House GOP approves more tax breaks without paying for them | MSNBC

It’s a simple rule: if Democrats want to invest in the public, the deficit is paramount. When Republicans want to pass a tax break, the deficit is irrelevant.

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At this point, congressional Republicans no longer even try to justify the rhetorical contradictions. When Democrats want to make any kind of public investment, even after a natural disaster, GOP officials insist every penny must be fully paid for without raising anyone’s taxes by any amount at any time.

But when those same Republican lawmakers want to cut taxes, they magically discover that the deficit isn’t so important after all.

The House on Thursday passed two bills to permanently extend tax credits that expired at the end of 2013 despite veto threats from the Obama administration.

The more expensive of the two tax measures the House passed, 272-144, extends a provision known as Section 179 that allows small businesses to write off up to $500,000 worth of investments a year. […]

The House also passed, 263-155, a pair of incentives, packaged together in one bill, to help a type of small business known as S corporations. S corporations do not pay federal income taxes and instead pass along income to their shareholders, who then report that on their personal tax returns.

The final roll call on the first bill is here, the roll call on the second is here. Both enjoyed near-unanimous support from the same House Republicans who believe the United States is facing a debt crisis and that the budget deficit risks destroying future generations’ lives.

Combined these new permanent tax breaks will cost roughly $75 billion over the next 10 years. How much of that cost did GOP lawmakers try to offset? Zero.

House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Dave Camp (R-Mich.) said the costs associated with these tax breaks have “never been offset,” which is true – previous Congresses have just added the price tag to the deficit to be dealt with in the future.

But it’s also true that the costs associated with extending unemployment benefits have “never been offset,” either. And yet, Camp and his conservative colleagues won’t even allow the House to vote on jobless aid, whether the bill is fully paid for or not.

 House GOP approves more tax breaks without paying for them | MSNBC