Gordon courts the tribes
The junior U.S. senator from Oregon introduced a bill the other day that would give tribal governments essentially the same power that states have to issue bonds (i.e., borrow money), the interest on which would be exempt from federal income taxation when collected by the bondholders (lenders). The measure's been shipped over to the Senate Finance Committee, where both he and the senior senator from Oregon are members.
The measure is co-sponsored by the chair of that committee, Max Baucus (D-Montana), and the same measure has been introduced in the House by Xavier Becerra, who also doesn't sound too Republican to me. That old Gordon sure is a smoothie.
Maybe "courts" is the wrong word, since many Oregon tribes have already endorsed him without even knowing who his opponent might be. "Pays back," perhaps?
| Posted at 1:35 AM | Permalink |
|
Comments (2)
If Debt is viewed as a Bad thing rather than a Good thing wouldn't a policy maker want to discourage it by doubling the individual tax rate on the interest payment receipts rather than eliminating the tax altogether? If Congress has the power to declare interest income as something other than income does this not imply the power to call it twice the income, supported by whatever whim can be construed as "Congressional Intent?"
Can someone please tell me how each of the alternatives above would affect the interest rates?
Can someone please tell me that the debt does not serve to reduce the sovereignty of the borrower?
Posted by pdxnag | July 26, 2007 9:12 AM
If Max Baucus is involved, you know it's dirty from the get-go. Sounds like a Government Ponzi scheme to me. Anyone remember Whoops?
Posted by KISS | July 26, 2007 1:36 PM