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Senate Democrats Want to Push Back Stimulus Votes to Next Week
Thursday, January 31, 2008
WASHINGTON - Votes that were expected Thursday on the economic stimulus
package aimed at giving the U.S. economy a shot in the arm likely will be
pushed off until at least Monday in to gain two crucial votes - from Sens.
Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama.
While the two Democrats are locking horns on the presidential campaign
trail, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid is trying to gain enough support in
Washington to pass an add-on to the $150 billion version that the House
passed earlier this week.
Senate Democrats already are facing Republican criticism of foot-dragging
and "Christmas Tree" decorating on the stimulus package because of one
Senate plan to replace the House version. Reid is hoping to pass a slightly
different plan next week.
The Senate is working on a bill that would change the House plan by adding
to the amount of money the federal government would disburse to individual
tax filers - from a $300 minimum to a $500 minimum - and add to the number
of people who would get checks.
Reed will need Clinton and Obama to help add two provisions that Democrats
consider vital to boosting the sagging economy. One would give rebate checks
to low-income seniors and disabled veterans, a provision that would extend
benefits to some 20 million low-income seniors and 75,000 disabled veterans.
The other is heating-oil assistance for the poor.
RelatedStories
Senate Expected to Fix Immigrant Loophole in Stimulus Bill Illegal Immigrant
Taxpayers to Benefit From House-Approved Stimulus Plan The measures will
need 60 votes to pass, which will largely come from the Democratic side of
the aisle.
Reid spokesman Jim Manley said his boss is calling both the Obama and
Clinton campaigns to talk through the strategy, but Manley made clear that
"this vote on stimulus is not dictated by the campaign schedule."
The votes could happen as early as Monday, but it is possible that Reid will
wait for after Super Tuesday.
If Reid's plan and the several others under consideration fail, the Senate
most likely will take up the original version passed by the House and backed
at 1600 Pennsylvania Ave.
"If it fails, we'll pass the House bill," said Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., a
member of the Senate Democratic leadership team.
This is the gameplan that arose during a Thursday-morning emergency meeting
that Reid called after strong backlash arose against the package developed
by Sen. Max Baucus, D-Mont., who is the Finance Committee chairman,
according to sources who attended the meeting.
Reid called the meeting after a Wednesday committee vote on Baucus' bill
showed slim GOP support for the plan, indicating likely failure once it hits
the full Senate. Only three Republicans went for the bill, which Baucus
created with the help of Ranking Minority Leader Charles Grassley.
The Baucus-Grassley bill adds additional business breaks and expands the
number of taxpayers eligible for a rebate.
Reid is asking Clinton and Obama to head back to Washington Monday to help
pass the most coveted provision of the Baucus-Grassley plan: a rebate check
to 20 million low-income seniors and disabled veterans who receive Social
Security benefits but have income that is too low to otherwise qualify for
the rebates.
Supporters say the Baucus-Grassley bill also will fix a loophole in the
House-passed economic stimulus package that allows some illegal immigrants
to qualify for tax-rebate checks.
Immigration Flap
The fix requires that anyone eligible for a rebate envisioned in the
House-passed stimulus package must have a valid Social Security number
rather than an Individual Tax Identification Number.
The stimulus plan overwhelmingly passed the House Tuesday on a suspended
vote, meaning no amendments were included in the initial legislation. A
mini-brushfire broke out in the Capitol Wednesday as members realized that
the decision to refund tax payments to ITIN holders meant illegal immigrants
possibly could benefit.
The IRS classifies illegal workers in the United States for more than 31
days in the current year as "resident aliens." The majority of illegal
immigrants in the United States are believed to be included as resident
aliens under the IRS statutes.
Resident aliens can get an ITIN, pay taxes and file tax returns. The House
measure expressly blocked "non-resident aliens," those who just arrived in
the United States, have not been deported and have not spent any
"substantial" time here.
The internal warfare among congressional Republicans centered on whether or
not illegal immigrants who earned at least $3,000 in taxable income were
eligible for a rebate. House Minority Leader John Boehner insisted illegal
immigrants would not benefit because they generally do not use ITINs to file
tax returns since the very use of ITINs indicates the return may have been
filed by an illegal immigrant.
