This editorial appeared in The Charlotte Observer.
Giving businesses a break on income taxes they'd owe on canceled debt is a good point to debate as Washington mulls how to get the biggest bang for the buck jumpstarting a moribund economy.
But stop right there. Beazer Homes USA, which is being investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Internal Revenue Service, the Department of Housing and Urban Development and the N.C. Real Estate Commission for its lending practices, would be eligible?
No! No! A thousand times no!
Yet that's what 37 companies such as Beazer are lobbying the Senate to do, using money from the $800 billion stimulus bill being considered by Congress. The policy itself may have merit. But it's not palatable if it puts money in the hands of irresponsible companies whose shady (at best) practices caused so much of the current pain.
To read the complete editorial, visit The Charlotte Observer.