The House approved an $819 billion stimulus package on a near party- line vote Wednesday, a plan breathtaking in size and scope that President Barack Obama hopes to make the cornerstone of his efforts to resuscitate the staggering economy.
Obama engaged in an all-out lobbying push for the bill, which is among the most expensive pieces of legislation ever to move through Congress. He now will turn his attention to the Senate, where Democrats have scheduled debate Monday and the price tag is likely to reach $900 billion.
Larger than the combined total cost of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan so far, the two-year stimulus plan would provide up to $1,000 per year in tax relief for most families, sharply increase funding for alternative-energy production, and direct more than $300 billion in aid to states to help rebuild schools, provide health care to the poor and reconstruct highways and bridges.
But Obama’s personal salesmanship effort failed to secure a single Republican supporter for the spending plan, which passed on a 244-188 vote. Just a day after the president spent more than an hour behind closed doors at the Capitol seeking their support, all 177 House Republicans opposed the measure, arguing that it would spend hundreds of billions of dollars on initiatives that would do little to stimulate the economy. Eleven Democrats opposed the bill.
In a statement issued after the early-evening vote, Obama said he was “grateful” for the House action.
“There are many numbers in this plan,” he said in the statement. “But out of all these numbers, there is one that matters most to me: This recovery plan will save or create more than 3 million new jobs over the next few years.”
While Obama made no mention of the unanimous Republican opposition, a top adviser warned of the political fallout GOP lawmakers could face from constituents struggling in tough economic times. “There will be people in districts all over the country that will wonder why, when there’s a good bill to get the economy moving again, while we still seem to be playing political gotcha,” White House press secretary Robert Gibbs said.
Some moderate Republicans who opposed the bill left open the chance of supporting the final version if the White House and Senate address their concerns about spending. And Democrats remain hopeful of securing a more bipartisan result in the Senate, where committee action has driven up the cost as the amount of tax relief has increased, something Republicans have demanded before they will consider offering their support.
In addition to other tweaks to the tax portion of the package, the Senate Finance Committee added a $70 billion fix to the alternative-minimum tax to the chamber’s version of the bill, a provision aimed at preventing the tax from being applied to middle-class households, pushing the total cost to at least $890 billion.
The Finance Committee also added a provision that would reduce taxes on businesses that buy back their own debt at a discount.
Senators in both parties were readying amendments to make further changes, including a proposal that would sharply reduce taxes, from 35 percent to 5.25 percent, on corporate profits earned abroad and brought back to the United States.
Advocates say that the measure, sponsored by Sens. Barbara Boxer, D-Calif., and John Ensign, R-Nev., would prompt companies to “repatriate” hundreds of billions of dollars, money that could be used to expand domestic operations and save jobs. Supporters estimate it could increase federal tax revenue by as much as $40 billion.
Housing advocates complained that the package would not provide $10 billion for a trust fund to build affordable housing that was created last summer but never funded. Labor unions complained that the plan would put too little money toward construction projects to create jobs. The U.S. Chamber of Commerce complained that the measure would do too little to relieve the tax burden on businesses struggling to avoid layoffs.
But such additions might increase the already staggering cost of the legislation, which could risk solidifying Republican opposition and losing more votes among the fiscally moderate coalition of Blue Dog Democrats.
By early afternoon, House Republicans knew they would be united in their opposition to the plan, aides said. As he walked to the chamber floor for the 6 p.m. vote, Minority Leader John Boehner of Ohio touched his finger and thumb together, flashing a zero to indicate the number of GOP votes the bill would receive.
After meeting with Republicans, Obama coaxed his fellow Democrats into dropping some controversial spending provisions that even they acknowledged would do little to create jobs, including a $335 million family-planning program and $200 million to refurbish the Mall in Washington.
The stimulus debate comes on the heels of congressional action in mid-January that released $350 billion to Obama’s new Treasury secretary, Timothy Geithner, for use in the effort to free up the credit markets, part of the massive financial rescue package approved last fall. Held days before Obama was sworn in as president, that vote also fell largely on party lines, as just six Senate Republicans joined 46 Democrats in supporting the release of the money.
Heard on the Hill
For the bill: All Colorado Democrats
Against: All Colorado Republicans
“Passage of this economic package will mean real change by rebuilding America’s roads and bridges and providing a tax cut to 95 percent of American workers.” — Rep. Diana DeGette, Denver Democrat
“This bill will immediately help prevent further job loss in hard-hit places like Adams County by keeping hardworking Coloradans in their jobs so they can support their families and contribute to the economy. . . . It also lays the foundation for a stellar 21st-century education system.” — Rep. Jared Polis, Boulder Democrat
“As a proud member of the Blue Dog caucus, I will never spend taxpayers’ money without significant cause and careful consideration, and both were the case with this bill. This is the right choice for a tough time.” — Rep. John Salazar, Manassa Democrat
“We know it will take time to turn this economy around, but experts across the political spectrum agree that inaction will cause catastrophic damage to our country.” — Rep. Betsy Markey, Fort Collins Democrat
“The American people deserve better than this pork-laden spending frenzy masquerading as a ‘stimulus package.’ ” — Rep. Mike Coffman, Aurora Republican
“Today, Congress took a bold step to try to stabilize our economy by passing a historic bill providing tax relief to nearly every working American, creating or saving more than 3 million jobs, and laying the foundation for long-term economic growth in energy, transportation, technology and health care.” — Rep. Ed Perlmutter, Golden Democrat
“Throwing money at the problem will not work. Instead, we need swift, across-the-board tax cuts that create jobs and not just another bloated Washington spending spree that over-promises and under-delivers.” — Rep. Doug Lamborn, Colorado Springs Republican
What Colo. could get
Some of the Colorado spending proposed in the economic-stimulus package. If the package becomes law, the money would be for the current fiscal year and the next fiscal year.
