News and Politics | October 03, 2008 | 43 comments

NASCAR gets bailout money, too. WTF?

source: http://www.athlists.com/

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bansheewail
Our country is in an economic crisis and we all need to rest our minds in one way or another. However, I was distraught to realize that in the actual text of Bush’s Bail Out Plan, the tax payers are helping to subsidize a specific sports market. First of all, if the government is to keep the interest of the people in mind, maybe they should look into expanding the most popular sport in America, or at least the top four. Baseball, football, basketball, Hell, even soccer could each use a financial boost to help create more and better facilities. But the government has made up their mind and if this bill passes in the house tomorrow, we will see an explosion in NASCAR despite a lack in the sport’s interest.

The exact legislation can be found on page 262 of the bail out PDF , but I have shortened it below: Sec. 317 should jump out at you.

TITLE III—EXTENSION OF BUSINESS TAX PROVISIONS
Sec. 301. Extension and modification of research credit.
Sec. 302. New markets tax credit.
Sec. 303. Subpart F exception for active financing income.
Sec. 304. Extension of look-thru rule for related controlled foreign corporations.
Sec. 305. Extension of 15-year straight-line cost recovery for qualified leasehold
improvements and qualified restaurant improvements; 15-year
straight-line cost recovery for certain improvements to retail
space.
Sec. 306. Modification of tax treatment of certain payments to controlling exempt
organizations.
Sec. 307. Basis adjustment to stock of S corporations making charitable contributions
of property.
Sec. 308. Increase in limit on cover over of rum excise tax to Puerto Rico and
the Virgin Islands.
Sec. 309. Extension of economic development credit for American Samoa.
Sec. 310. Extension of mine rescue team training credit.
Sec. 311. Extension of election to expense advanced mine safety equipment.
Sec. 312. Deduction allowable with respect to income attributable to domestic
production activities in Puerto Rico.
Sec. 313. Qualified zone academy bonds.
Sec. 314. Indian employment credit.
Sec. 315. Accelerated depreciation for business property on Indian reservations.
Sec. 316. Railroad track maintenance.
Sec. 317. Seven-year cost recovery period for motorsports racing track facility.
Sec. 318. Expensing of environmental remediation costs.
Sec. 319. Extension of work opportunity tax credit for Hurricane Katrina employees.
Sec. 320. Extension of increased rehabilitation credit for structures in the Gulf
Opportunity Zone.
Sec. 321. Enhanced deduction for qualified computer contributions.
Sec. 322. Tax incentives for investment in the District of Columbia.
Sec. 323. Enhanced charitable deductions for contributions of food inventory.
Sec. 324. Extension of enhanced charitable deduction for contributions of book
inventory.
Sec. 325. Extension and modification of duty suspension on wool products; wool
research fund; wool duty refunds.
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43 comments // NASCAR gets bailout money, too. WTF?

  • myowndesignjf
  • Dmitri_Molotov
  • limitsnone
    • 0
      limitsnone  

    • They spiked the punch to sweeten the deal....Now they will spend the money and nothing will get accomplished except for accumulating more debt for us to pay for when they raise our taxes.....Bastards!

    • 4 years ago
  • mookster_07
    • 0
      mookster_07  

    • NASCAR is the most popular sport in this country. Middle america, white bread, red necks love NASCAR. And why wouldn't they? In the same breath that they bitch and moan about high oil prices, they back the war in Iraq while watching cars burn oil and fuel for hours around a race track.

      Makes perfect sense to me.

    • 4 years ago
  • damnneargenius
  • Elligirl
    • 0
      Elligirl  

    • So are they expecting racing revenues to go down as oil prices go up and the economy tanks? Interesting. F1 seems to be doing just fine and European oil prices are way higher than they are on this side of the pond.

    • 4 years ago
  • rainbowryan420
  • rainbowryan420
    • 0
      rainbowryan420  

    • one time my math teacher got mad at me because i didn't like nascar

      i said something like "woo hoo lets watch people drive around in circles 500 times"

      he said "it's the most watched and popular sport in America

      so i bet he is happy about this

    • 4 years ago
  • rainbowryan420
  • powerhungry
    • 0
      powerhungry  

    • Understand that BOTH sides are giving us the shaft on this bailout.
      I for one do not know the whole picture of what is going on and why they are doing what they are doing but I can tell you that the earmarks come across irresponsible in my humble opinion.
      It’s like a lifeboat with everyone clinging to the outside and they are throwing all their "important" heirlooms into the boat instead of themselves. The problem is, all these items are sinking the lifeboat

    • 4 years ago
  • BIOHAZARD
    • 0
      BIOHAZARD  

    • FUCK NASCAR and everything that dabbles within this hack activity, while I am on the Subject fuck the GOVERNMENT and whoever is coming up with answers to this bullshit bailout, listen to the people, not the ones that wanna get richer !

