GOP offers Dems small "tax fairness" (close lease loophole) for trade bill

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=1896&ncid=703&e=8&u=/nm/20040407/us_nm/congress_trade_dc

US Trade Bill Caught in Domestic Political Dispute

By Jackie Frank

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. Senate Democrats pressed on Wednesday for votes on several politically charged issues that have held up passage of a corporate tax bill designed to resolve a costly transatlantic trade dispute. <snip>

Chief among the Democratic amendments is one to bar the Bush administration from revising federal rules on overtime pay that Democrats say could deprive 8 million workers of the extra cash. Others that could be offered include an increase in the $5.15 minimum wage and an extension of federal unemployment compensation.
<snip>

In an attempt to attract more votes, Republicans earlier this week offered to sweeten the tax and trade package with an additional $13 billion in energy tax breaks. They also added provisions to crack down harder on tax dodges, including one involving LEASES OF FOREIGH PROPERTIES BY US COMPANIES WHICH ARE THEN LEASED BACK TO THE SAME FORIEGN OPERATOR - SOLELY FOR THE U.S. INCOME TAX BREAK.

<snip>Democrats charged that 8 million workers such as nurses, police officers and clerical workers would lose overtime pay while the Bush administration has said far fewer would be cut, and 1.3 million low-wage workers would have new overtime pay protection.

No point in trading that one for something else.

Sounds like an election-year issue for Kerry.

:-)

Maybe I'm doing something wrong? :wink: