Sen. Cornyn slips line into tax bill that would personally enrich Ted Cruz & other Texas R lawmakers

[MelissaB]

EXCLUSIVE: Docs show Texas GOP Sen. @JohnCornyn quietly slipped an obscure line into the tax bill that would personally enrich @TedCruz and other top Texas Republican lawmakers

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Tax Bill: John Cornyn’s Fossil Fuel Provision Would Personally Enrich Republican Lawmakers

When Texas Sen. John Cornyn slipped an obscure tax break for pipeline giants into the GOP tax bill, he wasn't just helping major Republican Party donors, he was also potentially helping 16 of his congressional colleagues. Together those 16 lawmakers — 13 Republicans, three Democrats — own multimillion-dollar stakes in the special investment vehicles that stand to benefit from Cornyn’s amendment. They include three of members of the Texas Congressional delegation: Sen. Ted Cruz and two top Republicans in the U.S. House.

Cornyn’s amendment, which was introduced just hours before the Senate passed the tax bill on Dec. 2, provides a tax deduction for investors in energy-related master limited partnerships (MLPs) — investment entities primarily used by oil and gas pipeline corporations.

Federal lawmakers collectively own between $4.6 million and $10.6 million worth of energy-related MLPs, according to personal financial disclosures reviewed by International Business Times. Thirteen of the 16 lawmakers who own stakes in energy-related MLPs are Republicans. All 13 of those lawmakers voted for the tax bill in their respective chambers.

The filings detail lawmakers’ ownership stakes through 2016 and provide dollar ranges, not specific figures, for the value of the legislators' assets.

More: http://www.ibtimes.com/political-capital/tax-bill-john-cornyns-fossil-fuel-provision-would-personally-enrich-republican

[Sneederbunk]

1. How much do Gohmert, Farenthold and Martin get?

[bronxiteforever]

2. Kick and recommend for visibility

[atreides1]

3. WTF is wrong with Texas

That's the second time that Texas has betrayed the US...I guess the Civil War wasn't enough, huh???

[democratisphere]

4. Lyin' Ted and the other Texas redumbliCONs need their piece in the

redumbliCON tax shill. Looks like special interests are still alive and well. More corrupt frauds.

[gratuitous]

5. The surprising thing about this

What's surprising is that the amendment got traced back to Cornyn. Usually these sort of goodie bags make it into a bill through the magic of self-writing legislation. Nobody knows how that little plum got into the bill, nobody wrote it, but there it is all the same, and we can't just strip it out in conference because, uh, well, it's complicated. We just can't, okay?