After 40 Years, Republican Poised To Retake U.S. Congress
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1) Out of power for 40 years in the House and eight in the Senate, Republicans are poised to take command of the 104th Congress -- eager to confront the Clinton administration and offer the biggest changes in government since the 1930s.
2) When the gavels fall Wednesday in both houses, Republicans will get the chance to show Americans what their startling November election sweep really means.
3) The most dramatic example change is the House Republicans' ``Contract With America'' which, the party pledges, will be brought to a vote within 100 days.
4) The legislative initiative includes: a balanced-budget amendment to the Constitution, tougher sentences for criminals, sharp limits on welfare benefits, tax and spending reductions and a reversal of defense cuts.
5) ``We will bring a brand new approach to many of these questions,'' said Rep. Henry J. Hyde, R-Illinois, the witty veteran who is recapturing the ``genuine excitement'' of his first day in Congress 20 years ago.
6) ``We're going to get up every morning trying to get to a balanced budget with a smaller government, with less power in Washington and more power back home (in the states) with individuals in the local governments,'' Speaker-designate Newt Gingrich, R-Georgia, said in a taped interview aired Monday on C-SPAN, the cable television industry's public-affairs channel.
7) The 100-day fever will not infect the Senate, which moves at a slower pace and ``is simply not going to be rolled over by what appears to be unrestrained enthusiasm of the House,'' said Sen. John Warner, R-Virginia.
8) But moving slower does not mean an easier time for Democrats.
9) ``We control the Congress now and we're going to set the agenda,'' Senate Majority Leader Bob Dole said Sunday, as he issued several warnings to Democrats.
10) Republicans, he said, would work to defeat any Democratic attempt to pass a gift-ban amendment. They will re-examine the administration's aid program to Russia and its nuclear deal with North Korea. And he warned Democrats not to stand in the way of serious welfare reform.
11) With a 53-47 majority in the Senate and 230-204 edge over Democrats in the House, Republicans control both houses for the first time since 1954.
12) Although Dole said he would try to enforce party discipline on key issues, Hyde said that Republican control does not mean the party will ``march in lock step...''
13) The new Senate minority leader, Tom Daschle, said Democrats will not try to kill the Republican agenda with filibusters -- the delaying tactic that takes 60 votes to stop.
14) ``We will not do what we criticized the Republicans for doing,'' he said, recalling the successful way the Republican minority had stopped Democratic legislation cold. ``I believe that it would be the height of hypocrisy.''
15) Daschle said filibusters would only be used ``prudently'' to protect programs dear to Senate Democrats: those central to the financial security of working families, the disabled and children of poor mothers who -- some Republicans suggest -- should be placed in orphanages.
16) Daschle said the Senate could work out compromises on proposals like a balanced budget amendment, welfare reform, and a tax cut ``if it deals with working families and it's paid for.''
17) Proposals to limit the terms of legislators have a chance in the Senate, he said. And Democrats will try to revive a reform package covering campaign laws, lobbyists and gifts to lawmakers -- legislation where there is wide division between the parties.
18) Former Speaker Jim Wright recalled that House and Senate Democrats successfully used a strategy similar to the Republican ``contract'' in 1987 -- a specific agenda that depended on meeting deadlines.
19) There was a major trade bill, legislation to aid the homeless, an education measure broadening student grants and loans, a highway construction bill and a clean water measure.
20) ``We had a five-day-a-week schedule,'' the Texas Democrat recalled. ``There were at least a dozen organizations that had annual golf tournaments on Mondays. Members wanted the day off on Mondays and I said no.''
21) Wright was especially critical of the latest Republican proposals to lower taxes, maintain defense spending and still cut the deficit. The Democratic-run Congress signed on to a similar program in 1981 at the urging of then-President Reagan, Wright said, but the result was massive deficits and hefty tax increases.
22) ``Here they (Republicans) are trying to sell the same shabby old bill of goods,'' Wright said. He urged Democrats ``to do what's right and argue principles and not try to play their games. Don't try to prove we're as Republican as the Republicans,'' he said.


Republicans and Democrats Gird For Culminating Battle of
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1) A proposed dlrs 189 billion tax reduction bill pending before the U.S. Congress is helping to define the divisions between the majority Republicans and minority Democrats.
2) Newt Gingrich, the Republican speaker of the House of Representatives, and his lieutenants were maneuvering over the weekend to unify a fractious Republican caucus to conclude a 100-day Republican legislative campaign this week and wrap the party in the mantle of tax relief.
3) Democrats have their own much narrower and less expensive proposal, costing dlrs 24 billion over five years. But mostly, the goal of the Democrats will be to depict the Republican as intent on lining the pockets of the rich at the expense of the poor.
4) It will be a set-piece battle of more than symbolic importance, according to J.D. Foster, executive director of the Tax Foundation, a non-profit research organization.
5) For the tax cuts to have a chance of being adopted in the Senate, House Republicans will not only have to win the vote on the House floor, they will have to win the debate, he said.
6) ``The House Republicans are going to have to lead. ... If they don't make their arguments convincingly and effectively, it's going to be a lot harder for Senate Republicans to make those arguments,'' he said.
7) The two parties agree on one point: that they each have radically different notions of who should get a tax cut. Democrats argue that tax cuts should be aimed toward meeting needs, such as college education for the young.
8) ``Democrats believe in investing in people. We believe in trickle up. We don't believe in trickle down and this tax debate ... is probably the greatest difference and the most important difference that exists between our parties,'' said Minority Leader Dick Gephardt, a Missouri Democrat.
9) But many Republicans say the government doesn't need a reason to refrain from taxing anyone. They are unapologetic about cutting taxes for the wealthy, as well as the middle class.
10) ``It's the people's money. It's not the government's money. ... We're not talking about giving them anything. We're talking about not taking away the money they earned,'' Gingrich, the Georgia Republican, said in an interview with David Frost.
11) Reflecting that philosophy, the Republican package offers something for nearly every taxpayer: --For families and individuals, a dlrs 500-per-child tax credit, a reduction in the marriage penalty and expanded Individual Retirement Accounts. --For the elderly, a phase-out of the 1993 tax increase on better-off Social Security recipients and an increase in their outside earnings limit. --For businesses, a steep reduction in capital gains taxes, retroactive to the start of the year, and more generous depreciation for investment in new buildings and equipment.
12) The Democrats also offer deductions for college tuition and interest on student loans and special interest-enhanced U.S. Savings Bonds for education.
13) They say all the benefits of their tax bill would go to households earning less than dlrs 100,000, while only half the benefits of the Republican package would go to families making at least that amount.
14) Ways and Means Committee Chairman Bill Archer, R-Texas, complains that Democrats are ignoring the fact that wealthier Americans pay more taxes. The top 10 percent (those earning more than dlrs 99,000) pay 47 percent of the nation's taxes and that would not change if the Republican package were enacted, he said.


