I Got Yer Stimulus Package
House and Senate negotiators reached agreement today on a stimulus plan with a cost of about $789 billion after scaling down the versions passed by both houses, congressional leaders announced.
“The differences between the Senate and House versions were resolved,” Senate Majority Leader Harry M. Reid (D-Nev.) told reporters this afternoon.
He said the final version “creates more jobs than the original Senate bill and spends less than the original House bill.” The bill passed by the Senate yesterday totaled $838 billion. The House version approved last week had a price tag of $819 billion.
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Even after the Senate scaled down its version to $838 billion, approved 61-37 yesterday, the centrists continued to demand more reductions. The likely targets were reducing Obama’s “Make Work Pay” tax cut of $500 a year for most individuals and $1,000 a year for most families, paring it down to $400 and $800, respectively.Other reductions were likely in a $15,000 tax credit for all home purchases in the next year as well as a tax credit for the purchase of new cars, both of which were added to the Senate bill after little debate.House Democrats have objected to wholesale deletions from their original bill during the Senate debate, but they appeared likely to see some return of aid to states that totaled $79 billion in their plan. The Senate reduced that figure to $39 billion. Senators also zeroed out a fund that would finance school construction, another priority for which House Democrats are pushing to restore funds.
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