AP: Highlights of Compromise Economic Stimulus Plan

[flpoljunkie]

Highlights of Compromise Economic Stimulus Plan

Wednesday, February 11, 2009; 8:58 PM

-- Highlights of a nearly $789 billion compromise version of President Barack Obama's economic recovery plan agreed to by Democrats and moderate Senate Republicans. Additional debt costs would add about $330 billion over 10 years. Many provisions expire in two years.

___

Spending

AID TO POOR AND UNEMPLOYED

_ $40 billion to provide extended unemployment benefits through Dec. 31, and increase them by $25 a week; $20 billion to increase food stamp benefits by 14 percent; $3 billion in temporary welfare payments.

DIRECT CASH PAYMENTS

_ $14 billion to give one-time $250 payments to Social Security recipients, poor people on Supplemental Security Income, and veterans receiving disability and pensions.

INFRASTRUCTURE

_ $46 billion for transportation projects, including $27 billion for highway and bridge construction and repair; $8.4 billion for mass transit; $8 billion for construction of high-speed railways and $1.3 billion for Amtrak; $4.6 billion for the Army Corps of Engineers; $4 billion for public housing improvements; $6.4 billion for clean and drinking water projects; $7 billion to bring broadband Internet service to underserved areas.

HEALTH CARE

_ $21 billion to provide a 60 percent subsidy of health care insurance premiums for the unemployed under the COBRA program; $87 billion to help states with Medicaid; $19 billion to modernize health information technology systems; $10 billion for health research and construction of National Institutes of Health facilities.

STATE BLOCK GRANTS

_ $5 billion in aid to states to use as they please to defray budget cuts.

EDUCATION

_ $54 billion in state fiscal relief to prevent cuts in state aid to school districts, with up to $10 billion for school repair; $26 billion to school districts to fund special education and the No Child Left Behind law for students in K-12; $17 billion to boost the maximum Pell Grant by $500 to $5,350; $2 billion for Head Start.

HOMELAND SECURITY

_ $2.8 billion for homeland security programs, including $1 billion for airport screening equipment.

LAW ENFORCEMENT

_ $4 billion in grants to state and local law enforcement to hire officers and purchase equipment.

___

Taxes

NEW TAX CREDIT

_ Approximately $115 billion for a $400 per-worker, $800 per-couple tax credits in 2009 and 2010. For the last half of 2009, workers could expect to see perhaps $13 a week less withheld from their paychecks starting around June. Millions of Americans who don't make enough money to pay federal income taxes could file returns next year and receive checks. Individuals making more than $75,000 and couples making more than $150,000 would receive reduced amounts.

ALTERNATIVE MINIMUM TAX

_ About $70 billion to spare about 24 million taxpayers from being hit with the alternative minimum tax in 2009. The change would save a family of four an average of $2,300. The tax was designed to make sure wealthy taxpayers can't use credits and deductions to avoid paying any taxes. But it was never indexed to inflation, so families making as little as $45,000 could get significant increases without the change. Congress addresses it each year, usually in the fall.

EXPANDED COLLEGE CREDIT

_ About $13 billion to provide a $2,500 expanded tax credit for college tuition and related expenses for 2009 and 2010. The credit is phased out for couples making more than $160,000.

HOMEBUYER CREDIT

_ $3.7 billion to repeal a requirement that a $8,000 first-time home buyer tax credit be paid back over time for homes purchased from Jan. 1 to August 31, unless the home is sold within three years.

BONUS DEPRECIATION

_ $5 billion to extend a provision allowing businesses buying equipment such as computers to speed up its depreciation through 2009.

AUTO SALES

_ $2.5 billion to makes sales tax on paid on new car purchases tax deductible.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/02/11/AR2009021103678_pf.html

[flpoljunkie]

1. What happened to the payroll tax reduction for those who do not pay income tax? Hope this is wrong!

-Approximately $115 billion for a $400 per-worker, $800 per-couple tax credits in 2009 and 2010. For the last half of 2009, workers could expect to see perhaps $13 a week less withheld from their paychecks starting around June. Millions of Americans who don't make enough money to pay federal income taxes could file returns next year and receive checks. Individuals making more than $75,000 and couples making more than $150,000 would receive reduced amounts.