House Approves Republican Tax-cut Package
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1) In a final flurry to meet Republican campaign promises, the House of Representatives has passed tax-cut legislation blending a dlrs 500-per-child tax credit with reductions long sought by business.
2) Democrats fought the measure to the end as too generous to the rich. But in a largely party-line vote of 246-188, the Republican majority prevailed late Wednesday and agreed to send the bill to the Senate, where it is likely to undergo extensive revision at the hands of deficit-conscious lawmakers.
3) A cheer went up in the chamber as House Speaker Newt Gingrich rapped the gavel to signify passage. The vote means Republicans came close to meeting the their promise to pass tax-cut legislation and nine other measures in the first 100 days of the legislative session.
4) Moments before the final vote, Gingrich delivered final arguments for passage of the measure he has called the ``crowning jewel'' of the Republicans campaign manifesto, the ``Contract With America.''
5) Every lawmaker, he said, should ask: ``In your constituents' lives, won't a little less money for government and a little more money for those families be a good thing, and isn't that what this Congress was elected to do?''
6) President Clinton, who favors a smaller tax reduction, argued the other side for the Democrats from the White House, saying the Republicans' five-year, dlrs 189-billion measure marked a return to ``trickle-down economics.''
7) Republicans, he said, want to cut education and programs that help the poor ``to pay for a tax cut for the wealthiest Americans.... That is wrong.''
8) But even as Clinton was warring with Republicans over taxes, the administration reached agreement with Senate leaders on a package of dlrs 16 billion in spending cuts in previously approved social programs. That measure faces a final vote in the Senate on Thursday, as well as negotiations with the House that earlier approved different reductions totaling dlrs 17 billion.
9) The House Republicans' bill would grant the dlrs 500-per-child tax credit to families earning up to dlrs 200,000. The bill also includes a reduction in the capital-gains tax and other measures favored by businesses. Individual retirement accounts would be expanded and senior citizens and parents adopting children would receive tax breaks.
10) In the Senate, the tax-cut bill will join many other House-passed components of the ``Contract With America'' -- welfare, crime, changes in the civil justice system among them -- facing extensive changes.
11) ``We're going to have a tax bill,'' said Senate Majority Leader Bob Dole. But with deficit-conscious Republicans in positions of influence, Dole added, ``We didn't get elected just to rubber stamp everything the House did.''


Politics Around Marriage Penalty Tax
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1) Ignoring President Clinton's call for restraint, House Republicans set a vote for Thursday on a 10-year, $182 billion income tax cut for millions of married couples that will force Democrats to make a difficult political choice.
2) ``These Americans do not just reside in Republican districts,'' said Rep. John Shadegg, R-Ariz.
3) Part of the GOP's election-year strategy is to stage individual votes on the more popular parts of the $792 billion tax cut vetoed by Clinton last year, giving Republican candidates in competitive districts a potent issue to exploit if Democrats vote against them.
4) Republicans ``really believe that they can con the American people to believe that we are rejecting things, instead of being positive in working with them, in getting something done,'' said Rep. Charles Rangel, D-N.Y.
5) The legislation set for a House vote Thursday, written entirely by Republicans, would cut taxes for all married couples who file joint income tax returns, not just the estimated 25 million two-earner couples who pay a ``marriage penalty'' compared with what they would owe if single. Roughly half the bill's total cost would go to increase the ``marriage bonus'' enjoyed by millions of other couples, mainly those in which one spouse earns much more than the other.
6) Almost 50 million married couples filed joint tax returns in 1997, according to the most recent complete Internal Revenue Service statistics.
7) ``If we are going to provide tax relief for married couples, why pick and choose which couples will benefit?'' said Sen. Paul Coverdell, R-Ga. ``All married couples should benefit, not just those with dual incomes.''
8) Clinton is already threatening a veto, arguing that the GOP bill is too costly -- it is four times as expensive as the president's version -- and is skewed toward people with higher incomes. Clinton also says the bill would consume a chunk of the projected budget surplus before plans are laid to ensure the future solvency of Social Security and Medicare, payment of national debt and to pay for key spending increases.
9) ``We're not going to walk down the blind alley of individual tax cuts until we know what the overall plan is,'' said White House spokesman Joe Lockhart.
10) Yet Democrats, hoping to limit their House defections to two dozen or so, will offer an alternative that would take about $89 billion of the projected surplus over 10 years, or twice the size of Clinton's proposal. The Democratic proposal, aimed more at lower- and middle-income people, would not help married couples who itemize their deductions and contains a trigger requiring a ``framework'' to be in place for fixing Social Security and Medicare.
11) ``Everbody's for a tax cut,'' said House Minority Leader Dick Gephardt, D-Mo. ``It's a question of who gets them, how they're targeted and how much they take of the total budget.''
12) Republicans, however, labeled the Democratic alternative ``phantom tax relief'' because it depends on enactment of future legislation.
13) ``The Democrat plan is a sham, a fig leaf, and nothing more than an attempt to confuse married couples and to try to pull the wool over the eyes of voters who deserve tax relief,'' said House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Bill Archer, R-Texas.
14) While House passage of the GOP bill seems assured, its future is less clear in the Senate. Majority Leader Trent Lott, R-Miss., said the House measure is ``a good bill'' but it may have to be combined with other tax legislation to avoid Democratic delaying tactics.
15) ``We will certainly try to find a way to consider it,'' Lott said.
16) Senate Democrats also support marriage penalty tax relief but not at such a high cost, said Minority Leader Tom Daschle, D-S.D. He said the House bill's price tag would pay for a new Medicare prescription drug benefit for the elderly.


