H.R. 3501: The Fido Deduction?

Regular Crumb Crunchers will remember my frequent praise of Michigan Congressman Thaddeus McCotter (R-11) for his principled stand on issues such as taxes, freedom, the Constitution, the SwindleUs Bill and the bailout of Wall Street. He was on such a roll....

On July 31, 2009, unnoticed in the midst of heated debate about health care 'reform' and the onset of the House's August recess, Rep. McCotter introduced H.R. 3501, the Humanity and Pets Partnered through the Years, or HAPPY, Act. I won't even address the silliness of federal legislation being dubbed The Happy Act. It's the bill's purpose that sent me searching for a pooper scooper.

H.R. 3501 would amend the Federal Tax Code to create a deduction for pet care expenses. I kid you not. Here's the actual bill language as posted at Thomas, the Library of Congress site:

H. R. 3501

To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to allow a deduction for pet care expenses.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

July 31, 2009

Mr. MCCOTTER introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Ways and Means

---

A BILL

To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to allow a deduction for pet care expenses.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

This Act may be cited as the `Humanity and Pets Partnered Through the Years (HAPPY) Act'.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

The Congress finds the following:

(1) According to the 2007-2008 National Pet Owners Survey, 63 percent of United States households own a pet.

(2) The Human-Animal Bond has been shown to have positive effects upon people's emotional and physical well-being.

SEC. 3. DEDUCTION FOR PET CARE EXPENSES.

(a) In General- Part VII of subchapter B of chapter 1 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 (relating to additional itemized deductions for individuals) is amended by redesignating section 224 as section 225 and by inserting after section 223 the following new section:

`SEC. 224. PET CARE EXPENSES.

`(a) Allowance of Deduction- In the case of an individual, there shall be allowed as a deduction for the taxable year an amount equal to the qualified pet care expenses of the taxpayer during the taxable year for any qualified pet of the taxpayer.

`(b) Maximum Deduction- The amount allowable as a deduction under subsection (a) to the taxpayer for any taxable year shall not exceed $3,500.

`(c) Qualified Pet Care Expenses- For purposes of this section, the term `qualified pet care expenses' means amounts paid in connection with providing care (including veterinary care) for a qualified pet other than any expense in connection with the acquisition of the qualified pet.

`(d) Qualified Pet- For purposes of this section--

`(1) QUALIFIED PET- The term `qualified pet' means a legally owned, domesticated, live animal.

`(2) EXCEPTIONS- Such term does not include any animal--

`(A) used for research or owned or utilized in conjunction with a trade or business, or

`(B) with respect to which the taxpayer has claimed a deduction under section 162 or 213 in any of the preceding 3 taxable years.'.

(b) Clerical Amendment- The table of sections for part VII of subchapter B of chapter 1 of such Code is amended by striking the last item and inserting the following new items:

`Sec. 224. Pet care expenses.

`Sec. 225. Cross reference.'.

(c) Effective Date- The amendments made by this section shall apply to taxable years beginning after December 31, 2009.

Now, I love my dogs and their care can get pricey, but this is beyond ridiculous. Do our elected officials really have nothing more important to concern themselves with? Here's a novel idea: If you can't afford to care for a pet, don't get one!

Thaddeus, when you're right, I'm with you all the way... but if you leave a steaming pile on the House agenda, I'm gonna have to rub your nose in it.

NOTE: About 10:15 this morning, I called Congressman McCotter's Washington office for comment but the appropriate legislative aide was unavailable. A very nice young woman took my contact information and promised my call would be returned. I'll post an update as soon as that happens.

Washington Wants Michigan's Water

From our friends at Citizen's Voice for Property Owners, here's a heads-up on more central planning from the Democrats in Washington:

Michigan, through its Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) is one of only two states in the Union that regulates wetlands with a state agency rather than through the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. This has been a problem because the state guidelines are much more strict than the federal guidelines. Additionally, the DEQ has proven to be arbitrary and capricious in its decision making and has often caused long, unnecessary delays in approving permits.

While the concerns about over-regulation by a state agency are valid, they may be rendered "moot" by recent efforts in Congress. U.S. Senator Russ Feingold has introduced a bill, S787, which was sponsored by 23 other members (all Democrats including Levin and Stabenow.) Senate Bill S787 is entitled, "To amend the Federal Water Pollution Control Act to clarify the jurisdiction of the United States over waters of the United States." Notice they start the description with the words "pollution control." That makes it sound caring and good, doesn't it?

All surface waters will come under Congressional Control...

