Post by unlawflcombatnt on Feb 8, 2008 19:18:16 GMT -6
from the New York Times:
Congress Votes for a Stimulus of $168 Billion
February 8, 2008
By DAVID M. HERSZENHORN
"Congress gave final approval on Thursday to a $168 billion economic rescue package, including rebates for taxpayers and tax breaks for businesses...
the Senate...approved a plan nearly identical to one the House adopted last week.
The Senate, voting 81 to 16, slightly expanded the House plan to include payments for some 20 million Social Security recipients and 250,000 disabled veterans who would not have qualified because they do not earn income. The final measure also specifies that illegal immigrant workers not receive payments.
The House swiftly approved those changes by a vote of 380 to 34 and sent the bill to the White House, where Mr. Bush had already said he would sign it....
The plan will provide tax rebates of up to $600 for individuals and up to $1,200 for couples filing jointly, with an additional payment for families of $300 a child, and a minimum payment of $300 for individuals who pay less than that in income taxes.
Payments will be reduced for individuals with adjusted gross incomes above $75,000 and couples with incomes above $150,000, with the wealthiest taxpayers receiving nothing. The Treasury Department said checks would be distributed beginning in early May...
The rebates and the business incentives, including a doubling to $250,000 from $125,000 in the amount of expenses businesses can immediately write off, are intended to jolt the slowing economy with new spending.
The package will cost roughly $168 billion over two years compared with $161 billion for the original House plan. About $152 billion would be injected into the economy this year.
Many economists say government action is needed to forestall or shorten a recession, but some questioned whether the plan would work quickly enough because rebate checks would not go out for 12 more weeks.
A minority of lawmakers also questioned whether the package was the right medicine, arguing that it did not do enough to help distressed homeowners and that it would even harm the economy by increasing the deficit.
Senator Bob Corker, Republican of Tennessee, said Congress had taken $150 billion and thrown it “into a mud puddle.”....
On Wednesday, 8 Republicans had joined 49 Democrats and 2 independents in support of that package, leaving Mr. Reid one vote shy of the 60 needed to overcome a Republican filibuster.
Senator John McCain of Arizona, the likely Republican presidential nominee who did not vote on Wednesday, voted in favor of the plan on Thursday.
Mr. Reid said Monday that he would give Republicans only two choices: the more expansive, and expensive, stimulus plan sought by Democrats; or the House package without adding in Social Security recipients and disabled veterans.
The larger plan would have included increased home-energy subsidies for low-income families, extended unemployment benefits, tax credits for alternative energy and tax incentives for the coal industry.
Mr. Reid had tried using the home-heating subsidies to press Republican senators from cold-weather states to back his plan. And he enlisted AARP and other powerful interest groups to push for the Democrats’ plan.
Mr. Reid also brazenly waved off assertions by Republicans that he would ultimately relent. “We should go for the whole package,” he said. “Wait until we have this vote and they’ll find out if I am bluffing. I am not much of a bluffer.”
In the end, Mr. Reid had bluffed — he ultimately shook hands on an agreement that provided those increases and no others — but said he had charted a necessary course to get the best possible package.
Democrats said they would move ahead with a separate bill to provide assistance related to the decline in the housing market, including bonds that would let states help homeowners at risk of foreclosure.
In a nod to the housing problems, the stimulus plan will increase the limits on home loans that can be purchased by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the government-sponsored finance companies, and on loans that can be insured by the Federal Housing administration. The one-year increases will make it easier to...obtain new mortgages in expensive markets. The new limits will vary based on local conditions.
Mr. Reid also suggested that some Republicans would pay a political price for voting against extended unemployment benefits, home-heating subsidies and other initiatives he had pressed. Almost immediately after the vote, the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee issued a statement criticizing Senator John Sununu, Republican of New Hampshire, for opposing new home-heating subsidies....
Mr. Sununu, anticipating such an attack, had already issued a statement saying that his “steadfast” support for the heating program was well known and accused Democrats of “back-room dealing” he called “disgraceful.”
While the bill was passed...(it) was a far cry from the tough, bipartisan negotiations...in the House.
In those talks, Ms. Pelosi dropped Democrats’ demands for an extension in unemployment benefits and an increase in food stamps, two strategies that economists rate highly for providing a quick stimulative effect, and instead agreed to a plan centered on the tax rebates favored by House Republicans and the Bush administration.
The Republicans, in turn, agreed to make payments to more than 35 million families who do not pay enough income taxes to receive rebates...."