GOP Marriage Tax Measure OK'd
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1) Millions of married couples would get $248 billion in tax cuts over 10 years under Republican legislation approved Thursday by the Senate Finance Committee.
2) ''Not only does it reduce families' tax burden, it eliminates some of the most egregious examples of unfairness and complexity in the tax code today,'' said the panel's chairman, Sen. William Roth, R-Del. ''This bill is fair, this bill is responsible and this bill is pro-family.''
3) Included in those who would get tax cuts are the 25 million married couples who pay higher taxes than if they were single.
4) The bill, much broader than a 10-year, $182 billion House-passed version, is expected to reach the Senate floor by mid-April, prior to the federal income tax filing deadline.
5) President Clinton has already threatened to veto the House version because it would consume too much of the projected budget surplus, and Democrats said the same fate would befall the Senate bill.
6) ''It will not be signed into law,'' said Sen. Daniel Patrick Moynihan, D-N.Y. ''We surely support the principle. We have serious reservations about the costs involved.''
7) But the Finance Committee approved the measure on an 11-9 party-line vote, including a change from the original version sought by GOP conservatives that would gradually adjust the 28 percent tax rate so it applies to more of a married couple's income. The bill would do the same thing to the 15 percent bracket, as would the House version.
8) Under current law, two people who are married and have roughly equal incomes pay income taxes at higher rates in both the 15 percent and 28 percent brackets than they would if they were single. About 25 million couples nationwide are affected by the tax code's marriage penalty, while millions more get a bonus when one spouse earns most of the income.
9) Democrats said the GOP bill is too broad because it cuts income taxes for couples in both groups -- more than half the bill's relief would go to couples who already get bonuses -- rather than focusing solely on those who pay a marriage penalty.
10) ''Sadly, this is a political statement,'' said Sen. Max Baucus, D-Mont.
11) But Republicans countered that all families deserve help given the size of the projected budget surplus.
12) ''It is meaningful relief to a group of Americans who really need it,'' said Sen. Paul Coverdell, R-Ga.
13) The Senate bill also would raise the income cutoff by $2,500 for lower-income couples who claim the earned-income tax credit, up from $2,000 in the original bill and the House measure. This change was suggested by Sen. Jim Jeffords, R-Vt.
14) In addition, it would gradually raise the standard deduction for married couples to twice that of single filers and permanently ensure that taxpayers who claim middle-class credits, such as the $500 per-child tax credit, do not become ensnared in the alternative minimum tax.
15) Democrats on the Finance Committee failed to win approval of an alternative by Moynihan that would have eventually allowed couples the choice of filing their income taxes as singles or as a married couple.


Senate Rejects Gas Tax Rollback
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1) After rejecting a temporary rollback in the federal gas tax, the Senate encountered immediate Democratic resistance as Republicans tried to move a bill cutting income taxes for married couples.
2) Democrats put the brakes Tuesday on the GOP's 10-year, $248 billion tax cut in a bid to force Senate votes on some of their priorities, such as a prescription drug benefit for Medicare and their own ''marriage penalty'' bill.
3) ''We don't want to hold up a good debate ... but a good debate entails offering alternatives, other ideas,'' said Senate Minority Leader Tom Daschle, D-S.D.
4) The Republican bill, intended partly to ease the penalty paid by 25 million two-income couples, would expand the 15 percent and 28 percent income tax brackets so that they apply to a greater share of a married couple's income.
5) It also would expand the earned income tax credit for lower-income couples and ensure that taxpayers could continue claiming personal credits, such as the $500-a-child credit, without getting caught up in the alternative minimum tax.
6) Unless a deal is reached on which amendments Democrats can offer, Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott, R-Miss., said senators will vote Thursday on whether to end the filibuster and take up the bill.
7) ''For 10 years, we have talked about the unfairness of the marriage penalty tax,'' Lott said. ''We're going to see who is for eliminating it and who is not.''
8) The gas tax vote was the first of many on issues that Republican congressional leaders scheduled for this week to highlight their tax-cutting priorities in these final days of the income-tax filing season.
9) By 17 votes, the Senate failed to reach the 60-vote threshold necessary to cut off debate and proceed to the bill, effectively killing it. Twelve Republicans and 44 Democrats voted against the measure, with 43 Republicans in favor.
10) The gas tax bill would have rolled back 4.3 cents of the federal gas tax for the rest of the year and suspended the entire 18.4-cent tax if average prices exceed $2 a gallon. The issue has lost some of its steam as the gas tax price rise has slowed and oil-producing nations agreed to increase their output.
11) Opponents of the tax rollback, however, said the relief wouldn't amount to much for the average motorist, even if it were passed along by the oil companies. They said it would jeopardize $6 billion a year for transportation projects, even though Lott said the bill would use surplus dollars to make up the losses.
12) ''We cannot backfill the potholes this bill will leave,'' said Sen. Robert Byrd, D-W.Va.
13) Also Tuesday, the House voted 424-0 for legislation to bolster taxpayer rights in dealing with the Internal Revenue Service and better protect private tax information from computer hackers. The bill, which now goes to the Senate, also would make changes in tax penalties and interest, including making interest on IRS overpayments tax free.
14) In a symbolic vote, the House signaled opposition by 420-1 to the tax increases in President Clinton's fiscal 2001 budget. Democrats derided that effort as a political stunt intended only to embarrass the president and curry favor with voters.
15) ''You have to wonder if this isn't some form of electioneering, instead of substantive tax policy,'' said Rep. Jim McDermott, D-Wash.


Senate Battles Over Marriage Tax
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1) After a symbolic week of tax votes, senators are leaving town for a 10-day break without passing a tax cut for married couples.
2) The House, meanwhile, approved a bill scrapping the entire tax code by the end of 2004.
3) The Republican-led Congress kept the focus on taxes during the final week before the annual income tax filing deadline, which is midnight Monday this year for most people because the traditional April 15 date falls on a Saturday. Lawmakers then left for a spring recess.
4) ''We are again demonstrating to the American people: 'We are on your side,''' said House Majority Leader Dick Armey, R-Texas.
5) By a 229-187 vote Thursday, the House passed a bill that would scrap the federal tax code on Dec. 31, 2004, and set up a commission that would set about finding an unspecified replacement tax system by July 4, 2004. The measure goes to the Senate, where it faces an uncertain future at best.
6) But it gave House Republicans a chance to rail against the complexity and unfairness of tax laws and against the Internal Revenue Service, a favorite target especially during the income tax filing finale.
7) ''Sometimes it takes something radical to make changes,'' said the prime sponsor, Rep. Steve Largent, R-Okla. ''It's time. We need to just do it.''
8) While they didn't defend the current tax code, Democrats claimed that Republicans want to replace the income tax with a national sales tax that would hit poorer people the hardest and unwisely impose a tax on goods and services sold over the Internet, prescription drugs, clothes and other necessities.
9) ''If you're going to pull something out by its roots, you have to plant thoughtful seeds to take its place,'' said Rep. Anna Eshoo, D-Calif.
10) In the Senate, Republicans came up seven votes short of the 60 needed to cut off debate and proceed to the so-called ''marriage penalty'' bill. The 53-45 vote forced GOP leaders to shelve the measure for now, but Democrats support the concept and agreed it would likely be brought up for debate later this year.
11) ''It's not dead,'' said Sen. Max Baucus, D-Mont. ''All they wanted was a political issue.''
12) But Republicans said Democrats brought on the delay by insisting on political points of their own by trying to offer amendments on issues not directly related to the tax bill, such as a Medicare prescription drug benefit and tax credits for college tuition.
13) ''The Democrats are obstructing this legislation like in-laws involved in your honeymoon,'' said Sen. Charles Grassley, R-Iowa.
14) Ending the marriage penalty has broad support across the political spectrum, but Democrats and Republicans disagree on how to do it and how much of the projected budget surplus it should consume.
15) The Senate GOP bill would gradually reduce taxes by $248 billion over 10 years for married couples at all income levels, removing the penalty now paid by 25 million two-earner households compared with single people. The bill would also cut taxes for couples who receive a bonus because one spouse earns more than the other and would also permanently ensure that all couples who claim personal credits, such as the $500 per-child tax credit, don't lose them to the alternative minimum tax.
16) The House earlier this year passed a 10-year, $182 billion version and President Clinton has proposed fixing the marriage penalty for couples who take the standard tax deduction at a cost of $45 billion.


