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Senior Citizen Politics
Senate Considers House Stimulus Plan Today, Adds 20 Million Senior Citizens Tomorrow
Senate bill to add seniors, disabled to those getting
checks
 Feb.
5, 2008 – The Senate is expected to vote today on HR 5140, the economic
stimulus plan created in the House. It is not expected to get favorable
attention in the Senate, which has its own stimulus plan that would
include 20 million senior citizens among those to receive checks from
the government. The Senate bill should reach the floor on Wednesday and
Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev) says he will then offer a substitute
amendment to the House-passed legislation that will incorporate the
measures reported by the Finance Committee.
(Read the statement by Sen. Reid and find link to news conference
video below this news
story.)
Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus, who
was the primary author of the Senate plan, held a news conference
yesterday with Sen. Debbie Stabenow (D-Mich.), and Sen. Maria Cantwell
(D-Wash.) to urger their colleagues in the Senate to pass the Finance
Committee’s economic stimulus package, which not only adds the 20
million seniors, but also 250,000 disabled veterans, and unemployed
workers.
Joining in the news conference were Mattie Carvon,
an 85 year-old retiree living only on Social Security benefits, and by
advocates from the Disabled Veterans of America and the DC Labor
Council, the Senators stressed the importance of including these
low-income Americans who would not receive benefits under the
House-passed package.
Carvon, a senior who must cover all expenses –
including treatment for diabetes – with only her Social Security income,
said that she would spend a $500 rebate on food and medicine.
Jos Williams of the AFL-CIO said that extended
unemployment benefits will be vital for workers having a difficult time
finding jobs in the slow economy.
Joe Violante, legislative director of Disabled
Veterans of America, said that the nation’s veterans have not been
forgotten in the Finance Committee plan.
“The vote the Senate will take on the
Finance-passed stimulus bill is not a vote about politics. It’s a vote
about people: 20 million seniors, 250,000 disabled veterans, millions of
Americans who are exhausting their unemployment benefits,” said Baucus.
“We have counted on seniors and soldiers and
workers to make America great. Now they’re counting on us. They need to
be part of economic recovery. Only the Senate bill, only the Finance
Committee’s economic package, will remember these people.”
“The Senate package is the quickest, most
effective way to boost consumer spending, encourage business investment,
create jobs and avoid an economic downturn,” said Stabenow.
“We need to extend unemployment insurance, not only
because it’s the right thing to do, but because it is the most effective
way to boost the economy, while giving individuals more time to search
for a job in a difficult market.”
"With job loss figures reaching 18,000 for January
2008, now is not the time to sacrifice high-quality, high-paying jobs by
letting the clock run out on critical tax incentives that will pump
money back in to our economy this year,” said Cantwell.
“The Finance Committee package will prevent the
loss of billions of investment dollars and will enable companies to move
forward with renewable energy investments in wind and solar that are
about to be placed on hold. We have to act quickly, for seniors,
disabled veterans, consumers, and businesses. The quickest way to get a
good, effective stimulus package to the president's desk is to vote for
the Finance Committee bill and move it quickly through conference."
The Senate Finance Committee voted 14-7 last week
to approve Baucus’s economic stimulus package, which will boost the
American economy with $500 rebates for every American reporting $3,000
in wages, Social Security income, or net self-employment income on a
2007 tax return. That rebate will double for married taxpayers filing
jointly, and families will receive an additional $300 for every
qualifying child under age 17. The benefit will phase out for Americans
making more than $150,000 per year.
The Finance plan extends Federal unemployment
insurance benefits for 13 weeks in all states through December 2008, and
provides for an additional 13 weeks of benefits in states meeting
certain criteria for high unemployment. It also includes additional
business tax relief provisions that will allow companies losing money in
the economic downturn to access quick cash for payroll and expenses.
More details of the Finance Committee’s economic
stimulus package are available at
http://www.finance.senate.gov/sitepages/legislation.htm.
