From American Progress:
CONGRESS -- TAX BILL STUFFED WITH TAX BREAKS FOR THE WEALTHY:
In the coming days, Congress will likely pass a "tax extenders" bill containing "provisions to renew popular expired tax breaks," including the "research credit, a deduction for tuition and other college expenses, and a deduction for teachers who spend money out of their own pocket for classroom supplies." Senate Finance Committee Chairman Charles Grassley (R-IA) called the tax extenders "no-brainers" that "give continued tax relief to families paying for college, teachers buying classroom supplies, and producers of clean energy from sources such as wind."
But instead of simply passing the popular tax extenders, Congress has decided to use the bill for partisan purposes. The House and Senate have attached drilling legislation to the bill, which would open 8.3 million acres of federal land in the Gulf of Mexico to oil and gas drilling.
Additionally, in closed-door final negotiations of the tax extenders package, "House and Senate negotiators added a tax break benefiting high-income taxpayers that was never passed by either the full House or Senate." The measure would increase the amount that individuals could contribute to Health Savings Accounts (HSAs), "thereby allowing those who could make these additional contributions to shelter even more of their income from taxation." HSAs are disproportionately used by high-income individuals.
The Government Accountability Office found "that the average income of HSA users was $133,000 in 2004, compared to $51,000 for all non-elderly tax filers." American Progress has more facts on HSAs here and here.
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