Patients' Rights Bill Debated
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1) Predicting the fate of the measure would reverberate in fall elections, Democrats urged Senate Republicans today to support a patients' rights bill that is much broader than one they passed last year.
2) The new measure, which has bipartisan support, would give Americans more leverage in dealing with health plans. It was being proposed today as an amendment to a $309.8 billion defense bill.
3) Democrats said bringing the measure to the floor would put the debate about patients' rights out in the open. They said a House and Senate negotiators, which have met mostly in private to combine two competing bills, were dragging their feet and had made little progress.
4) ''This is a great opportunity (for Republicans) to make up for the votes they made last year,'' Sen. Chris Dodd, D-Conn., said at a news conference.
5) If the Senate defeats the bill, Democrats promised, they will make hay of the issue in the fall elections. ''People will be shocked by the vote in November,'' said Sen. Barbara Mikulski, D-Md.
6) Two hours of debate were scheduled for the patients' protection bill, which closely resembles a bipartisan bill passed by the House last fall. It provides many basic protections for consumers, such as easier access to specialists and the ability to keep the same doctors if employers change health providers.
7) It also expands patients' rights to sue their health plans if they are harmed when plans deny coverage of medicines, treatments or other care. It would apply to all 161 million Americans with private insurance.
8) The Senate passed a bill last year with many of the same provisions, but no expanded right to sue. It also applies to fewer people.
9) The vote last year was 53-47, with just two Republicans crossing party lines to vote with Democrats against the measure.
10) Republicans say they oppose expanding the right to sue, saying more lawsuits would increase costs and drive employers to drop health benefits for workers rather than face expensive court battles.
11) Democrats say health plans should be held liable in court for their actions just as other companies are. When the House passed a bipartisan bill last fall, 68 Republicans joined Democrats in voting for it.
12) Republican senators on the House-Senate committee offered a proposal for limited lawsuits that they said moves closer to the Democrats position. Democrats flatly rejected it as insufficient and unworkable.
13) Democrats said their bill would help families get better care and end HMO abuses such as ''drive-by mastectomies.''
14) ''The early tentative soundings are that we will have a stronger vote than we did last time,'' said Sen. Edward Kennedy, D-Mass., a member of the House-Senate committee who spearheaded the move to bypass the group and bring a bill to the floor.


House Passes Marriage Tax Cut
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1) The House has again passed Republican legislation to cut taxes for millions of married couples, setting up a showdown in the Senate and a late July, pre-GOP convention confrontation with President Clinton.
2) Senate Republicans, meanwhile, reached agreement with Democrats to remove parliamentary roadblocks and finish debate this week on a House-passed bill to abolish estate taxes, another GOP priority that Clinton has threatened to veto.
3) In the first vote on that measure Thursday, senators rejected, 53-46, a Democratic amendment that would sharply increase the amount of an estate exempt from taxes -- it is now $675,000 per individual, more for small businesses and family farms -- but would stop short of complete abolition.
4) Democrats planned to offer other amendments that would divert some of the money in the GOP bill to such things as a college tuition tax credit and a Medicare prescription drug benefit.
5) ''We're saying there are other priorities,'' said Sen. Byron Dorgan, D-N.D.
6) The 269-159 vote by which the House passed the 10-year, $182 billion ''marriage penalty'' tax cut Wednesday was a virtual mirror image of a February vote on the same bill. The move was necessary because Senate Democrats filibustered the first bill, forcing GOP leaders to pass it again under budget rules that limit debate and amendments.
7) ''We did it once, but it was held up in the Senate,'' said House Speaker Dennis Hastert, R-Ill. ''It's something we've promised the American people, and we'll get it done.''
8) The bill is aimed at the estimated 25 million two-income married couples who pay higher income taxes than they would if single, but it also gives a tax cut to virtually all married people who file joint tax returns. It would gradually expand the bottom 15 percent income tax bracket so that by 2007 it is double the bracket for two single people and would boost the standard deduction to twice that of singles in 2001.
9) The measure also would raise the income cap to allow more lower-income couples to claim the earned income tax credit and would ensure that couples who claim certain personal credits, such as the $500 per-child credit, do not run afoul of the complex alternative minimum tax.
10) The Senate intends to take up its 10-year, $248 billion version of the bill later this week. A House-Senate conference committee would be named to work out differences, which mainly center on how the next-highest 28 percent tax bracket is treated.
11) Republicans are rushing to get the bill to Clinton before the start of the Republican National Convention on July 31, calculating that a veto gives them a popular issue to exploit. If the president were to sign the measure, the GOP could use that to fight Vice President Al Gore's claim that Republicans are running a ''do-nothing'' Congress.
12) Democrats charged that the measure was nothing but ''a political statement,'' in the words of Rep. Charles Rangel, D-N.Y. They tried to force Republicans to attach a government-run Medicare prescription drug benefit that Clinton has made a condition of signing the tax cut into law. But that effort was rejected by a 230-197 vote.
13) ''I don't think there's a nexus between marriage penalty and prescription drugs,'' Hastert said. ''They're at risk of being do-nothing Democrats.''
14) Before taking up the marriage tax cut, the Senate intends to begin serious debate on the 10-year, $104 billion Republican bill that would gradually scrap federal estate taxes by 2010. Passage could come as early as Thursday evening, or possibly Friday.
15) Democrats plan to offer a series of amendments, including a Medicare prescription drug benefit, along with an estate tax alternative that increases exemptions for family farms and small businesses that suffer most from the tax. Clinton has endorsed the Democratic approach, saying complete repeal is unnecessary and would mainly help the wealthiest people in America.
16) ''It's staggering to see what the Republicans will do in the name of tax reduction, benefiting the very, very wealthiest in this country,'' said Senate Minority Leader Tom Daschle, D-S.D.