    • 4 years ago
  • AROC
    • 0
      AROC  
    • Image

    • First of NASCAR is the biggest sport in the US. Then Football, Basketball and Baseball in that order. While it may sound like the government is giving a ton of cash to a couple of country boy drivers the sport goes way beyond that. There's a lot of people, companies and cities that work directly or indirectly with NASCAR that i'm hoping this money will go to help. The hot dog vendors, the tourism revenue for host cities (that don't have a major league team) a race, journalists, marketeers, etc. were at risk and this is supposed to help them out.

      I can't watch more than 10 laps of a race without being bored however, I can understand the sports importance and hope that this money saves a lot of people and places from hardship in the near future. Oh, and GO DODGERS!

    • 4 years ago
  • powerhungry
    • 0
      powerhungry  

    • This is a fiasco. I love how McCain "championed" the end of earmarks then goes right for the bill that is stuffed with earmarks. Nice one Mr. McCain. The house dems and reps have yet again SCREWED us!
      Im glad that I made wise choices in my finances.
      I make enough so that higher taxes will be a slight inconvience but it still irritating.

    • 4 years ago
  • islek
  • GatorMonkey
    • 0
      GatorMonkey  

    • Sigh. This is ridiulous. I will say you were wrong about one thing. Nascar is actually the most watched sport. Not the other four. Sorry. BUT

      Sports had no place in this bill. We spend millions on sports every year as it is.

      Think about it the way colleges do. A MINISCULE amount goes toward the athletic associations. The rest? Privately fundraised by booster clubs. Schools dont have to give athletics money.

      So why is the US giving sports money. UGH. nm... this is so outrageous im not even making sense.

    • 4 years ago
  • keithponder
    • 0
      keithponder  
    • GatorMonkey:

      It might be the most watched, but who watches it the most ? Certain social classes, and ethnic backgrounds watch certain sports more than they do others. Who watches NASCAR ? What group of people watch NASCAR the most ? Along with NASCAR, and their corporate sponsors,that's who the benefactors are.
      This is a GOOD OL' BOY bill. This bill does nothing to improve the standards and the quality of life for the disadvantage, or your average Joe American.
      The people that I know do not spend all day watching NASCAR.. Get mad at somebody else.

    • 4 years ago
  • powerhungry
    • 0
      powerhungry  
    • GatorMonkey:

      That’s a racist statement Keith. Think about what you said. It was an earmark that a dem put into the bill not some "good ole boy" republican. This is more than just a NASCAR earmark. Its pork filled and both sides are responsible.

    • 4 years ago
  • powerhungry
    • 0
      powerhungry  

    • Paul Wellstone U.S. Senator from the U.S. state of Minnesota and member of the Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party, which is affiliated with the national Democratic Party was the one who added the nascar bill. Thank you dems!

    • 4 years ago
  • busboydanny
    • 0
      busboydanny  

    • This is batshit insane. Words can't even describe how furious I am that this bailout bill passed. The original bill was (slightly) less irresponsible. What a surprise that it passed now that an additional $105 billion in bullshit was tacked on for everyone BUT us, the taxpayers.

    • 4 years ago
  • regularrf
  • BansheesMom
    • 0
      BansheesMom  

    • It's funny that NASCAR is one big LEFT TURN. And it seems that the cuurent administration, under the label of "neo-CONSERVATIVE-ism", has completely socialized our economy. That's about as liberal-LEFT as you can get.

    • 4 years ago
  • clownpuncher
  • khromadjo
  • iloveravi
  • keithponder
  • keithponder
    • 0
      keithponder  
    • keithponder:

      Oh wait....NASCAR is still a segregated republican base.
      Have you ever been to a NASCAR event ? Probably not, but for anyone that ever has, what did you see ? Not many dems, and not many people who look like me.. At Atlanta Motor Speedway, I saw a lot of confederate flags.

      My statement was, {read slowly}..... NASCAR is a segregated republican base.

    • 4 years ago
  • mIssmagnOlia
  • powerhungry
    • 0
      powerhungry  

    • Its funny how you don't hear any libs chiming in on how great their Messiah is now.

      This is absolutely madness! WhiteNoise is right on!

      "Indian employment credit." As a native American, I find this patronizing! It assumes we are lazy? We need a credit if we are working. I work my butt off. GIVE ME MY CHECK!!!

    • 4 years ago
  • ChristmasAsen
  • Cher214
  • 1love_1world_peace
  • currentlyreading
    • 0
      currentlyreading  

    • I am tired of this and frustrated. Nascar as an incentive; Congresspeople that didn't vote the bill to pass before, are you that vain to vote for a bill if they added that? A wool research fund, really, I mean a homeless shelter relief fund was not necessary.
      When we loose our homes, at least I'm sure will have a TV in the shelter to watch Nascar.

