Senate Economic Stimulus Package

[Guest Senator Menendez]

Next week the Senate will take up an economic stimulus package that builds upon the one passed by the House earlier this week. Senator Bob Menendez (D-NJ), a member of the Senate Budget and Banking Committees, today voiced his support for the Senate plan.

 

“We have before us an economic stimulus package that the Senate and the country can get behind,” said Menendez. “It’s not perfect, but it will get money into the hands of the people who have basic needs to cover – people who will spend it immediately, which is the first goal of stimulus.

 

“This is a package that, with higher income limits, recognizes the high cost of living that New Jersey families grapple with. This is a package that is inclusive of millions of fixed-income seniors, who are among the Americans who could most use a rebate. This is a package that recognizes the struggles of Americans who are out of work and the stimulant effect of extending their unemployment insurance. And this is a package that helps veterans of our military who have sacrificed so much for this country.

 

“In addition to these necessary improvements, I would have liked to see the package include a temporary increase in Medicaid payments to states, which would provide critical fiscal relief and help stimulate state economies.

 

 

“I look forward to supporting this well-rounded plan in the Senate next week, and I urge the administration and the House to recognize its potential. From the beginning, we have all agreed that something timely, temporary and targeted to the people who need it most will be most effective, and this plan meets those criteria best.”

 

 

 

 

Highlights of the Senate economic stimulus package:

 

Provides a $500 rebate for individual taxpayers, $1,000 for jointly filing couples

 

Phases out rebates at $150,000 for single taxpayers, $300,000 for couples

 

Extends rebates to 20 million seniors whose only income is Social Security (not included in House version)

 

Makes rebates fully refundable for all eligible Americans – they will receive the full rebate even if their income tax liabilities do not equal or exceed the rebate amount

 

Extends unemployment insurance for an additional 13 weeks for jobless Americans (not included in House version)

 

Extends rebates to disabled veterans with $3,000 in non-taxable disability compensation (not included in House version)

[Guest Stewart A. Alexander]

The Bush administration has introduced a stimulus package that will give millions of Americans a one time payment up to $600; this is an election-year act of desperation. It is for certain that the federal stimulus package will not significantly ease the current economic crisis the U.S. is presently facing, and it will only give millions of individuals false hopes as the nation slides deeper into the Bush recession. American retailers had a disappointing Christmas; the $150 billion stimulus package is a late Christmas present and a welfare check for the billionaire retailers, with many goodies thrown in for other wealthy corporations. While some in the Senate are making a worthy effort to add some unemployment relief, and direct some of the money to those with too little income to pay income tax, even these positive effects will be minor.

 

The stimulus plan we need today requires some bold moves.

 

An immediate change in tax policy must reverse the trend of the last thirty years of shifting the tax burden to those least able to pay. Income taxes should end on individuals earning less than $30,000 annually and couples earning less than $60,000 annually, and increased federal taxes on those with incomes in the millions, who pay less proportionately than they have for a century, must replace this revenue.

[Guest ustreas]

Statement by Secretary Paulson on Senate Passage of the Economic Growth Package

 

"I congratulate the Senate leaders for their quick action to pass a bipartisan economic growth package that is temporary, broad-based, and will get money into our economy quickly. This package of payments to individuals and incentives for businesses to invest will support our economy as we weather the housing downturn.

 

"It was a pleasure to work in a bipartisan spirit with House and Senate leaders to act quickly to support our economy and create jobs this year. Our cooperative effort demonstrates to the nation and the world that we can come together to address the needs of the American people.

 

"As soon as this legislation is passed by both houses, the IRS will begin its work to get payments out to more than 130 million Americans. The IRS will manage the current tax filing season and simultaneously prepare to issue these additional payments starting in early May. Payments will be largely completed this summer, putting cash in the hands of millions of Americans at a time when our economy is experiencing slower growth."

 

 

Henry Merritt "Hank" Paulson Jr. (born March 28, 1946) is the United States Treasury Secretary and member of the International Monetary Fund Board of Governors. He previously served as the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Goldman Sachs, one of the world's largest and most successful investment banks.