Senate Passes Estate Tax Repeal
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1) With President Clinton promising a veto, Senate Republicans muscled through a bill on Friday that would gradually repeal inheritance taxes originally imposed to prevent concentration of vast wealth in few hands.
2) Senators voted 59-39 to pass the ''death tax'' elimination bill, ignoring Democratic arguments that it was a tax cut for the very richest Americans. Sponsors portrayed the measure as a matter of basic fairness and a remedy for a tax that punishes success, and most Republicans were joined by nine Democrats in voting for it.
3) ''This thing is a cancer,'' said Sen. Phil Gramm, R-Texas. ''We don't want it to be left for one person.''
4) But the president called the repeal bill a budget buster that provides ''a huge tax cut for the most well off Americans at the expense of working families.''
5) Clinton, in a statement issued at Camp David, Md., where he is hosting a Middle East peace conference, said the bill will explode in cost as the years go on. He said it will cause a loss of tax revenue of $100 billion in the decade beginning in 2001 and then mushroom to an additional $750 billion loss in revenue from 2011 to 2020.
6) ''The Senate is wrong to pass this costly, irresponsible and regressive bill, which provides half of its benefits to about 3,000 families annually while more than 10 million Americans are waiting for an increase in the minimum wage and tens of millions of seniors lack dependable prescription drug coverage,'' Clinton said.
7) ''When this bill comes to my desk I will veto it,'' he said.
8) The vote, well short of the two-thirds majority needed to override a presidential veto, throws onto Clinton's lap one of the GOP's top tax-cut priorities prior to the July 31 start of the Republican convention -- reinforcing the party's tax cutting message against Democrats.
9) The Senate then immediately began debating the next big Republican tax cut: a 10-year, $248 billion measure that would slash income taxes for millions of married couples, including 25 million who pay more than they would if single. Votes are expected next week. Sending that bill to Clinton's desk is another pre-convention political goal for Republicans.
10) The president called the estate tax bill ''costly, irresponsible and regressive'' and left no doubt in a statement Friday about its ultimate fate: ''When this bill comes to my desk, I will veto it.''
11) Only about 2 percent of estates are now taxed by the federal government -- in 1997, about 43,000 estates out of more than 2 million deaths were affected. But supporters of repealing the tax said many families and business owners are forced to pay thousands of dollars to lawyers and consultants for arrangements that protect their money from tax rates as high as 55 percent.
12) ''No family, no farm and no business should have to worry about this sort of thing,'' said Sen. William Roth, R-Del.
13) The bill, which passed the House in June with support from 65 Democrats, would cut the top 55 percent estate tax rate in 2001 and then gradually phase out all other rates, with full repeal coming in 2010. The cost was estimated at $105 billion during the phaseout, rising to $750 billion during the following decade.
14) Estate taxes date from 1916, a product of the progressive agenda pushed years earlier by Republican President Theodore Roosevelt who sought to ''preserve a measurable opportunity for the people'' instead of preserving ''those fortunes swollen beyond all healthy limits.''
15) Today, estate tax collections of about $25 billion represent only about 1.5 percent of the federal government's overall yearly tax haul, but rising incomes have forced more people to worry about them. A house, a retirement plan and some insurance, experts say, can quickly put a person's estate into the tax zone -- above $675,000 for individuals and above $1.3 million for couples, farms and small businesses. These levels are already scheduled by law to increase to $1 million for individuals and $2 million for couples by 2006.
16) ''A client worth a $1 billion will still be wealthy even if the government takes half of it,'' said Beth Rodriguez, a wealth strategist with J.P. Morgan. ''But if you're worth $3 million, and they take half of it, that significantly changes your situation.''
17) Lawmakers eyeing huge budget surpluses also have responded to individual horror stories about sold-off small businesses and lost family farms, most of those individuals rounded up by lobbying organizations such as the National Federation of Independent Business and National Association of Manufacturers.
18) ''The estate tax is anti-competitive, anti-minority business, anti-entrepreneur -- in sum, anti-American dream,'' said Tim Hammonds, chief of the Food Marketing Institute, a group representing food retailers and wholesalers.
19) Democrats contended that the few smaller businesses and family farms struck by the estate tax could easily be helped by simply raising exemptions in current law.
20) Opponents to repeal say the statistics speak for themselves: For example, in 1997 the 2,400 estates with assets above $5 million paid half of all the taxes. Had the tax been repealed that year, it would have meant a tax cut averaging $3.4 million for those estates.
21) ''You can't disguise what you're doing here in terms of a large tax cut for the wealthiest people in the United States,'' said Sen. Byron Dorgan, D-N.D.
22) The Senate, however, defeated a Democratic substitute costing $64 billion over 10 years that would have sharply raised the estate tax exemptions.
23) Republicans said the government's revenue loss would be cushioned somewhat because the bill changes the way assets are valued so an heir would owe higher capital-gains taxes than under current law once an inherited asset is sold. Capital-gains tax rates, however, are much lower than estate tax rates.
24) The Senate also stripped from the bill amendments it had approved Thursday, mainly to showcase election-year priorities, including a repeal of the 3 percent excise tax on telephone service.