The fact is, this legislation will put ALL surface waters in the United States of America under Congressional jurisdiction. The bill language, which can be read here, has a couple of key phrases in it. The first changes the definition of what is under Congressional jurisdiction. Ever since the Commerce Clause of the Constitution and several test cases in the Supreme Court, Congress has had jurisdiction over navigable waters. The meaning of that word has been argued, but according to precedent and legal definition, navigable includes anything you can get a canoe down, or anything that is connected by water to the same.

...mudflats, wet meadows, prairie potholes...

No matter because under S787, the word navigable is stricken, which means now ALL surface water is under Congressional jurisdiction. Additionally, in case there was any question of state's rights, the bill also states that this applies to interstate and intrastate waters. That means there is no state sovereignty over waters within that state's boundaries. And, if you have any doubt as to what the Congressional definition of "waters" is, they spell that out, too. It includes, "all waters subject to the ebb and flow of the tide, the territorial seas, and all interstate and intrastate waters and their tributaries, including lakes, rivers, streams (including intermittent streams), mudflats, sandflats, wetlands, sloughs, prairie potholes, wet meadows, playa lakes, natural ponds, and all impoundments of the foregoing, to the fullest extent that these waters, or activities affecting these waters, are subject to the legislative power of Congress under the Constitution."

...interstate and intrastate...

The bottom line is this: Congress is taking over all the water. If the Obama administration and Congress are anything like this state's governor and her administration, you will see free trade and commerce come to a virtual stand still. Manufacturing especially will come to a screeching halt. Water is an essential resource in the manufacture of virtually any consumable or durable good. Without ready access, manufacturers will be stifled in their attempts to create new products for market and the jobs that go with them.

Apparently the only things Congressional Democrats don't want to control is their power-grabbing and deficit spending...in other words, they will control you but not themselves.

If A.I.G. Stands For "Arrogance, Incompetence & Greed", What Does 'Congress' Stand For?

We now know that the Obamastration knew about A.I.G. bonuses all along. From the San Jose Mercury News:

"AIG disclosed its retention-payment program," bonuses, "more than a year ago, and the amount of the bonuses had been widely reported. But as the payments were coming due in recent days, the White House began to express its indignation."

We know that Sen. Chris Dodd added an amendment to the SwindleUs bill to specifically exempt payments such as retention bonuses from the limits on compensation:

(iii) The prohibition required under clause (i) shall not be construed to prohibit any bonus payment required to be paid pursuant to a written employment contract executed on or before February 11, 2009,

We know Rep. Paul Hodes, speaking at a hearing today, claimed the American people now define 'A.I.G.' to mean Arrogance, Incompetence and Greed.

The Democrat's outrage is pure sophistry, but it got me thinking about an acronym of my own to express what the American people might assume 'Congress' stands for. Here's my conclusion:

Craven
Odious
Narcissistic
Grandstanding
Reprehensible
Egregious
Sanctimonious
Scourge

What do you think, Crumb Crunchers? Have I nailed it?

Friday Morning Funnies

Hat Tip: Townhall.com

Congressman Thaddeus McCotter: An American Statesman

Finally...a voice of sanity and reason in Congress. No wonder he had to fight to keep his Republican leadership position; he makes too damned much sense and clings tenaciously to his principles. Shocking!

I have remained skeptical of the proposed Detroit Big Three 'bailout' or 'bridge loan', despite my principle livelihood depending on the automotive industry; our company is a tier 2 parts supplier. There are some real potential benefits to a Chapter 11 filing, such as the ability to scrap the union contracts and start over - a tempting prospect indeed from a competitiveness standpoint.

The national security argument, however, cannot be ignored; it has moved me to the 'yea' side of the ledger. That it has come to this is deeply distressing, but here we are nonetheless. We must play the hand we were dealt.

Obituary for a Republic

At the close of the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia on September 18, 1787, as Benjamin Franklin emerged from the convention, Mrs. Powell asked him: "Well Doctor, what have we got, a republic or a monarchy?" "A republic if you can keep it" responded Franklin. We didn't.

It was not taken from us by a foreign power, nor by a sudden, unexpected coup. No, it was lost bit by bit, law by law, by a steady usurpation of power by our elected 'leaders', while we sat and watched and did nothing. The implementation of the 'Wall Street bailout' was the final nail in a free republic's coffin. Representative Virginia Foxx (R-NC) was correct when she said Friday, October 3, 2008 was the "...day America died."

During the Cold War, Nikita Khrushchev predicted that the United States would be taken without firing a shot. He was prescient. Here we are, a mere 50 or so years later, and most of the planks of the Communist Manifesto have been at least partially adopted by our American government.

