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This should make Bush’s head spin. The Committee added 21 million seniors, 250,000 disabled veterans and an extra 13 weeks of unemployment. All of the committee’s Democrats voted to approve the bill. Seven of the committee’s 10 Republicans voted against it. The Senate could vote on the package as early as Thursday. Let’s see if this boat floats.

The Hill: The Senate Finance Committee passed its economic stimulus plan Wednesday, refusing to rubber-stamp a rival plan negotiated between the House and President Bush.

The bill was approved in a 14-7 vote, but only after income caps on those eligible to receive tax rebates were reinstated. The final bill doubled the income caps included in the House bill so that rebates are phased out for individuals earning at least $150,000 and couples receiving $300,000.

The Senate bill also broadened the House-Bush proposal by including 21 million seniors and 250,000 disabled veterans that had been excluded, and by adding an extra 13 weeks of unemployment benefits for jobless Americans.

The striking of the income ceilings in an initial bill offered by Finance Chairman Max Baucus (D-Mont.) had drawn criticism from House and Senate Democrats, prompting Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) to say their elimination made him “want to gag.”

By reinserting caps and then doubling them, Baucus hoped to win critical bipartisan support from Republicans while placating House Democrats who had negotiated hard to win the caps last week. The bill also expressly excludes members of Congress from receiving the rebates.

The Senate could vote on the package as early as Thursday. Initially an earlier vote appeared possible, but Reid said an agreement to bring it to a vote Wednesday night fell apart at the last minute.

Baucus said he believed 60 votes would be needed to invoke cloture and cut off floor debate on the bill, and that the support is there. He described his committee’s bill as far superior to the House-Bush plan because it includes seniors and veterans.

“The big picture is that this bill provides direct stimulus to almost all Americans,” Baucus said. “It is very, very targeted to people that will spend the money. And it’s simple. Simplicity is the key.”

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.”

Posted by nytexan January 30th, 2008 | Category: Senate, Stimulus, economics, economy | Subscribe to comments | Leave a comment | Trackback URL