House Votes To Rescind Tax Increase
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1) House Republicans headed to their presidential convention with another tax cut in their pocket -- the repeal of a 1993 measure that has meant higher taxes for millions of Social Security recipients.
2) The legislation, passed 265-159 Thursday with the help of 52 Democrats, was the last major bill the House finished before Congress adjourned for the summer and the two national presidential nominating conventions. Republicans meet in Philadelphia next week; Democrats convene next month in Los Angeles.
3) The Social Security tax break came on the heels of a series of GOP-led initiatives to cut inheritance taxes, taxes on some married couples, a phone tax and taxes affecting health care and business.
4) President Clinton, as he has with the inheritance and marriage tax bills, said Thursday he would veto the Social Security measure because it undermines fiscal discipline and takes away resources needed for education and other priorities.
5) ''They have passed reckless tax cut after reckless tax cut after reckless tax cut, to drain away our hard-earned surplus and put us back in the red,'' he said in remarks in the Rose Garden.
6) Thursday's bill rescinds a tax increase that was part of a major deficit-reduction package the White House put together in 1993 -- without a single Republican vote in favor -- to make a dent in what was then a budget deficit heading toward $300 billion. Vice President Al Gore, in his role as president of the Senate, cast the tie-breaking vote for that package, and Republicans were quick to label the Social Security provision the ''Gore Social Security Tax.''
7) ''Unlike Mr. Gore, we don't think it's right for seniors who earn more than $34,000 per year to pay taxes on up to 85 percent of their Social Security benefits,'' said House Speaker Dennis Hastert, R-Ill.
8) The tax was first imposed during the Reagan administration and in 1993 was increased from being applicable to 50 percent of benefits to 85 percent for individuals with incomes of more than $34,000 and couples with incomes of $44,000.
9) The Republican bill would return it to the 50 percent level, at a cost of more than $100 billion over 10 years. Revenues from the tax go to the Medicare trust fund and losses from the tax break would come from the budget surplus.
10) The increased tax now affects some 9 million seniors and the number is expected to go up sharply in the future with the rise of seniors with larger incomes.
11) A Democratic substitute, defeated 256-169, would have raised the threshold for the 85 percent of benefit tax to $80,000 for individuals and $100,000 for families.
12) Democrats said their bill would cost $40 billion less over 10 years and, unlike the GOP bill, would be effective only as long as the budget surplus is sufficient to cover losses to Medicare.
13) In the Senate, Sen. Spencer Abraham, R-Mich., sponsor of companion Social Security tax legislation, said he had urged the Finance Committee to include his bill in tax relief legislation that Congress will consider this fall.
14) House Republicans on Thursday also dressed staffers up as a bride and groom and put them in a car decked out with streamers and tin cans to deliver the marriage penalty tax bill to the White House.
15) The bill would reduce income tax for millions of married couples, including 25 million who pay higher rates than they would if they were single, but the Clinton administration says the cost -- $292 billion over 10 years -- is too high and the measure is overly generous to richer Americans.
16) Last year Clinton vetoed a $792 billion GOP tax cut package. This year, Republicans, changing strategy, have offered their tax bills in piecemeal fashion. But Democrats said that added together they still total some $733 billion over a decade, close to last year's level, and that they consume far too much of future budget surpluses that are needed for education and health programs.
17) ''Passage of all these tax cuts together will take us right back to the deficit spending and the red ink we had in those years'' of the 1980s and early 1990s, House Democratic leader Dick Gephardt of Missouri said.
18) But House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Bill Archer, R-Texas, said that with the budget now solidly in surplus it was not right to tax the benefits of senior citizens. ''Social Security checks should not arrive in the mailbox with a bill from the IRS attached,'' he said. ''It's unfair, it's unnecessary and it harms the retirement security of millions of Americans now and in the years to come.''


Democrats Look for Power in Congress
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1) While Democrats failed to win a majority in either house of Congress in this week's election, party leaders envision greater influence due to their gains in the House and Senate. Republicans promise improved cooperation but vow to stay in charge.
2) ``We will be in the majority. That is not in doubt,'' said Sen. Mitch McConnell, R-Ky. ``But the closer you get, the more cooperation is required.''
3) It doesn't get much closer than the Senate, where the possibility of a 50-50 tie hinged on the Washington state race between GOP Sen. Slade Gorton and Democratic challenger Maria Cantwell that remained too close to call Wednesday. Democrats had already picked up three seats, making it 50 Republicans and 49 Democrats at this point.
4) ``I think we have to be included ... in the way we set the agenda,'' said Senate Minority Leader Tom Daschle, D-S.D. ``I don't see any reason why we couldn't accomplish a great deal.''
5) Another complication in the final Senate lineup was the unsettled presidential race. A Democratic win there would send Sen. Joseph Lieberman to the vice presidency, allowing Connecticut's Republican governor to appoint a replacement and shift the balance clearly to the GOP.
6) In any case, Democrats cannot control the Senate. If Republican Dick Cheney becomes vice president, his role as president of the Senate would let him cast the tie-breaking vote.
7) With two House races still too close to call, Republicans had 220 seats to 211 for the Democrats. There are two independents, one aligned with each party. Democrats will have a net gain of two seats in Tuesday's election if trends in the two outstanding races hold. The current House has 222 Republicans, 209 Democrats, two independents and two vacancies.
8) After two years of frosty relations with Republican leadership, House Minority Leader Dick Gephardt, D-Mo., placed a call Wednesday to Speaker Dennis Hastert in an effort to ``see if we can get things on a better, more collaborative plane here.''
9) Earlier, Hastert, R-Ill., had also promised to ``offer my hand across the aisle,'' but the speaker said it's up to the Democrats to change their ways, claiming their two-year strategy to regain House control they lost in 1994 depended on forcing Capitol Hill gridlock.
10) ``Dick Gephardt's goal was to run against a do-nothing Congress,'' the speaker said. ``Now is the time to put politics aside.''
11) As in any election, there were transitions aplenty.
12) Sen.-elect Hillary Rodham Clinton, D-N.Y., held a postelection news conference and said she intends to fulfill her public duties as first lady while preparing to become a member of Congress.
13) Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott, R-Miss., greeted her election tartly.
14) ``I tell you one thing, when this Hillary gets to the Senate _ if she does, maybe lightning will strike and she won't _ she will be one of 100 and we won't let her forget it,'' he said.
15) A Lott aide explained Thursday that the senator's reference Tuesday night to lightning striking reflected his hope that Mrs. Clinton's opponent, GOP Rep. Rick Lazio, might somehow pull off a miraculous upset as the final votes were counted _ not that he wished any harm on the first lady.
16) In Missouri, Republican Sen. John Ashcroft conceded defeat in his race against the late Gov. Mel Carnahan, whose widow Jean Carnahan is in line to receive a Senate appointment. Some Republicans in Washington talked of a court challenge, but Ashcroft said he would have none of that.
17) ``I believe that the will of the people has been expressed ... and that the people's voice should be respected and heard,'' he said.
18) Several House GOP aides said the entire upper echelon of the leadership would likely be re-elected to new terms when the lawmakers meet next week. That included Hastert, Majority Leader Dick Armey of Texas, GOP Whip Tom DeLay of Texas, and Rep. J.C. Watts of Oklahoma, fourth-ranking in the hierarchy.
19) Several committee chairmen must surrender their posts because of term limits the GOP instituted in 1995, and while their replacements won't be selected until January, contenders already were jockeying for position.
20) The chairmanship of the House Ways and Means Committee was among the choicest of available plums, and GOP sources said Reps. Phil Crane of Illinois and Bill Thomas of California were making calls as they vied for support.
21) Among the losers in Tuesday night's elections was Sen. William Roth, the veteran Delaware Republican who chairs the tax-writing Senate Finance Committee and is author of the law creating the popular Roth IRA.
22) Roth told supporters that his ``successes are written in law. We even have our name in the dictionary.''
23) Sen. Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, is in line to succeed him.
24) Grassley, a 20-year Senate veteran, has been a consistent supporter of Republican tax cuts such as the marriage penalty bill and estate tax repeal. He is most focused on using the tax code to help farmers; working to get the ethanol tax credit extended through 2007 and pushing for tax-deferred accounts to help farmers save more for the lean years.


