Fiscal Cliff Bill: Hundreds of Billions in Corporate Tax Breaks

The corporate media isn’t telling you about the billions in corporate tax breaks in the Fiscal Cliff Bill Obama signed this week. The mainstream media also failed to mention the corporate CEOs who had to be placated to get this deal off the ground. In his Naked Capitalism article entitled Eight Corporation Subsidies in Fiscal Cliff Bill, Matt Stoller suggests Obama spent more time negotiating with Goldman Sachs CEO Lloyd Blankfein and his CEO pals than with Republicans.

Here’s the corporate welfare score card:

NASCAR (????) - $43 million of tax deductions over two years for people who build racetracks and associated facilities. Railroads - $165 million a year in deductions related to track maintenance. Disney and other Hollywood studios - $150 million over two years. Mining companies – tax incentives deductions for mine safety equipment and employee training in mine safety. Goldman Sachs and Bank of America – continuation of “tax exempt financing for York Liberty Zone,” a complex of high end apartments and office towers for Goldman Sachs and Bank of America Corp.” According to David Cay Johnston’s The Fine Print, Goldman got $1.6 billion in tax free financing for its new massive headquarters through Liberty Bonds. GE, Caterpillar, JP Morgan - $9B Off-shore financing loophole for banks All US multinationals with foreign subsidiaries - $1.5 billion loophole exempting US corporations from paying taxes on income earned by companies they own overseas. All corporations claiming Bonus Depreciation and Research and Development Tax Credit – $118 billion combined tax break over two years.

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