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Senate Finance Committee passes stimulus plan |
In addition to Kyl, GOP Sens. Mike Crapo (Idaho), Pat Roberts (Kan.), Orrin Hatch (Utah), John Sununu (N.H.), John Ensign (Nev.) and Jim Bunning (Ken.) voted against the measure. Kyl, who offered a series of amendments that were voted down, said the stimulus bill will do little to revive the economy.
“There’s an old saying that every complex problem has a simple and wrong solution. That’s what I think we’re doing here,” Kyl said. “Our economy grows as GDP grows. A one-time shopping spree is not going to help a business hire a new employee or buy new equipment. Only a permanent tax reduction will do that.”
Bunning was even more blunt. “I don’t know if we can improve on the House package,” he said. “But I do know we can make it worse.”
Republican Sens. Olympia Snowe (Maine) and Gordon Smith (Ore.) joined Grassley in voting for the package.
The centerpiece of the Senate bill is a rebate plan costing $126.4 billion over 10 years and offering Americans a flat tax rebate of $500 for individuals, $1,000 for couples and $300 per child. Those with incomes of at least $3,000 would qualify, with veterans’ disability benefits and Social Security benefits counting toward that qualification requirement.
By comparison, the House plan costs $109 billion over 10 years and offers rebates of $600 for individuals, $1,200 for couples and $300 per child, with an earned income of at least $3,000 the only qualification.
Both House and Senate plans exclude illegal aliens, but the Senate plan goes further by requiring all recipients’ spouses and children to have valid Social Security numbers.
The Senate bill also offers billions in business tax break extensions to encourage energy efficiency, such as credits to manufacturers of energy-efficient new homes and appliances.
It would also extend unemployment benefits through a two-tiered system. Besides adding an extra 13 weeks of benefits, it would grant a total of 26 extra weeks in states with the highest unemployment. States with a three-month average of 6.5 percent unemployment or more would qualify as high-unemployment states.
Committee members mostly refrained from tacking on individual priorities, although Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.) pushed through an amendment that provides $3 billion in mortgage revenue bonds as refinancing aid for an estimated 2 million Americans facing foreclosure of their homes.
“The whole reason why we’re here is the subprime crisis,” he said. “I can’t think of one thing that addresses the root cause of why we’re here beside this.”
Senators were under pressure from the White House not to load up the bill with their priorities and therefore jeopardize the delicate deal between House leaders and Bush.
“We have to thread a needle here,” said Sen. Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) “Every one of us has goals… But keeping it simple and getting enough votes to pass it is very important. It doesn’t mean we rubber-stamp what the House did. But we can’t deviate too far and slow it down.”
However, senators suggested that a second stimulus bill could be drafted within weeks —with “Stimulus II” already becoming a buzzword. That sequel bill could be the ideal vehicle to carry leftover items such as road resurfacing, clean-energy incentives, tax revisions and especially help to the housing market.
Baucus and others said the option of a follow-up bill was especially helpful in urging senators to hold onto their ideas a little longer.
“This isn’t the only bite at the apple,” Schumer said.
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