Bush, Democrats Address Tax Relief
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1) With Democrats cautiously joining the chorus, President Bush pressed the case for a tax cut package Saturday, saying it will energize a sputtering economy and put more money in the pockets of those who need it most.
2) Making tax cuts the theme of his third week in office and his second weekly radio address, Bush said the $1.6 billion, 10-year tax reduction plan he will send to Congress will help those who were left behind even as rising prosperity lifted the country as a whole.
3) ``A lot of people feel as if they have been looking through the window at somebody else's party,'' he said. ``It is time to fling those doors and windows open and invite everybody in.''
4) Bush called his plan broad, responsible and ``the right thing to do.'' He made clear it will lower tax rates for all Americans, rich as well as poor.
5) Responding in the Democrats' radio address, Senate minority leader Tom Daschle of South Dakota said that while the size and terms of a tax cut are open to debate, many Democrats are ready to support one.
6) ``Democrats agree with President Bush, the American people deserve a tax cut; we strongly support a major tax cut this year,'' Daschle declared, while not saying how large a reduction Democrats might support.
7) But Daschle said that even at a time of rising budget surpluses the sky is not the limit. And he made clear Democrats have problems with the Bush plan as it stands.
8) ``We can't go back to deficit spending,'' he said. ``The tax cut must be affordable _ and responsible. It can't use up money we need for education, prescription drugs and other necessities.''
9) And Daschle emphasized that while Democrats believe that all taxpayers should get tax relief, ``working families should come first,'' not the wealthy.
10) He said Bush's tax-cut plan ``shortchanges working families,'' with 43 percent of the cuts going to the wealthiest 1 percent of Americans.
11) ``Democrats are ready to sit down with President Bush and congressional Republicans to write a responsible budget plan that cuts taxes, protects Social Security and Medicare, provides prescription drug coverage and preserves fiscal responsibility,'' the Democratic leader said.
12) While Daschle and other Democrats say reducing the debt should have first priority, Bush made clear he believes debt reduction and tax cuts should have equal weight.
13) ``There's a lot of talk in Washington about paying down the national debt, and that's good, and that's important; and my budget will do that,'' the president said.
14) ``But American families have debts to pay, as well,'' he said. ``A tax cut now will stimulate our economy and create jobs.''
15) Bush began his tax-cut sales pitch on Friday with an unprecedented 50-minute appearance before Senate Democrats gathered at the Library of Congress for their annual strategy meeting.
16) The president then joined House and Senate Republicans at their policy retreat at Williamsburg, Va. After a weekend at the Camp David presidential retreat in western Maryland, he was set to continue his campaign for bipartisan support to House Democrats at their retreat in Pennsylvania on Sunday afternoon.
17) Bush told the Republicans he would insist on his plan to gradually reduce all income tax rates by 2006, expand the per-child tax credit, ease the so-called marriage penalty and phase out estate taxes.
18) ``I come from the school of thought that cutting marginal rates for everybody who pays taxes is a good way to help ease the pain of what may be an economic slowdown,'' Bush said. ``I'm going to make that case over and over and over again until we get a bill through.''
19) Still, he said, ``I'll listen ... and I'll try to understand why you don't do everything I tell you to do.''
20) Meanwhile Friday, first lady Laura Bush flew to Texas, where she plans to spend the next two weeks overseeing renovation of the family ranch near Waco.


Proposed Tax Cut Questioned
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1) President Bush wants a $1.6 trillion tax cut over 10 years. Democrats are pushing for a smaller cut, some Republicans for a larger one. What might the cut actually cost?
2) ``No one knows how big it is,'' the House's third-ranking Republican said Sunday.
3) No one doubts that Congress will pass a significant tax cut package this year. Bush's proposal _ which includes a reduction in income-tax rates and phasing out the estate tax _ seems to have momentum in Congress. But there's plenty of doubt about the size.
4) ``I think it is actually more than $1.6 trillion,'' said Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., speaking on CNN's ``Late Edition.'' ``It doesn't take into consideration the interest that it uses up, which is about another $400 billion. So it's really a $2 trillion tax cut.''
5) ``No one knows how big it is. Numbers are thrown around all over the place,'' House Majority Whip Tom DeLay, R-Texas, told ABC's ``This Week.'' ``What I do know is: Over the next 10 years, for every dollar that the American taxpayer sends to Washington, we want to give back 5 cents in taxes.''
6) Senate Majority Whip Sen. Don Nickles, R-Okla., said he supports the president but indicated that he and like-minded Republicans would prefer a bigger cut.
7) ``I personally would love to see it be more, but I count votes (in Congress). I hear most of the Democrats saying they want it to be less. We have quite a few Republicans that say they'd like to have it be more, but you have to pick a number,'' he told CNN. ``I think the president has a good number.''
8) The number of votes the plan will win in Congress is critical. The Senate is divided 50-50 between the two parties, with Vice President Dick Cheney available to break ties in favor of the Republicans. Republicans control the House by 221-211, with two independents evenly divided between the parties, plus one vacancy.
9) This week, Feinstein and four other senators, including two moderate Republicans, wrote a letter to Bush, urging him to propose a kind of ``trigger'' that would allow some of the tax cuts only if the government met certain surplus targets each year. The idea is to have a way out of the tax cuts if economic conditions or budget projections take a turn for the worse.
10) But Sen. Ernest F. Hollings, D-S.C., questioned whether, given the national debt, the surplus isn't a figment of political imaginations. ``If there was a surplus, we'd all be for a tax cut, but there's no surplus,'' he told NBC's ``Meet the Press.''
11) Rep. Bill Thomas, R-Calif., chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee, said he believes a tax cut will help spark newfound growth in the economy. ``It seems to me that if you return some of the hardworking taxpayers' money to them, ... they're going to spend it. It will have an economic effect,'' he told NBC.
12) Senate Minority Leader Tom Daschle, D-S.D., said he and other Democrats are ``very much in support of a tax cut,'' but added that they also want to pay down the national debt and invest in education, health care and other programs. He also reiterated concerns by some Democrats that the wealthy would reap the biggest benefits _ a charge Republicans deny.
13) ``All of these projected surpluses are just that. It's the economic equivalent of a weather forecast. We know what weather forecasts can do in the future. They just are wrong often times, so to base an entire economic plan on a projection that may or may not be true ... just doesn't make sense,'' Daschle told ABC.
14) DeLay argued that the argument is not a case of either/or. ``We can pay down the debt, and we can give back a tax break all at the same time,'' he said.
15) While the President has offered ``an excellent plan,'' DeLay said, the cut ``ought to be as big as the votes in the House and in the Senate make it.''
16) Away from all the congressional wrangling, Treasury Secretary Paul O'Neill said Bush had come up with the perfect number. ``It's a Goldilocks tax plan: not too much, not too little, but just right,'' he told Newsweek in an article appearing this week.


