White House Wanted Corporate Tax Breaks in Fiscal Cliff Deal

Focuses on renewable energy credits, but less attention to breaks given to entertainment industry and others

"This was a pure White House ask," one GOP Senate aide familiar with the fiscal cliff negotiations told me when I asked how $60+ billion of special-interest tax breaks ended up in the fiscal cliff deal. I called and emailed the White House for days, but couldn't get confirmation or denial.

But now Reuters seems to corroborate what my Republican sources told me:

White House spokesman Jay Carney on Monday said that Obama supported the overall package of tax breaks for businesses. He emphasized that the president favored the wind energy credit and tax benefits for research and development to encourage "job-creating research investments."