Still, Boehner's argument did not answer the question about the inclusion of
the words "resident aliens" in the legislation, so the Senate came up with a
compromise. Sen. John Ensign, R-Nev., a lead opponent of illegal immigrants
getting rebates, said he was satisfied with changes made to the Senate
panel's bill.
But Colorado Republican Rep. Tom Tancredo, one of the most vocal
anti-illegal immigration voices in Washington, did not appear to take solace
in Boehner's argument or the Senate fix. In a letter sent to Reid and Senate
Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, Tancredo implored the Senate to "fix" the
loophole.
"Whether the total amount of checks cut to illegal aliens from the U.S.
Treasury amounts to $600 or $6 billion, I do not believe the American public
supports a stimulus package that reinforces the idea that there is really no
difference between illegal aliens and American citizens.
"Worse, given the well-documented tendency of illegal aliens to send large
portions of their earnings back to relatives in their home country, it is
quite possible that the lion's share of any payments sent to illegal aliens
will simply be sent abroad - stimulating a foreign economy rather than our
own," Tancredo wrote.
Speaking with FOX News, Tancredo complained that the Senate's proposed fix
also does not address a much greater problem:
"The fact that we know that Social Security numbers are compromised, the
fact that thousands of people, maybe millions of people, we don't know for
sure how many people, filed an income tax form with a fake Social Security
number - we also know that there's absolutely no communication between the
IRS and Social Security Administration," Tancredo said.
Moving Forward
Any differences between House and Senate versions of the legislation will
require the two chambers to meet in a conference to create a single, unified
bill. But the ability to craft a compromise might be more difficult than
originally envisioned by the House.
The Senate Finance Committee approved a stimulus bill that would give $500
to tax filers who earned less than $150,000 in 2007, or $1,000 to married,
joint tax filers with a combined income less than $300,000. Each child under
17 would be worth another $300.
The committee vote Wednesday was 14-5 - with just three committee
Republicans joining all the Democrats on the panel.
The new cap is higher than the House-passed version, which places a $600
limit on singles making $75,000, or $1,200 for joint-filing married couples
who make $150,000. With assorted other elements, it raises the package to a
cost of $193 billion.
Baucus, under tremendous pressure from his Democratic colleagues to cut
America's richest taxpayers out of the rebates, made the changes, and
Grassley spoke favorably about the caps being inserted despite his
preference for no caps.
But that's not the only point of contention. An extension to unemployment
benefits is shaping up to be the central fight when this bill makes it to
the Senate floor.
The Finance Committee bill extends unemployment payments for 13 weeks to
those whose benefits have run out, with 26 more weeks available in states
with a 6.5 percent unemployment rate.
Only four states qualify for this extra assistance: Alaska, Michigan,
Mississippi and South Carolina. Grassley said he was willing to go along
with the measure if it meant increasing households eligible for the rebates.
Republicans are vowing to fight this measure, pointing to a private-sector
analysis that shows jobs grew in January 2008. Sen. Judd Gregg, R-N.H.,
railed against the need for the extension, saying it could actually have the
reverse effect of what's intended in a stimulus bill.
"To extend unemployment insurance by a year, in areas where you have full
employment, you give a disincentive for people to go out and get a job,"
Gregg said. His own state's unemployment rate is well below the national
average, at 3.6 percent.
In addition to the provision for low-income seniors and veterans,
Baucus-Grassley also includes a temporary, $5.6 billion measure aimed at
benefiting producers of renewable energy such as wind and solar power.
That's on top of the $50 billion in incentives approved by the House.
The Senate also reconstituted a measure left out of House negotiations that
lets businesses change the way they expense losses. The incentive lets
companies that are losing money to apply 2006 and 2007 losses to tax returns
from profitable years dating back to 2001 and 2002 so they can get refunds
on tax payments.
Some Democrats had wanted to add money for food stamps and heating aid for
the poor, but Schumer said he feared that would load the bill down too much.
"We have to thread the needle here. We want to improve the bill, but we
don't want to move it so far from the House bill that we slow it down," he
said Wednesday.
Speaking in California on Wednesday, President Bush said he prefers the
House package but wants to get legislation done by mid-February.
"If you're truly interested in dealing with the slowdown of the economy, the
Senate ought to accept the House package, pass it and get it to my desk as
soon as possible," the president said.
"The sooner you get a check, the more likely it is the stimulus package will
kick in and make a difference."
