R&D tax credit quote in conference call

I thought this was a pretty funny quote in the recent NewMarket conference call.  

From the call: "That being said, as we speak, Congress has not yet renewed the tax credit for R&D for 2014. If Congress does not pass the credit, each quarter next year will have an additional tax, which represents the absence of that credit. We get about $3 million a year of R&D credits. This seems to be a bit of a pattern though, where Congress eventually passes the credit, but often is late in the year and made retroactive to the beginning."

It ties in well to how Lawrence Lessig says congress builds in dependencies in the tax code as opportunities to raise campaign money.  Instead of making something permanent in law, like a permanent "R&D" tax credit, congress will instead make it annually renewable and use it as a lever to raise money for campaign contributions.


Interesting - I didn't realize this, but Lessig did a TED talk on this very topic re: influence of money in campaigns.  Really good stuff starts around 7minute mark. 
http://www.ted.com/talks/lawrence_lessig_we_the_people_and_the_republic_we_must_reclaim.html