    • 4 years ago
  • WhiteNoise
    • 0
      WhiteNoise  
    • Image

    • IT'S EVEN WORST THAN YOU THOUGHT !
      & its in the fine print too. That scam was so successful in the sub-prime fiasco ;)

      The main course that Senate is serving up for Congress on Friday. The main course is on page 92 of the 451 page document:

      BORROWING LIMITS TEMPORARILY LIFTED. - During the period beginning on the date of enactment of this Act and ending on December 31, 2009, the Board of Directors of the Corporation may request from the Secretary, and the Secretary shall approve, a loan or loans in an amount or amounts necessary to carry out this subsection, without regard to the limitations on such borrowing under section 14(a) and 15(c) of the Federal Deposit Insurance Act (12 U.S.C. 1824(a), 1825(c)).

      Translation: Bush, McCain, and Obama want Congress to co-sign off on the mother of all blank checks, paving the way for a sinking dollar and higher interest rates.”

    • 4 years ago
  • queenofit
    • 0
      queenofit  

    • This came in my email this morning, maybe some of you are from one of these States?

      A terrified army of corporate lobbyists is working around the clock to switch 13 votes, but only 7 have switched so far - Jim Ramstad (R-MN), John Shadegg (R-AZ), Zach Wamp (R-TN), Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-FL), Shelley Berkley (D-NV), Emanuel Cleaver (D-MO) and John Lewis (D- GA).

      Other possible switches include Pat Tiberi (R-OH), Pete Hoekstra (R-MI), John Yarmouth (D-KY), Brian Bilbray (R-CA), Steve Rothman (D-NJ), Lee Terry (R-NE), Jim Gerlach (R-PA), Tim Murphy (R-PA), Jason Altmire (D-PA), and Gabrielle Giffords (D-AZ).

      But others may switch from Yes to No, including Ed Markey (D-MA), Charlie Melancon (D-LA), and Spencer Bachus (R-AL).

    • 4 years ago
  • des10
    • 0
      des10  
    • queenofit:

      i'm from GA, thanks for this (and pretty much everything else you ever post). you're always extremely informed and provide articles and specific information. thanks. seriously.

    • 4 years ago
  • queenofit
    • 0
      queenofit  
    • Image

    • I'm not against little boys having a wooden arrow, but did this really need to get into the bill?

      Wooden arrows: This tax break, backed by Oregon's two senators, would benefit an Oregon manufacturer of wooden arrows for children by $2 million over 10 years.

      Source: Taxpayers for Common Sense

    • 4 years ago
  • alicynx
  • lovinmalamutes
    • 0
      lovinmalamutes  

    • This latest debacle certainly shows "THE SYSTEM" is broken. Here the government is bailing out a financial crisis created by those who are paid the big bucks, and now they add all of these extras that DO NOT pertain remotely to the issue. No surprise there!
      It doesn't take a rocket scientist to see our own government is corrupt beyond REPAIR and no fix is in the future.
      Imagine if our Social Security had been in the "Market" as the President and his supporters wanted. HORRIFYING THOUGHT!!!!!

    • 4 years ago
  • bansheewail
  • joshuaheller
  • bansheewail
  • WhiteNoise
    • 0
      WhiteNoise  

    • OLD FASHION CORRUPT BRIBERY...BUT WITH OUR MONEY !

      I have to say, really smells. They added,you know, the cost was already $700 billion. They added $150 billion of tax benefits. Some of these are really quite, quite amazing, the kinds of things that they put in: tax credit to American Samoan businesses & you mentioned a couple already in your talk 50 percent tax credit for some expenditures or maintaining railroad tracks, motor sports racetrack property given a seven-year recovery period. You can go down the list. What they did was basically old-fashioned, corrupt bribery.- JOSEPH STIGLITZ / Nobel prize in Economics

      THIS SYSTEM IS BROKEN BEYOND REPAIR...

      “Even a banana Republican would be distressed to discover how much of our nation’s treasury has been siphoned off by our vice president in the interest of his Cosa Nostra company, Halliburton, the lawless gang of mercenaries set loose by his administration in the Middle East. I have known for a long time that the media of the U.S. and too many of its elected officials give not a flying fuck for the welfare of this republic. “ – Gore Vidal

      NADER, KUCINICH, McKINNEY WERE RIGHT FROM THE GET GO !

      "Our only political party has two right wings, one called Republican, the other Democratic. But Henry Adams figured all that out back in the 1890s. 'We have a single system,' he wrote, and 'in that system the only question is the price at which the proletariat is to be bought and sold, the bread and circuses.'" : Gore Vidal - The Decline and Fall of the American Empire

      CIRCUS MONEY FOR THE LATE LATE SHOW !

      All the horses baby all the men
      Round the circle and around again
      You watch some hobo take a nasty spill
      Laugh like a bastard oh you know you will
      You got to have it when you first walk up
      You drop a dollar in the old tin cup
      You’re gonna need it when it’s time to go
      Circus money for the late late show - W. Becker
      http://www.walterbecker.com

    • 4 years ago
  • bansheewail
    • 0
      bansheewail  

    • The bill that the Republicans passed was more fiscally irresponsible than the first version by over 105 Billion dollars. The First Bailout Bill needed more pork, I guess. It's amazing to me how little conservative americans actually know about the actions of their elected officials. Republican officials act completely opposite of the will of their supporters. It baffles me.

    • 4 years ago
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