Senate Democrats Want to Push Back Stimulus Votes to Next Week
Thursday, January 31, 2008
WASHINGTON - Votes that were expected Thursday on the economic stimulus
package aimed at giving the U.S. economy a shot in the arm likely will be
pushed off until at least Monday in to gain two crucial votes - from Sens.
Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama.
While the two Democrats are locking horns on the presidential campaign
trail, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid is trying to gain enough support in
Washington to pass an add-on to the $150 billion version that the House
passed earlier this week.
Senate Democrats already are facing Republican criticism of foot-dragging
and "Christmas Tree" decorating on the stimulus package because of one
Senate plan to replace the House version. Reid is hoping to pass a slightly
different plan next week.
The Senate is working on a bill that would change the House plan by adding
to the amount of money the federal government would disburse to individual
tax filers - from a $300 minimum to a $500 minimum - and add to the number
of people who would get checks.
Reed will need Clinton and Obama to help add two provisions that Democrats
consider vital to boosting the sagging economy. One would give rebate checks
to low-income seniors and disabled veterans, a provision that would extend
benefits to some 20 million low-income seniors and 75,000 disabled veterans.
The other is heating-oil assistance for the poor.
RelatedStories
Senate Expected to Fix Immigrant Loophole in Stimulus Bill Illegal Immigrant
Taxpayers to Benefit From House-Approved Stimulus Plan The measures will
need 60 votes to pass, which will largely come from the Democratic side of
the aisle.
Reid spokesman Jim Manley said his boss is calling both the Obama and
Clinton campaigns to talk through the strategy, but Manley made clear that
"this vote on stimulus is not dictated by the campaign schedule."
The votes could happen as early as Monday, but it is possible that Reid will
wait for after Super Tuesday.
If Reid's plan and the several others under consideration fail, the Senate
most likely will take up the original version passed by the House and backed
at 1600 Pennsylvania Ave.
"If it fails, we'll pass the House bill," said Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., a
member of the Senate Democratic leadership team.
This is the gameplan that arose during a Thursday-morning emergency meeting
that Reid called after strong backlash arose against the package developed
by Sen. Max Baucus, D-Mont., who is the Finance Committee chairman,
according to sources who attended the meeting.
Reid called the meeting after a Wednesday committee vote on Baucus' bill
showed slim GOP support for the plan, indicating likely failure once it hits
the full Senate. Only three Republicans went for the bill, which Baucus
created with the help of Ranking Minority Leader Charles Grassley.
The Baucus-Grassley bill adds additional business breaks and expands the
number of taxpayers eligible for a rebate.
Reid is asking Clinton and Obama to head back to Washington Monday to help
pass the most coveted provision of the Baucus-Grassley plan: a rebate check
to 20 million low-income seniors and disabled veterans who receive Social
Security benefits but have income that is too low to otherwise qualify for
the rebates.
Supporters say the Baucus-Grassley bill also will fix a loophole in the
House-passed economic stimulus package that allows some illegal immigrants
to qualify for tax-rebate checks.
Immigration Flap
The fix requires that anyone eligible for a rebate envisioned in the
House-passed stimulus package must have a valid Social Security number
rather than an Individual Tax Identification Number.
The stimulus plan overwhelmingly passed the House Tuesday on a suspended
vote, meaning no amendments were included in the initial legislation. A
mini-brushfire broke out in the Capitol Wednesday as members realized that
the decision to refund tax payments to ITIN holders meant illegal immigrants
possibly could benefit.
The IRS classifies illegal workers in the United States for more than 31
days in the current year as "resident aliens." The majority of illegal
immigrants in the United States are believed to be included as resident
aliens under the IRS statutes.
Resident aliens can get an ITIN, pay taxes and file tax returns. The House
measure expressly blocked "non-resident aliens," those who just arrived in
the United States, have not been deported and have not spent any
"substantial" time here.
The internal warfare among congressional Republicans centered on whether or
not illegal immigrants who earned at least $3,000 in taxable income were
eligible for a rebate. House Minority Leader John Boehner insisted illegal
immigrants would not benefit because they generally do not use ITINs to file
tax returns since the very use of ITINs indicates the return may have been
filed by an illegal immigrant.
