http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/z?c111:H.R.3501: There you go...got a cat or a dog? Get a $3,500 tax credit. Next i say we get a $1,000 tax credit if we ride the bus once per year. Then I say we get a $2,500 credit if we have blue eyes. Another $1,500 tax credit if we wear white after labor day. How much more ridiculous can this get? I mean really?
Mr. McCotter, a lawyer and chairman of the Republican House Policy Committee, said he would drop the plan if Mr. Obama apologizes.
i agree. if this keeps up we might get to the point where people get a deduction for giving money to an invisible man in the sky.
Quick thoughts: 1) It will lower the taxes owed for millions of people. 2) The cost to government (in lost revenue) will be a percentage of the total deduction, of course. 3) Is it possible to estimate the ROI for this government "expenditure"? That is, could the total benefits of pet ownership exceed the expenditure, per capita? 4) The other attributes you list do not have any plausible benefits to the individual, except perhaps for the blue eyes, since they are associated with those of Caucasion background, who are a majority group in the US. Edit: btw, it is not a "bailout".
Sweet. I'll apply for the Pet Czar position. Give me a couple billion and I'll have a national Department of Pets with pet registration sites across the country. Better make that 100 billion, now that I think of it. And we'll need a bunch of unconnected computer systems so we can make life miserable for any honest person while providing ample opportunities for the crooks to weasel through. Man, this'll be just like Health Care. Bend over America, it's a brave new world!
This is the only proposed/active bailout to date that would benefit me. I could use another hunting dog.