The Ten Planks of the Communist Manifesto

1. Abolition of property in land and application of all rents of land to public purposes. Partially achieved: Eminent Domain laws, environmental laws, zoning laws.

2. A heavy progressive or graduated income tax. Fully implemented.

3. Abolition of all rights of inheritance. Partially achieved: Confiscatory estate taxes.

4. Confiscation of the property of all emigrants and rebels. Coming soon?

5. Centralization of credit in the banks of the state, by means of a national bank with state capital and an exclusive monopoly. As of Friday, October 3, 2008, with the passage of H.R. 1424 in the House of Representatives and the signature of President Bush, this is fully implemented.

6. Centralization of the means of communication and transport in the hands of the state. Partially achieved: FCC laws, Department of Transportation, government-owned AMTRAK and Conrail.

7. Extension of factories and instruments of production owned by the state; the bringing into cultivation of waste lands, and the improvement of the soil generally in accordance with a common plan. Partially achieved: Department of Labor, Department of Commerce, Department of Agriculture, Department of Interior, the Environmental Protection Agency, Bureau of Land Management, Bureau of Mines...

8. Equal obligation of all to work. Establishment of industrial armies, especially for agriculture. Partially achieved: Department of Labor, Social Security Administration.

9. Combination of agriculture with manufacturing industries; gradual abolition of all the distinction between town and country by a more equable distribution of the populace over the country. Partially achieved: Agribusiness, zoning laws.

10. Free education for all children in public schools. Abolition of children's factory labor in its present form. Combination of education with industrial production, etc. Fully implemented. 'Public schools' have become good-little-comrade indoctrination centers. Department of Education.

The government controls your food, beverages and drugs (Food and Drug Administration) and your weapons, alcohol and tobacco (Alcohol Tobacco and Firearms), too. We have the Centers for Disease Control. The Department of Energy, the Small Business Administration. Health and Human Services..... a nearly limitless array of government agencies, bureaus, administrations, programs and departments all tasked with the same goal - control the lives of every man, woman and child in America. At least one of the current Presidential candidates is happily proposing even more intervention and control.

Marx also said:

"Political power, properly so called, is merely the organized power of one class for oppressing another."

Every member of Congress who voted for the so-called Wall Street bailout violated their oath of office. The President violated his when he signed it. Those who voted 'no', for whatever reason, deserve our praise and thanks. The rest deserve to be unemployed. On November 4th, we have the opportunity to fire them and begin the process of restoring our country to her Constitutional roots.

Thomas Jefferson wrote the following in the Declaration of Independence:

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.--That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, --That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it...

It is our right. It is our duty.

Bailout of Wall Street Called "Socialist", "Communist". Congressman Offers Alternate Plan

Michigan Congressman Thaddeus (Thad) McCotter (R-11) issued the following press release this morning. Good on ya, Thad! [emphasis added ~Ed]

Washington, DC – Representative Thaddeus McCotter (R-MI), Chairman of the House Republican Policy Committee, today released the following statement:

“I was not elected to abet American socialism.

Thus, I am opposing the Bush administration’s taxpayer funded, trillion dollar Wall Street bailout; and, alternatively, proposing a pro-taxpayer, free market, private recapitalization plan for the banking system; ending financial chaos; and preventing the advent of Wall Street Socialism.

Drawn from the free-market ideas of the public and our members, this proposal is premised upon the following principle: Our prosperity is from the private sector not the public sector.

True, some will still assert the administration’s support of Wall Street’s leveraged bailout at taxpayers’ expense is the only answer to this crisis of confidence. They are dead wrong.

First, we must never punish the innocent to profit the guilty.

Secondly, a taxpayer bailout is never the first or only resort. If it is claimed to be so, the object of the bailout is already too far gone to be saved.

Thirdly, this trillion dollar taxpayer bailout will not prevent a Great Depression. It will promote a Greater Depression.

While there exist a host of other reasons, for the sake of brevity let me reiterate: The Paulson Plan is premised upon a public bailout. A better plan is premised upon private recapitalization. Thus, I oppose the Paulson Plan’s raid on the taxpayers; and I will continue fighting to ensure the Wall Street crowd who made this mess pay to clean it up.”

Congressman McCotter is not content to simply criticize the plan on the table; he has drafted a plan of his own, EARN or the "Expedited American Recapitalization - Now" Act:

Expedited American Recapitalization - Now (EARN) Act Proceedings: A sunset bill that makes available to financial institutions a pre-packaged recapitalization (EARN) proceeding in which debt forgiveness is expedited. (This is similar to expedited bankruptcy proceedings. The strike warrant price will determine values.)

