“U.S. lawmakers return this week from their holiday recess to perform what has become an annual ritual: pretending to decide whether to extend dozens of temporary tax breaks.

The just-expired shelters — for Hollywood filmmakers, rum producers and dozens of other constituent groups — are a showcase for why the U.S. tax code is so mind-numbingly complicated and overdue for simplification. There are 55 breaks in all, costing taxpayers about $50 billion annually.

They are the essence of special-interest legislating. Every year or two, lawmakers lament that the tax breaks are oh so expensive; anxious lobbyists attend their fundraisers over the recess, campaign checks in hand; when Congress resumes, lawmakers somehow find a way to pass the tax bill, adding a few new breaks on top of the perennials (all retroactive to Jan. 1, of course).”* The Young Turks host Cenk Uygur breaks it down.

*Read more here from Bloomberg:
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-01-05/cull-the-stupid-tax-breaks.html

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