posted October 22, 2004 03:35 PM              

May mend trade row with EU; Bi-partisian critics say it's filled with special interest give-aways.
October 22, 2004: 2:11 PM EDT

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Without fanfare, President George W. Bush signed into law Friday a nearly $140 billion corporate tax cut bill derided by both Democratic presidential rival John Kerry and Republican Sen. John McCain as a giveaway to special interests.

Bush signed the measure into law aboard Air Force One en route to a campaign rally in Pennsylvania, forgoing a public signing ceremony that would have attracted attention to the tax cuts less than two weeks before Election Day.

The White House had marked the signing of Bush's other major tax bills with lavish public ceremonies. This one was marked with a one-paragraph statement by the press secretary.

The corporate tax bill aims to end a trade fight with the European Union by repealing U.S. export tax subsidies that violate global trade rules.

But the $140 billion in new business tax breaks included many special interest provisions sharply criticized by public interest groups and fiscal conservatives, which congressional aides said explained Bush's decision to sign it in private.

Sen. John McCain, an Arizona Republican who is campaigning for Bush, had called the measure "the worst example of the influence of special interests that I have ever seen."

Kerry campaign spokesman Phil Singer said: "George Bush filled the bill up with corporate giveaways and tax breaks for multinational companies that send jobs overseas."

Singer said the Massachusetts senator's first budget, if elected, would call for the repeal of "all the unwarranted international tax breaks that George Bush included in this bill."

But the White House's Buchan defended the measure: "The president believes it will help American workers and help improve the competitiveness of American manufacturers and other job creators."

The legislation would repeal illegal export subsidies and lower taxes rates for domestic manufacturers to 32 percent from the top corporate rate of 35 percent.

The bill also includes a $10 billion industry-financed buyout for tobacco farmers.

The bill also includes tax breaks for U.S. multinational companies, some of which critics say will encourage companies to ship jobs overseas.

A one-year tax holiday for multinationals was included that will allow them to return billions of dollars in profits back to the United States at a dramatically lower 5.25 percent rate instead of the normal 35 percent top corporate rate.

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posted October 22, 2004 03:58 PM              

Ah...the wearin' O the green!