Senate Dems agree to stimulus plans
WASHINGTON (AP) - February 7, 2008 The package would rush tax rebates of $500 for individuals and
$1,000 for couples to most taxpayers and grant business tax cuts to
revive the economy.
Leaders in both parties and in both chambers of Congress had
agreed by Wednesday night on the idea that 20 million seniors whose
sole or main income is Social Security and 250,000 veterans living
off disability benefits should be added to those getting rebates
under the $161 billion stimulus bill first negotiated by House
Democrats and President Bush.
But Senate Democrats had refused a vote on the idea unless
piggybacked on top of it were 13 weeks of added jobless benefits,
home heating subsidies, and new tax refunds for coal producers and
struggling corporations.
Now, Democratic senators are backing away from those demands,
paving the way for a vote as early as Thursday.
"Discretion is the better part of valor. The best thing for us
to do is declare a big victory that we've achieved, namely getting
the rebate checks to 20 million seniors and 250,000 disabled
veterans," said Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus,
D-Mont.
All of those measures plus the rebates for seniors and veterans
would have boosted the stimulus package's total cost to $205
billion, an amount sure to have produced a record federal deficit
this year.
Supporters say sharing the rebates with seniors and disabled
veterans will cost about $9 billion.
The retreat by Senate Democrats came after House Speaker Nancy
Pelosi sided with Republicans, including GOP Senate Leader Mitch
McConnell of Kentucky, and called on the Senate to stop its
infighting and pass the bill.
In doing so, Pelosi, D-Calif., split openly with Senate Majority
Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., who backed the more expensive package.
"There's no reason for any more delay on this," Pelosi said
Thursday before agreement was reached.
Reid on Wednesday narrowly lost a crucial procedural vote to
push the $205 billion Senate Democratic stimulus plan - as a take
it or leave it proposition - toward a final vote in that chamber.
Eight Republicans, including a handful who helped craft the
measure, voted with Democrats.
Later, Pelosi issued a statement tailored to support McConnell's
position - which Reid has repeatedly rejected - and pointedly
ignoring the other add-ons.
Pelosi said House lawmakers are "very receptive to additions to
our bill which ensure that disabled veterans and additional seniors
are eligible" for rebate checks and want to make sure illegal
immigrants are denied them. If the Senate doesn't approve the
additions, she said, the House will.
But Pelosi did not endorse Senate add-ons pushed by Reid, such
as provisions benefiting coal companies and a 13-week extension of
jobless benefits. The unemployment insurance provision could
advance through the House as a separate measure after the stimulus
measure passes.
A Pelosi aide said she is particularly unhappy with a Senate
provision that allows coal producers to get about $300 million
worth of refunds for taxes imposed on their exports.
Republican leaders objected to add-ons such as a $14.5 billion
unemployment extension for those whose benefits have run out, $1
billion in heating aid for the poor and a package of tax breaks for
renewable energy producers.
The House-passed bill would provide $600-$1,200 checks to most
taxpayers and tax breaks to businesses investing in new plants and
equipment.
The original Senate version would have provided checks of
$500-$1,000 to a broader group that includes elderly people living
on Social Security, disabled veterans and taxpayers making up to
$150,000 for singles - or $300,000 for couples.
It would have extended unemployment benefits for an additional
13 weeks for those whose benefits have run out, with 13 more weeks
available in states with the highest jobless rates. The bill also
included $10 billion in tax-free mortgage revenue bonds to help
homeowners refinance subprime loans.
Reid denied Republicans an opportunity to offer changes to the
measure, provoking a GOP filibuster on Wednesday. Reid fell just
one vote short of the 60 votes required to send the bigger
Democratic plan toward a final vote. The final tally was 58-41,
however, after Reid changed his vote to "nay" in order to be able
to call a revote under Senate rules.
The calculus was that enough Republicans would relent in the
face of political pressure to support unemployment insurance and
heating aid to join Democrats and force the measure through.
"We didn't block the proposal," McConnell said. "We just said
there's a better way to go and there's an alternative."
(Copyright 2008 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)