Posted on 01/17/2008 8:00:08 PM PST by NormsRevenge
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President George W. Bush told lawmakers on Thursday he wants tax rebates for families and breaks for businesses in a rescue plan for the struggling U.S. economy that could total up to $150 billion.
Amid worries that the United States may already be in a recession, Bush held a private conference call with leaders of the Democratic-led Congress and their Republican counterparts.
A delicate set of negotiations took place and the president shifted gears from his initial plan to outline an economic stimulus plan on his own. Instead, he agreed to hammer out the details of the package in collaboration with legislators, congressional sources said.
"In the next few days, through ongoing bipartisan negotiations, we are hopeful that we will agree on legislation that provides timely, targeted, and temporary assistance to America's middle class," House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi said in a statement.
Under discussion is a total package of $150 billion that would include both tax breaks and some spending, such as help for the unemployed, according to sources familiar with the matter who spoke on condition of anonymity.
About two-thirds of the package would be aimed at providing cash and assistance to families, with the rest focused on businesses, one source said.
The White House declined to discuss the details of the talks and officials would not say which approach Bush favors.
Bush is to speak on Friday in general terms about what he kinds of economic measures he would like to see.
"The most important thing is that they should be temporary, they need to be effective, they need to be things that we can get done quickly," said White House spokesman Tony Fratto.
The talks between the White House and Congress have focused on cutting the 10 percent income-tax bracket to 3 percent or zero and giving households the money in advance as a rebate.
Businesses would be allowed to take an immediate tax deduction for 50 percent of their new investments.
BERNANKE ADDS WEIGHT
The conference call between Bush and members of Congress took place after Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke threw his weight behind the idea of a fiscal package to shore up the economy.
But Bernanke said in a congressional hearing it was "critically important" that any fiscal measures be designed to kick in quickly -- comments that may lend momentum to the efforts to reach a deal.
Bridging the differences between Bush and the Democratic-led Congress, however, will not be easy. The two sides battled fiercely last year on issues from health care to the Iraq war.
On the stimulus package, Republicans favor steps like tax breaks for businesses, which they say would help create jobs.
But Democrats want to see more help for low- and moderate-income people, including tax rebates, assistance for the unemployed and additional spending on food stamps. They also want financial aid to state governments.
Bush, who just returned from a nine-day Middle East tour, had indicated before the trip that he was looking at economic options but also signaled he might include in any proposal the idea of making permanent his 2001 and 2003 tax cuts.
That would be a nonstarter with Democrats and the White House has backed away from seeking to make it part of a short-term stimulus package.
There have been loud calls for a measure to boost the economy from the campaign trail, where candidates are vying to succeed Bush in the November 4 election.
All three major Democratic candidates -- Sen. Hillary Clinton, Sen. Barack Obama and former Sen. John Edwards -- have offered plans containing spending and tax-cut ideas.
Republican Sen. John McCain on Thursday laid out a proposal for cuts in corporate tax rates and incentives for companies to invest in new equipment and research. One of his main Republican rivals, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, is also getting ready to unveil a plan.
Norm
Keyword typo, did you mean discuss or disgust?
posted as titled.(I checked) ;-)
It’ll be 250 before they are thru..
Here we go again! More discredited Keynsian shenanigans.
Typical election year pandering.
That is so nice of you. Giving some of our money back...
I got a much better idea, how about permanent and meaningful tax cuts?
Why temporary? Just cut some taxes and useless spending.
Here's a couple, make the Bush tax cuts permanent, and cut the gasoline tax.
If spending isn’t addressed, this is just more bailing water out of a sinking ship with a teaspoon.
Pay them to build a border fence
They need to cut spending on worthless gov’t programs/waste, cut taxes and get rid of taxes on diesel.
Well, that probably leaves me out. I'm single, not rich, but not poor.
No problem, everybody will have to get something, , the pie in the sky is hugh, there’s plenty to go around yaknow.. ;-)
Like with Iraq, they don't really want the economy to do well.
If you are reading this you are probably paying for those rebates and credits... Think I could sell that on a bumper sticker to pay those new taxes?
Hey I got an idea, how bout the fed’s let the damn economy alone… if that doesn’t work… maybe we could just lay off all a few of the federal police officers that are running around the country arresting people for smokin weed or owning a hand gun… that’d save millions that we could then dump into the economy… course if we stop arresting people for committing victimless “crimes” we have all those unemployed cops and unemployed corrections officers… but hey, who knows, “The land of the Free” might actually have a shot at falling below number 1 on the list of the most incarnated countries in the world
Last I checked we were running deficit spending, so obviously we're going to borrow $150 billion dollars and give $1000 to each of 150 million people. These same people more than likely would not be able to go out and borrow this money due to our "credit crunch" so the government is going to put us all a bit further into debt. These same people theoretically will have to pay it back. Or are we just going to pile this onto our grandchildren's back too?
"maybe we could just lay off all a few of the federal police officers that are running around the country arresting people for smokin weed or owning a hand gun… that’d save millions that we could then dump into the economy… course if we stop arresting people for committing victimless “crimes” we have all those unemployed cops and unemployed corrections officers… but hey, who knows, “The land of the Free” might actually have a shot at falling below number 1 on the list of the most incarnated countries in the world"Well first let me compliment you your little guy drinking coffee and reading the paper… that’s good stuff… secondly, not that it really matters, but I don’t smoke pot… third, yea I certainly have a particular agenda and axe to grind; which as it so happens is tied directly w/ tax rebates and federal spending… third, these are the dangers inherent w/ spell check, lol… sorry about that but the point stand that if the federal government stuck to the its intended purpose of protecting the United States from foreign and domestic foes and stopped incarcerating people for hurting themselves there would be much much more money in the federal coffers, not to mention the tax revenue that would be generated if all those DEA agents had to get real income producing jobs in the private sector, as opposed to collecting paychecks from our taxes. Hence, the ’01 and ’03 taxes breaks could easily become permanent and they’re would be plenty of money left over to stimulate the economy, if you believe that stimulation is the responsibility of the Fed’s. And even if you don’t, it’s pretty easy to see, with all of the talk of reducing federal spending, this is the easiest, fairest, and common sense place to start when slashing federal jobs and federal spending
$250 and they’ll raise gas prices and SS taxes as well as Medicare taxes....probably also eliminate some other tax incentives....
I shouldn't be writing anything I want to be comprehensible at this hour of the night, but no, I'm not the least bit interested in a one time tax rebate. 150B is about 1% of GDP so we're looking at 3 days of spending. I'm not an economist but I truly don't see how this is going to stimulate the economy. If the government actually had $150 billion dollars of surplus money, then a rebate would be stimulating. But to borrow money to give to the very people that will have to repay it with interest serves no one except the people collecting the interest.
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