>> Watch video of news
conference >>
Reid: Senate Democrats' Stimulus Plan Will
Strengthen Economy, Improve On House Package
Washington, DC—Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid
made the following statement today on the floor of the U.S. Senate:
“Each day now, newspapers around the country tell
new stories of America’s economic troubles. Housing foreclosures are up
dramatically in cities and towns throughout the country – including an
astonishing rise of:
● More than 600 percent in Reno, Nevada;
● 200 percent in Las Vegas;
● 275 percent in Florida; and
● 300 percent in California.
“Gas prices are well above $3 per gallon throughout
the country. Heating costs are skyrocketing. And Friday, the
Department of Labor’s jobs report showed that 17,000 non-farm jobs were
cut in January. Seventeen thousand husbands, wives, sons and daughters
no longer have a job.
“After eight years of economic growth during the
Clinton years, the Bush Administration’s seven years have shown anemic
job growth. Now job growth is nonexistent. It is negative.
“With troubling statistics like these – and growing
economic challenges in our daily lives – it’s no wonder that polls show
the American people are more concerned about the economy than at any
point in recent memory. Congress can’t solve this problem on its own
with a single piece of legislation, but we can and must help.
“Last week, the House sent us a plan that was a
good first step. But we have a chance in the Senate to make the plan
much better. Senators Baucus and Grassley have worked together to send
us a bipartisan package that we can and should all support:
| |
"...these 20 million seniors have
given a lifetime of labor. They have given a lifetime of service. They have paid a lifetime of taxes.
"But the House-passed bill would
not give them a stimulus check."
- Sen. Max Baucus, Chairman |
|
● The Finance Committee package sends stimulus
checks to roughly 21.5 million senior citizens would get nothing at all
from the House bill. Many of these seniors are living on fixed incomes,
but facing living costs – for heat, medicine and groceries -- that are
anything but fixed. Give them the money and they will spend it.
● This Finance Committee package sends checks
to 250,000 disabled veterans who were left out of the House plan. These
wounded American heroes are struggling to make ends meet, and we should
not leave them out. Give them the money and they will spend it.
● The Finance Committee package extends
unemployment benefits for those who have lost their jobs in this
economy. The House bill doesn’t do that – and many economists tell us
that it is the single most effective way to stimulate the economy.
● The Finance Committee package is
business-friendly. It gives small businesses a greater ability to
immediately write-off purchases of machinery and equipment.
● And it helps larger businesses with “bonus”
depreciation -- or an extended carry back period for their past losses
to recoup cash for future investments. Give them this tax break and
they will spend it.
● The Finance Committee package addresses the
housing crisis by including $10 billion in mortgage revenue bonds that
can be used by the states to refinance subprime mortgages.
● And the Finance Committee package includes
an extension of energy efficiency and renewable energy incentives to
create jobs, expand the clean energy industry, save consumers money on
their energy bills, and help begin to stem the tide of global warming.
“At the appropriate time, I will offer a substitute
amendment to the House-passed legislation that will incorporate the
measures reported by the Finance Committee last week on a bipartisan
basis.
"My amendment will also include the House-passed
bill’s language on housing. This amendment will increase the conforming
loan limits for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac as well as the loan limits
for FHA-backed mortgages, which will allow more homeowners to refinance
and will reduce mortgage interest rates in many parts of the country.
"And this amendment will include $1 billion to help
low-income Americans heat their homes through the Low Income Home Energy
Assistance Program – known as LIHEAP. LIHEAP provides some relief to
prevent people from having to choose between food, medicine, or heat –
but we must do more.
“All Americans should know that their rebate checks
will not be delayed a single minute as a result of our debate. Under
the terms of the House plan, the Internal Revenue Service will determine
the size of payments based on 2007 tax returns, which are not due until
April 15. That gives us the opportunity to work together to create a
better plan – without any need for concern.
“The Finance Committee’s bipartisan work builds on
the bill sent to us by the House of Representatives and makes it much
better – fairer to seniors and disabled veterans, and, most importantly,
more effective in stimulating the economy. And that’s the bottom line:
it will do the job. It will work.
“We have a chance now to stimulate the economy and
help more struggling Americans. I hope that Democrats, Republicans, all
Senators, will work together to build on the good work done by the House
of Representatives by supporting the Finance Committee’s bill.”
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