Politics

Obama: Corporate Tax Breaks Are Bad, Except for Green Energy

Doublespeak in the fiscal cliff talks

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Obama said the deal would extend green-energy tax breaks, but in the same speech said he wanted to make sure "the biggest corporations can't take advantage of loopholes," and he opposed tax breaks going to "companies with a lot of lobbyists."

But green-energy tax credits are corporate welfare for rich people and big corporations who have lots of lobbyists.

Consider General Electric, a chief beneficiary of and lobbyist for green-energy tax credits. This company paid $0 corporate income in 2011 and is the number one U.S. manufacturer of wind turbines. The wind-energy tax credit is set to expire tonight, and presumably that's one of the green-energy tax credits he's extending. Oh yeah, GE spends more on lobbying than any other corporation — $120 million so far in Obama's administration.