An Obscure Part Of Republicans' Tax Law Is Now Blowing Up In Their Faces

Filed 1h ago · Via HuffPost · The Buffoon Desk

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Fig Leaf Rag

Kevin MacLeod · incompetech.com · CC BY 4.0

Photo: Splatstheclown · CC0 · via Wikimedia Commons

A provision in the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, titled 'Full expensing for certain business property,' is now fueling Democratic attack ads against Republicans like Rep. Derrick Van Orden, tying data center tax breaks to rising utility bills. Sen. Josh Hawley has introduced a bill to narrow eligibility for another provision in the law, saying data centers 'don't need any tax breaks' and calling it corporate welfare.

Senate Republicans tried to pass a Ratepayer Protection Act that asks states to merely 'consider' not raising consumer costs for data centers, with no actual construction rules or rate caps. All but four Democrats voted to block it, with the rest reportedly laughing it off.

Sponsor Sen. Jon Husted of Ohio, who oversaw data center construction as lieutenant governor, is getting hit on the trail by opponent Sherrod Brown and admitted the bill was 'the only way' to show voters which side lawmakers are on before midterms. Meanwhile Trump and Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton remain enthusiastically pro-data center, with Paxton noting Texas has 'plenty of open space.'

The full dispatch is available from the source below.

✒ FROM THE EDITORIAL DESK

A tax break nobody noticed at the signing ceremony has a way of showing up later on somebody's electric bill, and that's exactly what happened here. The fix on offer asks states to please 'consider' being nice to ratepayers, which is the legislative version of asking a dog to please consider not chasing the mail truck. When the bill's own sponsor admits it's mostly about looking good before an election, you've learned everything you need to about how seriously anybody's taking the ratepayers.

Source: Read the original at HuffPost → Scored: Fig Leaf Rag · Kevin MacLeod · CC BY 4.0

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