A bipartisan bill suggesting a new tax on imports to close the U.S. trade deficit wouldn't resort to a new value-added tax (VAT), according to its supporters.

While some of the Border Tax Equity Act's past supporters and a Hill story Monday said the new proposed border tax on imports was similar to a VAT, current backers said the two taxes aren't the same.

"If the bill's supporters advocated instituting a VAT, the legislation would have included a VAT," according to the American Manufacturing Trade Action Coalition (AMTAC), a DC-based group that has pushed for the bill.

The legislation, introduced by Rep. Bill Pascrell (D-N.J.) and co-sponsored by five House Democrats and five House Republicans, calls on the U.S. Trade Representative to negotiate a way to close trade imbalances with countries that use a VAT, which is levied at each stage of production of a good and is used by most industrialized nations. Under the legislation, if those negotiations don't work, a new tax would be placed on imports from those VAT countries. Revenue from the new tax would go to U.S. companies to offset subsidies that VAT countries' manufacturers get from their nations' VAT systems. But unlike a VAT, the new border tax would only be levied on imports as they entered the country, not at different production stages.

Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) on Monday announced that she will host a forum tomorrow morning that will examine ways to improve the economy.

Democrats hosted a similar meeting last October that brought together experts to address the state of the American economy.

G20 members from Korea, Canada, the U.S., the U.K. and France issued the following joint statement on the decision by the European governments and the International Monetary Fund to give Greece $145 billion in emergency loans to help stem the country's economic crisis. 

"We welcome the strong economic program Greece is putting in place with the financial assistance of the Member States of the Euro-Zone and the IMF. This program merits the support of the international community. In addition to the financial assistances being provided by the Euro-Zone members, we pledge support for the IMF's exceptional financing for Greece on an expeditious basis. Determined and consistent implementation of the program by Greece, combined with this exceptional assistance from the Member States of the Euro-Zone and IMF, will help restore financial stability in Greece and promote market confidence."

Treasury Department chief economist Alan Krueger on Monday said that household net wealth fell by approximately $17 trillion between 2007 and 2009 because of the financial crisis. Tumbling home and stock prices contributed mightily to the fall, but things are improving. 

"Rising stock prices and stabilizing home prices have helped lift household net worth," he told the Treasury Borrowing Advisory Committee on the Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association. 

More Americans think the economy has been improving during the past few months, but they're still split on President Barack Obama's handling of it, according to a CBS/New York Times poll.

The poll released Monday showed 41 percent believed the economy is getting better while 15 percent said it's getting worse. A slight plurality -- 43 percent -- said the economy is staying the same. The CBS/NYT poll last month showed a 33 percent to 23 percent split between those who thought the economy was improving and those who thought it was worsening.

When asked about Obama's handling of the economy, 48 percent approve and 47 disapprove. His approval rating is up five percentage points from last month.

The small bump in economic optimism and Obama's rating comes after several months of economic growth and the first monthly jobs report in April showing a substantial net increase in jobs since 2007.

Airlines collected a record $7.8 billion in service fees last year, bolstered by checked-bag fees, possibly giving lawmakers more motivation to cap or prohibit certain fees. 

Collection of fees for a variety of services was up 42 percent from $5.5 billion in 2008, when airlines introduced additional costs for passengers to check their bags as oil prices soared to $147 a barrel, according to a Transportation Department report released Monday. 

The airlines collected $2.7 billion in baggage fees for 34 percent of the total, followed closely by $2.4 billion for reservation changes and $2.7 billion from other fees such as frequent flyer award program mileage sales and pet transportation. 

Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) is waging the latest battle over fees -- protesting a fee proposed by Spirit Airlines for carry-on bags that can only fit into the overhead bins. Schumer has asked the Treasury Department to write a rule prohibiting the fee and he has introduced legislation that would do the same. 

Spirit, which sells itself as a low-cost airline, received 21 percent its revenue from fees, leading all carriers. Fees represented a 6.5 percent average of the total revenue of 32 carriers reporting fee collection. 

Senate Democratic Whip Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) on Monday sharply criticized the Republican financial reform proposal that was billed as an alternative to the Democratic bill the Senate will begin to amend on Tuesday.

"We've been waiting to see if they would come forward with their own plan to determine whether or not it would be as tough on the banks on Wall Street as the bill that is on the floor," he said. "The verdict is in: it's not even close." 

Reviewing a summary of the Republican bill, Durbin said it lacks adequate capital requirements for banks and provides no oversight of "shadow" banks that operate outside the reach of regulators. 

Wall Street needs to change its behavior and executives asking for government support should feel financial pain, billionaire Warren Buffett said today. 

Besides voicing support for financial reform, Buffet was upbeat on the economic recovery and the future of Goldman Sachs CEO Lloyd Blankfein, who he said should keep his job despite civil charges and an ongoing criminal case against the investment firm.

"I think you have to do something to change behavior of CEOs and directors," said Buffett, CEO of Berkshire Hathaway and Goldman's largest shareholder, Monday on ABC's "Good Morning America." 

"I think it's disgusting that you've got all of these failures of major institutions that the government has had to step in for society reasons to help and, basically, all the CEOs that caused all the trouble went away rich."

Buffett suggested new policies that would require "the CEO and his wife go broke" if a company needs help from the federal government. 

"That would change behavior." 

Cost, containment and economic damages to the Gulf coast will be paid for by British Petroleum, a White House spokesman said today. 

The tab for any economic damages incurred -- such as fisherman unable to use the Gulf waters -- will be picked up by BP, White House spokesman Robert Gibbs told reporters Monday. 

"BP is the responsible party," he said. "If local fishermen can't fish that's an economic loss that BP is gonna have to pay."

Under the law, BP is responsible for all damages not just cost and containment and they can be forced to pay economic damages, Gibbs said. 

"The economic damages that are incurred are part of the cost of this incident, absolutely," he said.

Democratic Sens. Bob Menendez (N.J.), Frank Lautenberg (N.J.) and Bill Nelson (Fla.) intend to introduce a bill Monday increasing the economic liability cap for offshore oil spills from $75 million to $10 billion in response the the Gulf of Mexico disaster, according to a release.