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Atman

(31,464 posts)
Fri May 16, 2014, 04:04 PM May 2014

There they go again; Republicans block energy bill because of wind tax credit.

http://thinkprogress.org/climate/2014/05/16/3438589/senate-kills-tax-extenders/

Senate Blocks $85 Billion Tax Cut Bill Because It Would Have Helped Wind Energy

An $85 billion tax package that included reviving a key subsidy to the wind energy industry was struck down by the Senate on Thursday, after Majority Leader Harry Reid refused to let Republicans offer an amendment to kill the wind subsidy altogether.

Only one Republican, Sen. Mark Kirk (R-IL), voted with Democrats to extend the tax package, which would have revived 50 tax subsidies for numerous industries after the Senate let them expire at the end of 2013. Among other things, Republicans had wanted to offer amendments to strike the Wind Production Tax Credit from the Senate package, a $13 billion tax break to the wind industry to help them compete with fossil fuels.

Reid, however, filed cloture on the bill Wednesday, using a procedural move that blocks the minority party’s ability to call up amendments. Republicans then blocked the entire bill from moving forward.

“We have a tax bill here that members from both sides want to improve and support. Yet we don’t get a chance to amend it,” Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky) told The Hill.

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There they go again; Republicans block energy bill because of wind tax credit. (Original Post) Atman May 2014 OP
Senator Sanders: Energy Efficiency Sabotaged ProSense May 2014 #1

ProSense

(116,464 posts)
1. Senator Sanders: Energy Efficiency Sabotaged
Fri May 16, 2014, 04:06 PM
May 2014
Energy Efficiency Sabotaged

Senate Republicans this week blocked a modest energy bill that would have tightened efficiency guidelines for new federal buildings. It also included tax incentives to make homes and commercial buildings more efficient. The bill was sponsored by a Democrat and a Republican, Sen. Jeanne Shaheen and Rob Portman. It had 14 cosponsors, seven Republican and seven Democrats. But on a crucial vote, only two Republicans voted to keep the bill alive. Why was the bill sabotaged? Sen. Bernie Sanders on Thursday told MSNBC’s Chris Hayes that the energy efficiency bill is just the latest example of how obstructionist Republicans have kept the Senate from acting on ideas supported by overwhelming majorities of Americans

Watch Sanders and Chris Hayes on MSNBC

http://www.sanders.senate.gov/newsroom/recent-business/energy-efficiency-sabotaged

Dysfunctional Senate fails to extend wind tax credit
http://grist.org/politics/dysfunctional-senate-fails-to-extend-wind-tax-credit/
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