The ‘good things’ in the budget bill and tax cut package ‘come at far too high a price.’

Written by Deirdre Fulton, staff writer for Common Dreams. Published 12-17-15.

“Congressional Republicans have instead straitjacketed spending and sabotaged government functions,” writes Isaiah Poole. (Photo: IIP Photo Archive/flickr/cc)

Along with a $1.1 trillion spending bill that will keep government funded through September, the U.S. Congress is on the verge of passing a Republican-backed, $629 billion package of tax cuts that one group calls “a lobbyist-wrapped Christmas present for our nation’s biggest corporations.”

The package of bills unveiled Wednesday is facing criticism for its lifting of the long-standing oil export ban, as well as its inclusion of a controversial cybersecurity measure that watchdogs say will quietly expand mass surveillance. The budget bill also repeals a law requiring Country Of Origin Labels (COOL) on meats—a move Food & Water Watch decries as “a holiday gift to the meatpacking industry from Congress.”

To be sure, the package also includes tax incentives for wind and solar energy and permanent extensions for the enhanced child tax credit and earned income tax credit, which will help working families. Continue reading →