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$145 Billion? YOU FUCKING REPUBLICANS
Bush Proposes $145 Billion Plan to Spur Economy
By SHERYL GAY STOLBERG
Published: January 19, 2008
WASHINGTON — President Bush called Friday for roughly $145 billion in tax relief for individuals and businesses that he said would “provide a shot in the arm” for the economy, while Congressional Democrats, in a rare show of Washington bipartisanship, pledged to work with him to enact a plan quickly.
(January 19, 2008) Mr. Bush laid out his ideas for an economic rescue package only in broad strokes, saying the plan must be “built on broad-based tax relief” and “big enough to make a difference in an economy as large and dynamic as ours.” He did not use the word recession, but acknowledged that “there is a risk of a downturn.”
His comments, in the Roosevelt Room of the White House, reflected a heightened sense of urgency within the administration and on Capitol Hill about the need to stimulate spending in an economy shaken by higher gas prices and instability in the housing and credit markets.
Though the details must still be negotiated, both the White House and Congressional Democrats are leaning heavily toward a combination similar to the one the administration turned to in 2001 as a recession-fighting tool. It would include a one-time tax rebate for individuals and an immediate expansion in the deductions that businesses take for investment in equipment. If Congress acts quickly, checks could be in the hands of American taxpayers as early as spring.
Still, there will be sticking points. In laying the foundation for a plan rooted in tax policy, Mr. Bush held fast to a central theme of his presidency, that cutting taxes, rather than increasing spending, was the route to prosperity. Democrats, by contrast, supported an extension of unemployment benefits, coupled with tax breaks aimed at the middle class. Some reacted warily, even as they praised Mr. Bush.
“We want a balanced package: a tax rebate for the middle class and spending stimulus that jump-starts this economy quickly,” Senator Charles E. Schumer, Democrat of New York, told reporters.
In declining to offer specifics, Mr. Bush acceded to the wishes of the Senate Democratic leader, Harry Reid of Nevada, who had asked him during a conference call on Thursday not to lay out a formal proposal before Democrats had a chance to coalesce around theirs. Administration officials were assiduous on Friday about refusing to comment on details, including a report that the rebate would be set at $800 for individuals and $1,600 for couples.
“I don’t want to play, ‘Is it bigger than a breadbox?’ ” Treasury Secretary Henry M. Paulson Jr. told reporters, adding that Mr. Bush intentionally did not release details “because we’re looking to be collaborative in working with Congress here.”
In setting his parameters, Mr. Bush said the package should be about 1 percent of the gross domestic product, or roughly $145 billion. He said it must include tax incentives to induce businesses “to make major investments in their enterprises this year,” as well as provide “direct and rapid income tax relief for the American people.”
Mr. Bush said his purpose was “to keep a fundamentally strong economy healthy.”
“In a vibrant economy, markets rise and decline,” he said. “We cannot change that fundamental dynamic. Yet there are also times when swift and temporary actions can help ensure that inevitable market adjustments do not undermine the health of the broader economy. This is such a moment.”
Mr. Bush offered an important olive branch to Democrats. He did not insist that the package be linked to making his tax cuts permanent — an idea that Democrats had warned would face stiff opposition — but instead called on Congress to take up the issue of permanent tax cuts after passage of a rescue package.
As he spoke, the members of his economic team were behind him, among them Vice President Dick Cheney, who was a prominent backer of the tax cuts Mr. Bush got through Congress in 2001 and 2003.
Friday’s announcement set Congress on a timetable much faster than the one Mr. Bush envisioned when, in an interview with reporters for Reuters two weeks ago, he volunteered that he was contemplating a stimulus package to provide a short-term push for the economy.
Mr. Bush pledged to make a decision about whether a package was necessary sometime around his State of the Union address on Jan. 28.
But a combination of economic and political factors conspired to thrust the stimulus package to the top of the Washington agenda. The day after Mr. Bush’s interview with Reuters, the government released a disappointing unemployment report. That, coupled with the slide in the stock market, created a sense that Congress needed to act quickly.
continued if you can stomach it @ http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/19/wa...l?ref=business
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