State budget aid: $990 million
INFRASTRUCTURE
Highways and bridges: $412.8 million
Mass transit: $94.9 million
Other rail: $11.2 million
Wastewater treatment: $46.4 million
EDUCATION
Head Start: $8.1 million
School modernization: $226.9 million
Education-technology grants: $10.6 million
POOR/UNEMPLOYED
Low-income energy assistance: $15.6 million
Source: Tables released by the House Appropriations Committee and the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee
Highlights of the plan
A breakdown of the $819 billion
economic-recovery plan drafted by
House Democrats and President Barack
Obama’s economic team. Additional
debt costs would add $347 billion over
10 years. Many provisions expire in
two years.
Spending
Education: $41 billion in grants to local
school districts; $79 billion in state fiscal
relief to prevent cuts in state aid; $21 billion
for school modernization; $16 billion
to boost the maximum student Pell Grant
by $500 to $5,350; $2 billion for Head
Start.
Health care: $40 billion to subsidize
health care insurance for the unemployed
under the COBRA program or provide
health care through Medicaid; $87 billion
to help states with Medicaid; $20 billion
to modernize health information-technology
systems; $4 billion for preventative
care; $1.5 billion for community health
centers; $420 million to combat avian flu;
$335 million for programs that combat
AIDS, sexually transmitted diseases and tuberculosis.
Infrastructure: $43 billion for transportation
projects – including $30 billion for
highway and bridge construction and repair,
and $12 billion for mass transit, including
$7.5 billion to buy transit equipment
such as buses; $31 billion to build
and repair federal buildings and other
public infrastructure; $19 billion in water
projects; $10 billion in rail and masstransit
projects.
Aid to the poor and unemployed: $43 billion
to provide extended unemployment
benefits through Dec. 31, increase them
by $25 a week and provide job training;
$20 billion to increase food-stamp benefits
by 13 percent; $4 billion to provide a onetime
additional Supplemental Security Income
payment; $2.5 billion in temporary
welfare payments; $1 billion for homeheating
subsidies; and $1 billion for community-
action agencies.
Energy: $32 billion to fund a so-called
smart electricity grid to reduce waste;
$6 billion to weatherize modest-income
homes.
Science and technology: $10 billion for
science facilities; $6 billion to bring high-speed
Internet access to rural and underserved
areas; $1 billion for the 2010 census.
Housing: $13 billion to repair and make
more energy-efficient public-housing
projects, allow communities to buy and repair
foreclosed homes, and help the homeless.
Environment: $3.2 billion to clean up Superfund
and waste sites, leaking underground
storage tanks, nuclear sites and
military bases, as well as $400 million for
habitat-restoration projects and $850 million
to prevent forest fires.
Law enforcement: $4 billion in grants to
state and local law enforcement to hire
officers and purchase equipment.
Taxes
Individuals
per couple for two years, costing about
$145 billion. Workers could expect to
see about $20 a week less withheld from
their paychecks starting in June. Millions
of Americans who don’t make enough
money to pay federal income taxes
could file returns next year and receive
checks.
tax credit for the working poor in 2009
and 2010 at a cost of $18.3 billion. Under
current law, workers must make at
least $8,500 to receive the credit. The
change eliminates the floor, meaning
more workers who pay no federal income
taxes could receive checks.
which provides money to the working
poor – for families with at least three
children, at a cost of $4.7 billion.
tuition and related expenses for 2009
and 2010, at a cost of $10.3 billion. The
credit is phased out for couples making
more than $160,000.
first-time homebuyer tax credit be paid
back over time for homes purchased
from Jan. 1 to July 1, unless the home is
sold within three years, at a cost of $2.6
billion. The credit is phased out for couples
making more than $150,000.
who make their houses more energy
efficient, at a cost of $4.3 billion.
Homeowners could receive tax credits of
up to $1,500 for upgrading furnaces and
water heaters and making other improvements
through 2010.
Businesses
buying equipment such as computers to
speed up the depreciation of that equipment
through 2009, at a cost of $5 billion.
companies by allowing them to
claim tax credits on past profits dating
back five years instead of two, at a cost
of $15 billion.
firms that buy money-losing banks to
use more of the losses as tax credits to
offset the profits of the merged banks
for tax purposes. The change would increase
taxes on the merged banks by $7
billion over 10 years.
construction, teacher training, economic
development and infrastructure improvements
at a cost of $35.5 billion.
production at a cost of $13 billion.
Source: The Associated Press
