined by their draw weight, from these taxes.
Misc. Tax Incentives: Benefits for improving the energy efficiency of homes, appliances, and businesses; Deductions for higher education costs and for the unreimbursed classroom expenses of teachers; Expensing of the clean-up of brownfields, helping to give new life to abandoned industrial areas.
