Republicans block bill to renew expired tax breaks

Associated Press ^ | May 15, 2014 5:41 PM EDT | Stephen Ohlemacher

[Olog-hai]

Senate Republicans blocked a bill Thursday that would renew more than 50 expired tax breaks affecting millions of businesses and individuals.

The bill has widespread bipartisan support, but Republicans were unhappy because Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., wouldn’t agree to vote on GOP amendments. A similar dispute derailed an energy bill earlier this week. […]

Republican amendments included making some of the tax cuts permanent while adding others, including the repeal of a medical device tax that helps fund President Barack Obama’s health care law. …

[Olog-hai]

Of course, they had to bury that last bit deeper in the article.

[Ben Ficklin]

When this legislation came out of the House, it was reported in the Texas media that the House republicans purposely left the wind tax credit out so that Senator Grassley could add the wind credit to the legislation enabling him to take credit for it with Iowa voters.

This wind conflict is also playing out in the Kansas lege. Kansas has renewable energy portfolio standard of 20% by a certain date. There is a group of republicans led by ALEC, AFP, and the Koch brothers who are trying to get the 20% standard repealed, but enough republicans whose district benefit from wind are voting with the dems to keep the standards.