[Thrill]

4. They get a reduction in medicare and social security tax

[flpoljunkie]

8. Do you have any evidence of that?

[Thrill]

10. Yes

Wage-earners who don't earn enough to pay income taxes would get a reduction in the Social Security and Medicare taxes they pay.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090212/ap_on_go_co/congress_stimulus;_ylt=AsAX63K8tqwl3v8u8gviO8KyFz4D

Down goes another Republican Talking Point.

[flpoljunkie]

15. Thanks. Hope that's right. The AP article left that out.

The Rethugs will hate this!

[Cha]

31. AP is not reliable..

which is too bad.

[Still Sensible]

44. This tax relief is going to be done through the the payroll tax

therefore everyone that gets a paycheck (under the $70,000 single $140,000 couple threshold) gets the federal income tax taken out of their paycheck reduced. As long as you are getting a paycheck, you get it, even if you ultimately don't make enough to pay taxes.

[Windy]

2. I'm glad the cobra provison got added back in

and it appears that the dollar amount of the educational portion of the package was brought back up a bit.

[DURHAM D]

3. I am sorry, but -

7M to increase broadband service to the folks out in the country is stupid. Move in to town if your speed is too slow.

Or, better yet, let the private corporations fund it. This is in the bill because of effective and highly paid K-Street lobbyists.

[Thrill]

5. The bigger picture is you have to hire workers to do it

[DURHAM D]

9. So let Time Warner hire workers and pay for them -

they will make the profits.

On another note, the infrastructure part needs to be about three times the amount that it is in this cluster f**k.

[Thrill]

13. Obama wants to create jobs. Thats the most important thing

And you can't be such an arrogant ass to tell people to move to the city. Everyone doesn't want the city lifestyle.

[DURHAM D]

16. I did not say move to the city - I said move to town.

Two very different things.

Where do you live that you have no idea what I am talking about?

[Thrill]

25. I live in Charlotte, NC. The largest city in the state

But I know there are rural areas where people have farming and other businesses where this would really help. And create plenty of jobs

[TayTay]

6. No, this is in the bill because it's needed

There are small businesses in more rural parts of the US and having good broadband reach in rural areas is good for them and good for business.

[DURHAM D]

11. I own a business - I have DSL.

Plenty fast and no problem.

[TayTay]

27. So because it works for you, it should work for everyone?

That is not a rational argument. And it is not a way to deal with controlled growth or enticing companies to move into rural areas.

[globalvillage]

12. They can all move to the city.

They just need to find an apartment building that takes cows. How hard could it be?

[firedupdem]

49. ROFL !!

:rofl:


That was funny as hell!

[spin]

33. Increased broadband service to people in the country is an excellent idea..

Many people live far out in the country but drive to work in the big cities.

Many jobs in the big city skyscrapers could be accomplished by people working in their homes. All that would be required is a home office with a computer and high speed internet access. The people who work for companies from their homes would no longer have to compute to work in a cubicle in an expensive building. The reduction in traffic and the savings in gasoline and electricity to power the buildings might be significant.

About 25 percent of most Blue Chip company workers worldwide telecommute from home offices, saving $700 million in real estate costs, says IBM Lotus, marketing manager.

Companies reap additional benefits in higher worker productivity and a happy work force. These companies have expanded their virtual workplace program, launched in 1995, because of the immense success so far achieved. During the past decade, hundreds of giant corporations and small businesses have launched formal employment at home programs.

In Texas, big companies such as Mobil, Frito Lay, Texas Instruments, Xerox, AT&T, J.C. Penney and hundreds of small businesses allow workers to work from home.

***********snip********

Rather than try to fight employment at home, companies need to embrace it, Kane said. Contrary to popular myths, telecommuters do not spend more time snacking than regular workers. Nor do they watch soap operas or take care of their kids all day.

In fact, most telecommuters are men with graduate degrees and incomes over $40,000 per year working in professional and managerial occupations, according to Telework America. The study shows many telecommuters live on the East and West coasts and in metropolitan areas with lots of people and traffic congestion.

There is a growing need and demand for work and life balance in the country, Some people are spending hours stuck in traffic commuting each day, and employment at home would help these people become more productive.

Using the Internet, a phone, fax machine and a computer, home workers can communicate with colleagues and clients all over the country.
http://ezinearticles.com/?Home-Employment-To-Companies---Benefits-Of-The-New-Trend&id=1663916

[DURHAM D]

41. Your article is off point.

You seem to have conflated internet access with broadband.

Everyone everywhere in this country has a telephone line. This is pork.

