Since when does the Treasury secretary have the legal authority to enact sweeping changes to tax law? Isn’t this another Bush administration hack on the checks and balances of our constitution? The executive branch can do whatever it wants now?
A Quiet Windfall For U.S. Banks
With Attention on Bailout Debate, Treasury Made Change to Tax Policy
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/11/09/AR2008110902155.html
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 notice of lawmakers for several days, as they remained consumed with the controversial bailout bill. When they found out, some legislators were furious. Some congressional staff members have privately concluded that the notice was illegal. But they have worried that saying so publicly could unravel several recent bank mergers made possible by the change and send the economy into an even deeper tailspin.
I hear you loud and clear “1 term”. Here in Massachusetts we senators and congresspeople setup little kingdoms. I feel awful for Senator Kennedy’s health problems, but aside from that, he should never, ever have had more than 1 term.
I voted for every incumbent in the last two elections, but, most people just gove for the name they know.
We definitely need term limits. The only problem is: how the heck are we going to get the very kings and queens who have been in office for far too long to vote themselves out of office? I believe its a big problem, and most people just don’t think about it.