Congress Votes for a Stimulus of $168 Billion
February 8, 2008
By DAVID M. HERSZENHORN
"Congress gave final approval on Thursday to a $168 billion economic rescue package, including rebates for taxpayers and tax breaks for businesses...
the Senate...approved a plan nearly identical to one the House adopted last week.
The Senate, voting 81 to 16, slightly expanded the House plan to include payments for some 20 million Social Security recipients and 250,000 disabled veterans who would not have qualified because they do not earn income. The final measure also specifies that illegal immigrant workers not receive payments.
The House swiftly approved those changes by a vote of 380 to 34 and sent the bill to the White House, where Mr. Bush had already said he would sign it....
The plan will provide tax rebates of up to $600 for individuals and up to $1,200 for couples filing jointly, with an additional payment for families of $300 a child, and a minimum payment of $300 for individuals who pay less than that in income taxes.
Payments will be reduced for individuals with adjusted gross incomes above $75,000 and couples with incomes above $150,000, with the wealthiest taxpayers receiving nothing. The Treasury Department said checks would be distributed beginning in early May...
The rebates and the business incentives, including a doubling to $250,000 from $125,000 in the amount of expenses businesses can immediately write off, are intended to jolt the slowing economy with new spending.
The package will cost roughly $168 billion over two years compared with $161 billion for the original House plan. About $152 billion would be injected into the economy this year.
Many economists say government action is needed to forestall or shorten a recession, but some questioned whether the plan would work quickly enough because rebate checks would not go out for 12 more weeks.
A minority of lawmakers also questioned whether the package was the right medicine, arguing that it did not do enough to help distressed homeowners and that it would even harm the economy by increasing the deficit.
Senator Bob Corker, Republican of Tennessee, said Congress had taken $150 billion and thrown it “into a mud puddle.”....
On Wednesday, 8 Republicans had joined 49 Democrats and 2 independents in support of that package, leaving Mr. Reid one vote shy of the 60 needed to overcome a Republican filibuster.
Senator John McCain of Arizona, the likely Republican presidential nominee who did not vote on Wednesday, voted in favor of the plan on Thursday.
Mr. Reid said Monday that he would give Republicans only two choices: the more expansive, and expensive, stimulus plan sought by Democrats; or the House package without adding in Social Security recipients and disabled veterans.
The larger plan would have included increased home-energy subsidies for low-income families, extended unemployment benefits, tax credits for alternative energy and tax incentives for the coal industry.
Mr. Reid had tried using the home-heating subsidies to press Republican senators from cold-weather states to back his plan. And he enlisted AARP and other powerful interest groups to push for the Democrats’ plan.
Mr. Reid also brazenly waved off assertions by Republicans that he would ultimately relent. “We should go for the whole package,” he said. “Wait until we have this vote and they’ll find out if I am bluffing. I am not much of a bluffer.”
In the end, Mr. Reid had bluffed — he ultimately shook hands on an agreement that provided those increases and no others — but said he had charted a necessary course to get the best possible package.
Democrats said they would move ahead with a separate bill to provide assistance related to the decline in the housing market, including bonds that would let states help homeowners at risk of foreclosure.
In a nod to the housing problems, the stimulus plan will increase the limits on home loans that can be purchased by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the government-sponsored finance companies, and on loans that can be insured by the Federal Housing administration. The one-year increases will make it easier to...obtain new mortgages in expensive markets. The new limits will vary based on local conditions.
Mr. Reid also suggested that some Republicans would pay a political price for voting against extended unemployment benefits, home-heating subsidies and other initiatives he had pressed. Almost immediately after the vote, the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee issued a statement criticizing Senator John Sununu, Republican of New Hampshire, for opposing new home-heating subsidies....
Mr. Sununu, anticipating such an attack, had already issued a statement saying that his “steadfast” support for the heating program was well known and accused Democrats of “back-room dealing” he called “disgraceful.”
While the bill was passed...(it) was a far cry from the tough, bipartisan negotiations...in the House.
In those talks, Ms. Pelosi dropped Democrats’ demands for an extension in unemployment benefits and an increase in food stamps, two strategies that economists rate highly for providing a quick stimulative effect, and instead agreed to a plan centered on the tax rebates favored by House Republicans and the Bush administration.
The Republicans, in turn, agreed to make payments to more than 35 million families who do not pay enough income taxes to receive rebates...."