House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) wants the White House to look at unspent money from the 2009 stimulus package instead of asking Congress for a new fiscal package.

President Barack Obama on Saturday night wrote to congressional leaders urging them to pass legislation extending tax cuts and add new spending to prevent "hundreds of thousands" teacher layoffs, among other cuts. Obama said that without such measures the economy could "slide backwards."

Hoyer said on ABC's "This Week" on Sunday that there is "spending fatigue" across the country and that he is encouraging the administration to look at last year's $787 billion stimulus package to see if some money can be redirected.

"I have asked the White House to look at the package we already passed," Hoyer said. "I personally believe if we have dollars not yet expended in the recovery act we could apply to this immediate need."

Centrist Democrats in recent weeks have been more vocal about their concerns that new spending would lead to higher deficits and debt.

House Republican Leader John Boehner (R-Ohio) said: "To move without finding other offsets is irresponsible."

In a three-page letter to Democratic and Republican leaders Saturday, the president said the economy is at a "critical juncture."

China said Saturday congressional legislation to punish the country as a currency manipulator was against international trade rules.

Bipartisan legislation that is championed by Sen. Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) would give the U.S. government greater power to punish China for for not allowing its currency to fluctuate. Chinese officials argued the legislation is against World Trade Organization (WTO) rules.

"It is against facts and lacks support from WTO rules," a Chinese Ministry of Commerce spokesman said Saturday, according to Reuters. 

Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner has criticized China's currency policies, but the administration delayed an April report that could have officially called China a currency manipulator.

Rep. Spencer Bachus (R-Ala.) said that he and Republicans feel new Democratic financial regulatory legislation "institutionalizes" future bailouts.

Property values could plunge billions in value along hundred of miles of the Gulf coast, according to an analysis. 

Lost property value could total more than $4.3 billion, representing a 10 percent decrease from the effects of the oil spill, said Norm Miller, CoStar Group vice president of Analytics, on Friday. 

"It’s impossible at present to estimate the degree of property value decline from the spill," because of the already weak housing market in Florida," Miller said. 

To reach his conclusion, Miller used an average cost of $3 million an acre and subtracted a 10 percent value hit from the oil spill across 569 miles or 14,396 acres affected. 

"That's probably an understatement in assessing the impact to environmentally sensitive wetlands," Miller said. 

Rep. Dave Camp (R-Mich.), the ranking member on the House Ways and Means Committee, on Friday requested the IRS perform a similar outreach effort that it did for the small business health care tax credits for the tanning tax that becomes effective July 1. 

"Please describe what similar measures the IRS plans to take to notify potentially affected businesses and consumers about this new $2.7 billion tax," Camp wrote to IRS Commissioner Doug Shulman, adding that "Earlier this year, your office sent out over 4 million postcards advertising the small business health care credit and explaining many of its complex details and cumbersome requirements." 

The IRS just issued regulations outlining the 10 percent excise tax on indoor tanning services that was included in the health care reform bill. 

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The Internal Revenue Service issued regulations Friday on a 10 percent excise tax hitting the indoor tanning industry July 1. 

Owners of tanning businesses will collect the tax when service is rendered and pay the IRS quarterly. The tax is designed to raise about $2.7 billion over 10 years to help pay for healthcare overhaul legislation that passed in March. 

The tax applies to salons that use one or more ultraviolet lamps. Spray tans and tanning lotions don't fall under the tax. 

Although the tax drew the ire of the tanning industry, it's difficult to gauge the economic effects on salons. Most tanning services range between $10 and $20, meaning between $1 and $2 will be added to a bill. Some businesses owners, who've said they have had to raise prices during the recession, don't believe the added cost will push customers away. 

Others argue that studies showing the negative impact of tanning could have a greater effect than the new tax. 

Still, some interest groups for the industry have argued that it's bound to affect some businesses. 

The tax doesn't apply to phototherapy services performed by a licensed medical professional, and the regulations also provide an exception for certain fitness facilities that offer tanning as an incidental service to members without a separate fee, the IRS said Friday in a release. 

A diverse collection of small business advocates on Friday sent a letter to Senate Finance leaders urging their support for an amendment striking the tax increase on S corporations from the so-called tax extenders bill. 

"While it [the tax increase] has been described as a 'loophole closer' and a 'payroll tax' it is neither," the letter states. "It is a new tax on small employers that will overturn more than 50 years of established tax policy." 

Groups like the American Institute of Architects, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and the Wine & Spirits Wholesalers of America sent the letter to Senate Finance Chairman Max Baucus (D-Mont.) and committee ranking member Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa).   

Consumer confidence hit its highest level in more than two years this month, according to a survey released Friday. 

Consumer sentiment rose to 75.5, the highest level since January 2008, according to the Thomson Reuters/University of Michigan preliminary index of consumer sentiment Friday. 

June's numbers rose more than expected from the 73.6 posted in May, a reflection that consumer confidence hasn't taken hit from negative news, specifically the European debt crisis. 

The unexpected fall in retail sales in May shows that consumers will likely need to see an improvement in employment levels and income growth to continue providing the economy with a needed boost.