Still, Boehner's argument did not answer the question about the inclusion of
the words "resident aliens" in the legislation, so the Senate came up with a
compromise. Sen. John Ensign, R-Nev., a lead opponent of illegal immigrants
getting rebates, said he was satisfied with changes made to the Senate
panel's bill.
But Colorado Republican Rep. Tom Tancredo, one of the most vocal
anti-illegal immigration voices in Washington, did not appear to take solace
in Boehner's argument or the Senate fix. In a letter sent to Reid and Senate
Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, Tancredo implored the Senate to "fix" the
loophole.
"Whether the total amount of checks cut to illegal aliens from the U.S.
Treasury amounts to $600 or $6 billion, I do not believe the American public
supports a stimulus package that reinforces the idea that there is really no
difference between illegal aliens and American citizens.
"Worse, given the well-documented tendency of illegal aliens to send large
portions of their earnings back to relatives in their home country, it is
quite possible that the lion's share of any payments sent to illegal aliens
will simply be sent abroad - stimulating a foreign economy rather than our
own," Tancredo wrote.
Speaking with FOX News, Tancredo complained that the Senate's proposed fix
also does not address a much greater problem:
"The fact that we know that Social Security numbers are compromised, the
fact that thousands of people, maybe millions of people, we don't know for
sure how many people, filed an income tax form with a fake Social Security
number - we also know that there's absolutely no communication between the
IRS and Social Security Administration," Tancredo said.
Moving Forward
Any differences between House and Senate versions of the legislation will
require the two chambers to meet in a conference to create a single, unified
bill. But the ability to craft a compromise might be more difficult than
originally envisioned by the House.
The Senate Finance Committee approved a stimulus bill that would give $500
to tax filers who earned less than $150,000 in 2007, or $1,000 to married,
joint tax filers with a combined income less than $300,000. Each child under
17 would be worth another $300.
The committee vote Wednesday was 14-5 - with just three committee
Republicans joining all the Democrats on the panel.
The new cap is higher than the House-passed version, which places a $600
limit on singles making $75,000, or $1,200 for joint-filing married couples
who make $150,000. With assorted other elements, it raises the package to a
cost of $193 billion.
Baucus, under tremendous pressure from his Democratic colleagues to cut
America's richest taxpayers out of the rebates, made the changes, and
Grassley spoke favorably about the caps being inserted despite his
preference for no caps.
But that's not the only point of contention. An extension to unemployment
benefits is shaping up to be the central fight when this bill makes it to
the Senate floor.
The Finance Committee bill extends unemployment payments for 13 weeks to
those whose benefits have run out, with 26 more weeks available in states
with a 6.5 percent unemployment rate.
Only four states qualify for this extra assistance: Alaska, Michigan,
Mississippi and South Carolina. Grassley said he was willing to go along
with the measure if it meant increasing households eligible for the rebates.
Republicans are vowing to fight this measure, pointing to a private-sector
analysis that shows jobs grew in January 2008. Sen. Judd Gregg, R-N.H.,
railed against the need for the extension, saying it could actually have the
reverse effect of what's intended in a stimulus bill.
"To extend unemployment insurance by a year, in areas where you have full
employment, you give a disincentive for people to go out and get a job,"
Gregg said. His own state's unemployment rate is well below the national
average, at 3.6 percent.
In addition to the provision for low-income seniors and veterans,
Baucus-Grassley also includes a temporary, $5.6 billion measure aimed at
benefiting producers of renewable energy such as wind and solar power.
That's on top of the $50 billion in incentives approved by the House.
The Senate also reconstituted a measure left out of House negotiations that
lets businesses change the way they expense losses. The incentive lets
companies that are losing money to apply 2006 and 2007 losses to tax returns
from profitable years dating back to 2001 and 2002 so they can get refunds
on tax payments.
Some Democrats had wanted to add money for food stamps and heating aid for
the poor, but Schumer said he feared that would load the bill down too much.
"We have to thread the needle here. We want to improve the bill, but we
don't want to move it so far from the House bill that we slow it down," he
said Wednesday.
Speaking in California on Wednesday, President Bush said he prefers the
House package but wants to get legislation done by mid-February.
"If you're truly interested in dealing with the slowdown of the economy, the
Senate ought to accept the House package, pass it and get it to my desk as
soon as possible," the president said.
"The sooner you get a check, the more likely it is the stimulus package will
kick in and make a difference."