[spin]

68. High speed internet access is a must...

I'm not talking about merely making phone calls to clients.

High Speed Internet Helps You to Work from Home

It’s official – the concept of working from home is no longer completely taboo to the mainstream workforce. More and more often, employers are allowing their people to spend at least part of their time working in their homes. Medical billing, transcripting, coding, etc is seeing a major shift in the move back into the home. This new opportunity opens many doors for those of us interested in such a possibility, but there are a few things that you should know.
You need high speed internet.

It’s very difficult to work from a home office with dialup. Yes, you can surf and email (albeit slowly) but more often high-bandwidth applications such as remote desktop software, VOIP, and VPN are becoming more and more commonplace. High speed internet allows the use of these technologies AND increases your surfing enjoyment.

************snip*********

Get a Good Level of Bandwidth

It's common today to see at LEAST 768kbs down and 64K up. These numbers indicate the amount of data your high-speed connection can handle. When you setup your internet connection ask the sales person what you can expect - at the least.
http://www.medicalworkforce.com/high-speed.html

*********

The maximum speed you can get from DSL is dependent on several things: the distance from your provider’s connection (usually, a box called a DSLAM in the telephone company central office), the quality of the line itself, and the price you pay if your provider offers different speeds. Most of the internet, and most browsers, can’t run much above 600K, so speeds above that pay off mostly for shared offices.
http://www.dslprime.com/Explained/How_Fast_is_Fast/how_fast_is_fast.html

**********

What are the disadvantages of DSL?

There are some disadvantages to the use of DSL service. The greatest disadvantage at the present time is availability –because DSL is distance sensitive, availability is determined by the distance from the providers central office. Although DSL service is widely available in most metropolitan areas, is often not available in non-metropolitan or rural areas because the distance sensitivity limitation. Service may be limited to within 18,000 feet of the DSL providers local office, or point of presence, though there are usually several such locations in a given urban area.

Additionally, DSL operates on traditional copper telephone lines, and is incompatible with fiber optic lines.
http://lbdsl.com/whatisdsl.html

[Dappleganger]

56. No it's not.

Housing 'in town' or areas with existing broadband is often more expensive as opposed to being in more rural areas (generally speaking). Just like telephone service, broadband should be available to *anyone* in this day and age.

[Abq_Sarah]

66. Right

Because those stupid hicks ought to just be responsible for paying for the stimulus bill without receiving any benefit, right?

My town and county submitted their wish list to the fed with the understanding it was a waste of time since regions with less that 50,000 people are guaranteed to be ignored. We're going to be forced to use lobbyists to try and get the state government to throw some spare change our way. Unfortunately, out of nearly a trillion dollars, my state is slated to receive a little under a billion dollars. If we're lucky, we might get our unpaved roads (which compromise the majority of roads) graded more than once every two years.

Do I sound discouraged? Damned right I do. But don't worry, we'll keep sending our increasingly limited dollars right back to Washington on time as always.

[Thrill]

7. This Bill is a Liberal's dream

Its got the whole platform. We would all love to have more money in them. But this the whole agenda. Amazing.

No wonder the Republicans are pissed. They can't use the tax and spend argument in the midterms. Because Democrats HAVE CUT Taxes on 95% of Americans.:)

[doc03]

14. What a bunch of waste, I have supported the President

in this, thinking it was jobs program. First of all he promised a $500 tax decrease for singles and $1000 for couples not $400 and $800. I will get $13 a week extra in my check, like that's going to help. The infrastructure is why I supported it and it ends up being only 20% of the bill. It should have been called the Extended Unemployment and Healthcare program. How in the hell is giving $600 billion in handouts and tax-cuts going to create a f----g job. Why didn't he just have a bill with the tax cuts he promised and $150 for infrastructure, all this does is dig us an even deeper hole.

[ProSense]

17. "The infrastructure is why I supported it and it ends up being only 20% of the bill." What?

Infrastructure is 65% of the bill.

[DURHAM D]

20. Its actually only 17% of the bill. eom

[ProSense]

21. No, it isn't n/t

[flpoljunkie]

29. That's right, Infrastructure spending is only 5.8% of the $789 billion stimulus.

$46 billion/$789 billion is 5.8%.

[ProSense]

34. I was actually referring to stimulus spending. In any case,

tax cuts are not 60% or more of the bill as the poster claims.

