Stimulus Package

[imported_elp6n]

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/22782454/

Here's the latest.
In another article I read this morning Bush says that he's confident this will be approved. Individuals/families could receive a similar tax rebate as last time (was that about 5 years ago?). Unless I'm just overlooking it I dont see a specific timeline for all this.

[Diets17]

To be honest, this will end up bad for the economy long term. We may see a short term jolt though. If they increase goverment spending to do this, then they are basically printing more money out of thin air and lessens the value of the dollar.

[Hutchinson]

It'd be nice if true...

Energy policy too..
"Bush on Tuesday had promised to talk with the king about soaring oil prices and to underscore that they were threatening the U.S. economy and hurting American families. In recent weeks oil prices have topped $100 a barrel, three times what they were when Bush took office."
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/22644928/

[imported_elp6n]

Some late night bargaining has made some changes in the potential package. Bush still backs $800 - $1600 (individual vs famly), but the current minumum on the table is $300. So now people who don't pay income tax would get a tax rebate, but plans for more food stamps & unemployment are dropped. Dont think it's mentioned much in this article but the plan also includes incentives and tax help for businesses - more of a long term stimulus.

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- A deal is imminent on a $150 billion plan to boost the lagging U.S. economy, two officials close to the negotiations said Thursday.


Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson is the administration's point person for the economic stimulus plan.

1 of 3 A planned Thursday morning meeting between Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson -- who is negotiating on President Bush's behalf -- and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is on hold now, the sources said, while leaders on Capitol Hill sell the plan to their respective caucuses.

An announcement on the plan could come Thursday afternoon, the two sources said.

"They're trying to put a bow on it" after progress on the deal was made Wednesday night, a senior Republican official said.

"They're very close to an agreement in principle," a senior Democratic aide said.

Democrats have dropped plans to increase food stamp aid and extend unemployment benefits while Republicans have agreed to allow tax rebates to go to people who don't pay income taxes, sources said.

Paulson ended a day of meetings with House leaders Wednesday night with signs of hope but no indication of a deal reached on the economic-stimulus package.

"We're hopeful," House Minority Leader John Boehner, R-Ohio, said Wednesday night.

Aides in both parties said Paulson has been working aggressively in recent days as he tries to make progress before House Republicans head out of Washington for a legislative retreat at the end of the week.

Wednesday night's negotiations were Paulson's third meeting of the day with House leaders -- he, Pelosi and Boehner began the day with a working breakfast on Capitol Hill.

Asked whether lawmakers in both parties are moving quickly because they're afraid of the wrath of angry voters, one senior Democratic aide said, "No truer words have been spoken."

A top Republican aide added that given the fluctuations in the markets, "everyone wants to get this through as quickly as possible."

While the final details are still being negotiated, officials in both parties said the current outlines of the package would give individuals a tax rebate check in the neighborhood of $800, while families could receive up to $1,600.

To win over conservatives, the package also is slated to include business tax breaks, according to officials in both parties.

The stimulus package also may face resistance from fiscal conservatives in both parties over worries that it would increase the federal debt. The talks are occurring as auditors report that the federal deficit -- the difference between what the government takes in and what it spends -- is increasing.

The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office estimated Wednesday the deficit would jump to $250 billion, mainly because of a weakening economy. That estimate does not include any additional spending that would be part of a stimulus package.

The proposal is intended to address economic worries stemming from a worldwide credit crunch created by the mortgage crisis and plunging stock markets. The president proposed the package last week. Watch a debate on whether the U.S. is heading into a recession »

Officials in both parties credited Paulson, the former Goldman Sachs executive known for a shrewd grasp of the markets, with pushing the package aggressively.

"He's been on the phone with practically every member of Congress -- some of them a few times," one Senate Republican aide said. "He's not fooling around."

The current strategy is for Pelosi and Boehner to iron out the details with Paulson as soon as next week and then get the package passed in the House of Representatives by the first week of February, according to congressional and administration officials.

The Senate then will face pressure to pass the same version by mid-February before lawmakers leave town for the Presidents Day recess.

Even if that goal is reached, however, administration officials admit it may take several more weeks before the Treasury Department can cut the rebate checks and get them in the mail -- a task that will be more difficult because the Internal Revenue Service is busy with 2007 tax returns.

One senior official noted the president signed a similar 2001 round of tax rebates around Memorial Day after the IRS' busy season.

"We're working with the IRS right now to figure this out," the official said. E-mail to a friend

[plantsman]

How can they justify giving a rebate to someone who doesn't pay income taxes?

[NotSoSilentBob]

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: boney</div><div class="ubbcode-body">How can they justify giving a rebate to someone who doesn't pay income taxes? </div></div>

Gotta buy them votes somehow!