Inducement to EARN Proceedings: To induce financial institutions to undergo EARN proceedings, future government recapitalization (if necessary) may not be offered to a financial institution which does not go through an EARN proceeding.

Incentivize Private Recapitalization: If, within a limited one year window (commencing upon this legislation’s enactment into law), a person invests in (i.e., recapitalizes) a financial institution that has undergone an EARN proceeding, this investment over its lifetime is subject to a ZERO capital gains tax rate. If, within the same one year window, a person purchases a toxic asset, this investment over its lifetime is subject to a ZERO capital gains tax rate.

Government Backstop: If no private capital is forthcoming, the government can take a preferred equity stake in an EARN financial institution. No dividends may be paid to any other investor until the taxpayers’ claim is redeemed with appropriate interest. The government shall also hold voting rights, as determined by the percentage of its equity shares owned, in an EARN financial institution only until such time as the taxpayers’ claim is redeemed with appropriate interest. (This addresses CEO salaries and bonuses without permanently vitiating the private sector’s setting of compensation.)

Distressed Homeowner Relief: 5% of all government recapitalization invested in an EARN financial institution must be dedicated to an across-the-board reduction in the face value of “toxic” mortgages. This will help keep people in their homes; stabilize the foreclosure crisis; and begin to stabilize and raise all homeowners’ values.

Non-EARN Financial Institutions: Financial institutions choosing not to participate in an EARN proceeding, may wall off their toxic assets (as determined by the Secretary of the Treasury) which were purchased between December 2003 and August 2007. For these toxic assets, the current mark-to-market rule will be suspended and replaced with a more accurate three year rolling average mark-to-market; and for a fee, insurance of these toxic assets can then be purchased from the federal government. If, within the above referenced one year window a person purchases a toxic asset, this investment over its lifetime is subject to only HALF the capital gains tax rate applicable at present; if the capital gains tax changes, the toxic asset’s purchaser possesses the option, upon alienating the toxic asset, of being taxed at the capital gains rate applicable at the enactment date of this legislation into law.

Market Transparency and Congressional Oversight: To ensure Market Transparency, the Secretary of the Treasury is empowered to examine any and all appropriate financial records at any time of financial institutions and individuals covered under this act; and Congress at any time may request of the Secretary of the Treasury any and all information required to protect the taxpayers’ investment incurred under this act.

End “Too Big To Fail”: Make an express commitment to a future, pro-active regulatory system in which a market share cap provision is imposed upon financial institutions to prevent future taxpayer bailouts and market meltdowns due to entities deemed “too big to fail.”

American Families’ Prosperity Package: Make an express commitment to further American families’ prosperity in a free market future by enacting pro-growth legislation, including, but not limited to: an “all of the above” American energy security plan; income tax and capital gains relief; the repeal of Sarbanes-Oxley; suspend the mark-to-market rule for all financial institutions for six months and replace it with a more accurate three year rolling average mark-to-market; GSE privatization; and dollar stabilization. (See Gingrich and RSC proposals.)

Ultimate Cost to Taxpayers: ZERO!

Bill Perkins, a private, Houston-based venture capitalist placed a $130,000 dollar, full-page ad in the New York Times which consisted only of the following cartoon. Note the demise of Capitalism and Private Enterprise.

Mr. Perkins explains it to Fox Business. Or at least tries to.

David Littman, the brilliant former Chief Economist for Comerica Bank, now with the Mackinac Center for Public Policy, wrote a scathing Op-Ed in today's Detroit News (links added by me). In Reject Bailout Rush to Socialism, Littman says,

"The proposed federal intervention (up to a $1 trillion bailout of distressed assets and bonus-paying firms) is the antithesis of what the competitive markets of capitalism would permit."

[SNIP]

Yet, to cover their corrupting decisions and past complaisance, Washington's major mouthpieces -- from former Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan and Treasury Secretary Hank Paulson to Senate Banking Committee Chairman Chris Dodd -- now say that unless we trust them with a new round of our scarce resources, the U.S. economic system will collapse. This rhetoric is meant to panic us into accepting a new federal steward of our hard-earned dollars. But when you dissect the palaver, what you see is a bare-knuckled proposal to further centralize federal control over the marketplace of investments and savings. Such a revolutionary move is socialism. It will not simply be a matter of taxing the rich or those with some ability to pay for the purpose of redistributing shelter to the poor. It will represent an institutionalization of financing immoral behavior.

[SNIP]

There may yet be time to stop this debacle, but 'we the people' are going to have to help. Call, fax or e-mail your member of Congress and your Senators. Ditto the White House. Let's demand a free market solution - before it's too late.