Political Class Insanity Canine Style

In several past posts we reviewed some political class silliness that some current members of Congress were undertaking. A Congresswoman and her staff were working diligently on developing legislation that would regulate the sound volume on television commercials. A Congressman was working diligently on legislation that would ban the airing of erectile dysfunction TV commercials. Never mind that Congress and the political class have not yet solved the Iranian nuclear crisis, the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, drug addiction, failing public schools, soaring deficits, high unemployment, high energy costs, etc. TV commercials are obviously much more important.

And tonight, we had another chapter of political silliness. According to a November 30, 2009 article in Parade magazine, Congressman Thaddeus McCotter of Michigan is developing Federal legislation, The Humanity and Pets Partnered Through the Years (HAPPY) Act, that would allow pet owners to deduct the cost of food, vet care, and other pet-related costs from their tax returns, up to $3500 a year. His theory is that with the economy in such bad shape, many people have had to give up their pets to save expenses. According to the Congressman: "If Americans are happy (since they kept their pets) and emotionally stable, they are going to be more productive and that helps the economy."

Okay, lets rip this effort apart like we tore open the two TV commercials efforts listed above (complete disclosure: I love my dog and would do anything possible and reasonable to keep her happy and safe):

• Obviously, the other pressing national issues should take second place to this situation. Better to get Fido back into the house than to bring our troops home. Any energy spent by the Congressman and his staff on this legislation is time they cannot spend on real issues.
• According to quotes in this article, this bill would apply to ALL Americans, even those that are not unemployed or having financial troubles. Theoretically, Bill Gates, Warren Buffet and Donald Trump could deduct the costs of pet care under this bill.
• The maximum deduction is $3,500 a year or almost $300 a month. I do not know about other pet owners but I spend nowhere near $300 a month on my dog. Who and how did they come up with such a large number? However, depending on the documentation requirements, I may all of a sudden start spending almost $300 a month. I am sure there are some dishonest vets who are willing to scam the system with bogus treatment receipts. This bill is probably unenforceable and subject to incredible fraud.
• Is it fair for pet owners to receive such a large deduction and have that deduction indirectly funded by non-pet owners?
• Would it not be better to work on ways to keep grandma and grandpa rather than Fido in their house in order to reduce the high health care costs in this country?
• The Federal deficit is soaring and this bill wants to increase that deficit by giving a pet deduction gift to tens of millions of Americans who do not need it?
• Finally, did anyone get hurt trying to come up with this convoluted acronym for the legislation?

Bottom line is that this is just another example of wasted taxpayer dollars. It also seriously damages the credibility of politicians by giving the impression that they are incapable of solving the most important economic, domestic, and foreign issues facing us today. Instead, they scratch around for insignificant non-problems like TV commercials and pet care deductions to convince themselves and their constituents that they are working on important stuff. Their priorities are screwed up because 1) they do not know what the real issues are or 2) they do not know how to fix the real issues. In either case, they come off as incompetent, trivial and pathetic.

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