[flpoljunkie]

72. Self-delete.

[flpoljunkie]

74. Lawmakers:Bill includes $150 billion in public works projects for transportation, energy, technology

That's almost 20%.

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/12/us/politics/12stimulus.html?hp

Although the final legislative language was not immediately available, lawmakers said the bill contained more than $150 billion in public works projects for transportation, energy and technology, and $87 billion to help states meet rising Medicaid costs.

[doc03]

23. How you figure that one? n/t

[DURHAM D]

18. Its not - this is a mess. eom

[flpoljunkie]

19. This is not the bill we would have if we had a filibuster proof Senate. It's far from perfect.

I share your concerns.

[Beetwasher]

24. LOL

You say you supported the bill because you thought it would be infrastructure spending but then complain because your tax cut is a bit less.

transparent clown.

[doc03]

35. He promised the tax cuts for two years and then

backs off. When I find out less than 20% goes for infrastructure I can't believe it. This bill will do nothing but saddle us with debt. For the first time I am questioning my vote. No wonder only 3 Republicans supported it, if I would have known the truth i wouldn't have either. What a f---g crock of shit.

[Name removed]

39. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[doc03]

46. If I had my way nobody would get a tax-cut

we can't afford a tax-cut we are bankrupt you idiot. But if you promise a tax-cut of $500 for two years then in your first bill you cut it to $400 that's a broken promise.

[Zynx]

47. Is this satire? Seriously, that is really pathetic.

God forbid a compromise might change a desired goal.

[Beetwasher]

48. He Never Promised That

put up or shut up. Lets see your source for that promise of 500$:

[doc03]

53. He never never promised that? He repeated it over and over

for two years, I am not going to bother proving it I listened to that BS for two years I know what he said.

[Beetwasher]

54. He Promised A Tax Cut AND HE DELIVERED IT

Show me where he promised an EXACT amount, jeenyus. Put up or shut up.

[doc03]

61. Here you go, that was easy,

http://www.barackobama.com/taxes/

First line he promises a tax-cut for 95% of Americans $500 for singles and $1000 for couples. Case closed. I don't really care about the tax-cut it amounts to pennies. What I disagree with is all the total wasteful spending in the bill. $46 billion for infrastructure? Where are all those new green jobs for the future? I don't see anything for solar, wind, hydro or clean coal, nothing. I see where Ohio will get $900 and some million for roads, with today's costs they could spend it all on a few projects in Columbus alone. in the rural counties where I live we will be lucky to patch a pot hole.

[Beetwasher]

63. So?

And that was his plan and he compromised on it IN THIS PARTICULAR BILL and you got $100 less. Boo fucking hoo you jackass. 95% of people got tax cuts, and guess what? He can STILL deliver you idiot. This tax cut was only part of THIS bill. Did he promise that as part of the EMERGENCY STIMULUS BILL??? There's more to come and he may very well deliver your additional $100 that you don't even fucking want you whiny douchebag.

[doc03]

64. Emergency Stimulus Bill, LOL This is the

Deficit Spending Hyper-Inflation Economic Destruction Bill.

[Beetwasher]

65. Put Up Or Shut Up

Show me a single legitimate economist who claims this bill will lead to hyperinflation. Come on jeenyus, should be easy for an economics powerhouse like you.

[SemiCharmedQuark]

50. As you pointed out upthread, most of the Republicans voted against this bill as it is.

[Abq_Sarah]

67. Under that logic

We have no business printing a trillion new $$$ either, do we?

[Zynx]

45. No spending ever simply just evaporates with no impact unless it is spent overseas.

In that case you only get a tiny part back by stimulating the other economy to buy your exports.

However, it is pretty much impossible for a large domestic spending bill not to have any impact. It could be structured better, sure, but these are politicians after all.

[doc03]

40. In my opinion I don't think there should have been any tax-cuts

but they were promised in the campaign. The damn Republicans promise a tax cut so the Democrats have to one up them and dig us a deeper hole. The damn tax-cuts have put us into this mess. By my calculations this will save me $7.69 a week, I will go out a buy a new car on that.

[Name removed]

51. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[doc03]

59. I wanted a real stimulus package that actually produces

some jobs, not a government handout program. It should have been a $798 billion infrastructure plan period no tax-cuts, not handouts. After this I feel I can't trust this President to do what's needed. He has lost a lot of my support, this bill is BS and will saddle your grandchildren with debt. You are being totally dishonest if you can't see how bad this thing is. We will get nothing but hyper-inflation from this mess.

[ProSense]

60. After this I feel I can't trust this President to do what's needed. He has lost a lot of my support"

Who cares?

[Name removed]

62. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[Zynx]

28. You don't believe unemployment benefits do anything?

Go over to Free Republic. They stop the huge number of unemployed from completely stopping consumption. This helps keep consumption higher than it otherwise would be which helps get us through the worst of the downturn. Take all the unemployment benefits out of the economy and see what happens. We lose another 1-2% of GDP most likely in this downturn. That probably means another 2-3 million jobs lost.

[doc03]

36. Why not just extend the un-employment in a separate

bill, don't add it to what they call a jobs bill. This thing will save or produce very few jobs what a waste of taxpayers money.

[Zynx]

42. It saves jobs by making consumption higher than it otherwise would be.

Economists believe it to be one of the most effective forms of stimulus. Unemployment insurance is a major reason our recessions since the Depression have not been as deep. It is certainly not a waste.

[Beetwasher]

52. Because It's A STIMULUS Bill

Dumbass. And putting more money in the hands of the unemployed means they will SPEND it and stimulate the economy.

Clown.

[Oak2004]

71. You do know that those "hand outs" have an even greater stimulus effect than infrastructure?

If anyone has that chart showing the relative effect of different types of stimulus spending, can you post it here?

Money pumped into the poorest segment of the population almost immediately ends up in circulation. Circulating money does indeed create jobs. While infrastructure building is a close second, it's still in second place, as far as stimulus impact.

[bluestateguy]

22. Correct me if I'm wrong, but it seems that most of the state money was restored?

Yes? No?

If this was a dictatorship it would be a heck of a lot easier, as long as Obama was the dictator.

[Kdillard]

26. Yes it was but I believe Obama had to give up some of his middle class tax cuts to do it.

[bluestateguy]

30. That's fine

I'll gladly give up some of my tax cut (I think it is $100 less) so that my state does not have to fire teachers and firefighters.

[Dappleganger]

58. Agreed!

[flpoljunkie]

32. Yes. The Senate had cut it to $39 billion from the House $79 billion. Compromise is $54 billion.

Originally the House had $79 billion allocated for states and $14 billion for school construction, while the Senate cut state money to $39 billion and stripped out its $16 billion for building schools.

http://www.forbes.com/feeds/afx/2009/02/11/afx6041857.html

[Fire1]

37. Thanks for the info. Glad to see the funding for education

and I e-mailed my governor 'suggesting' she put that money where it belongs.

[Fire1]

38. Thanks for the info. Glad to see the funding for education

and I e-mailed my governor 'suggesting' she put that money where it belongs.

[doc03]

43. Where is all the money for so called green energy projects

wind, solar, hydro and carbon capture technologies?

[Fire1]

57. Good question. Is it supposed to come out of the state

block grants?

[Patsy Stone]

69. It's in the article:

ENERGY

_ About $50 billion for energy programs, focused chiefly on efficiency and renewable energy, including $5 billion to weatherize modest-income homes; $6.4 billion to clean up nuclear weapons production sites; $11 billion toward a so-called "smart electricity grid" to reduce waste; $13.9 billion to subsidize loans for renewable energy projects; $6.3 billion in state energy efficiency and clean energy grants; and $4.5 billion make federal buildings more energy efficient.

RENEWABLE ENERGY INCENTIVES

_ $20 billion in tax incentives for renewable energy and energy efficiency over 10 years, including: extending tax credits for energy produced from wind, geothermal, hydropower and landfill gas; grants to build renewable energy facilities; tax credits for purchases of energy-efficient furnaces, windows and doors, or insulation; tax credit for families that purchase plug-in hybrid vehicles.

[liskddksil]

55. 17. billion for rail and transit is fantastic!!

More than in either bill.

[AtomicKitten]

70. Glad to see the $20 billion to increase food stamp benefits by 14% - wish it were more. n/t

[depakid]

73. $5 billion in aid to states is barely a drop in the bucket

dropping the federal revenue sharing was just about the STUPIDEST thing the Dems could agree to do. California can't even keep up with its tax refunds to its citizens- and state budget cutbacks are going to render much of the stimulus useless, as higher fees and taxes eat up money that could otherwise go to local problems.

No surpirse that neither economists or the markets are impressed with this half assed bill.