Democrats To Unveil Tax Cut Measures
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1) Congress' top Democrats planned to lay out their own broad principles for cutting taxes on Thursday, following weeks of attacking President Bush's $1.6 trillion, 10-year plan as being too big and tilted toward the rich.
2) House Minority Leader Dick Gephardt, D-Mo., and Senate Minority Leader Tom Daschle, D-S.D., will embrace no specific proposals. But their goal is to try taking the offensive in a tax debate that Bush has so far dominated and give their rank-and-file lawmakers something to favor, rather than only attacking Bush's plan.
3) They also hope their principles will help legislators explain their priorities when they go home next week for Congress' President's Day recess. Upon their return, Bush will likely have the public relations advantage because he will discuss his fiscal priorities to a joint session of Congress on Feb. 27, and then release an outline of his first budget the next day.
4) ``We say you can have a tax cut plus a prescription drug benefit,'' Daschle said Wednesday in a preview of Democrats' plans. ``You can have a tax cut plus paying down the public debt. You can have a tax cut plus education commitments and investments.''
5) Democrats prepared their plans as the first Senate Republican came out against Bush's proposal. Sen. James Jeffords, R-Vt., told the Burlington, Vt., Free Press that the president's plan is too expensive and does not help low- and moderate-income people enough.
6) The moderate Jeffords' defection is important because the Senate is divided 50-50 between the two parties. One Democrat, Sen. Zell Miller of Georgia, has announced his support for Bush's plan.
7) According to aides, Gephardt and Daschle planned to say that Democrats want broad-based tax cuts that are targeted more at lower- and middle-income taxpayers than Bush's plan. Their tax reduction would be smaller than Bush's.
8) Their tax cut would be part of a Democratic budget that starts by setting aside $2.9 trillion for debt reduction over the next decade. That is the portion of the projected overall $5.6 trillion, 10-year federal surplus that comes from Social Security and Medicare.
9) Of the remaining $2.7 trillion in estimated surpluses, Democrats would divide the rest among tax cuts, additional debt reduction, and new spending for education, a Medicare prescription drug benefit and other programs.
10) Democrats say this would demonstrate that their tax plan, unlike Bush's, provides adequate resources for other priorities. Bush and his GOP allies have said his tax proposal would leave plenty of money for debt reduction and new spending for schools, defense and other items.
11) To help pay for the tax cuts, White House officials have said they will propose holding overall spending increases to about the inflation rate _ a level Democrats say is too low.
12) The Democratic proposal's lack of details _ for example it will not call for any particular type of tax cut _ reflected ongoing disagreements among Democrats over specifics.
13) For example, the Congressional Progressive Caucus, consisting of 55 of the most liberal members, are pushing a plan to give every American a $300 annual dividend for the next decade. Some other Democrats prefer income-tax rate reductions.
14) Democrats were even undecided on Wednesday afternoon whether to propose dividing the $2.7 trillion non-Social Security, non-Medicare surplus into thirds for tax cuts, debt reduction and new spending. Sen. Kent Conrad of North Dakota, top Democrat on the Senate Budget Committee, has espoused that idea.
15) But many House Democrats _ including the conservative ``Blue Dogs'' _ prefer using half of that surplus for debt reduction, and splitting the rest between tax cuts and spending.
16) Meanwhile, congressional Republicans trying to fashion a tax-cutting plan that would fit within Bush's $1.6 trillion preferred figure said they are considering making cuts in only the lower income-tax brackets retroactive to this past January, rather than all of the brackets.
17) In separate interviews, House Majority Leader Dick Armey, R-Texas, and House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Bill Thomas, R-Calif., said this was a possibility if there was not enough money to make all of the rate reductions retroactive.
18) Such a decision would affect all taxpayers because everyone pays the lowest rate on their first several thousand dollars of their income. But it would also give a greater proportional tax cut to lower-income people, making it tougher for some Democrats to oppose the plan.
19) As the centerpiece of his plan, Bush would telescope the current five income-tax brackets into four and lower them. The top rate would fall from 39.6 percent to 33 percent, while the bottom rate would drop from 15 percent to 10 percent.
20) A CBS News poll out this week indicates just over a third of the public supports a large tax cut, but almost half would like a smaller one and the remainder backed no tax cut. When asked whether they favored or opposed the Bush tax cut, just over half said they support it.


GOP Moves Quickly on Tax Cuts
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1) Putting aside pledges to work together, House Republicans and Democrats are preparing for a partisan fight next week over a $1 trillion first installment of President Bush's tax cut plan.
2) Already looking ahead to tougher battles in the split Senate, the president planned a campaign-styled swing next week _ through North Dakota, South Dakota, Louisiana and the Florida panhandle.
3) ``Every day, in every way, whether it's at the White House or it's in travel, the president looks at how to get his plan across to the voters so the voters can get their message to the senators and the congressmen,'' White House press secretary Ari Fleischer said.
4) Even in the Dakotas, Fleischer added. ``In a 50-50 Senate there is no such thing as a small-populated state.''
5) Republicans in the Ways and Means Committee muscled through Bush's across-the-board rate cut Thursday on a 23-15 party-line vote. GOP leaders have scheduled a vote by the full House next week on the legislation, which lowers tax rates for all income levels.
6) ``If we want to stem the stagnation in the economy, we have to move quickly,'' said House Speaker Dennis Hastert, R-Ill., explaining the decision to act on the rate cut legislation only a day after Bush presented his budget to Congress.
7) Democrats reacted angrily, saying the Republican tax cut plan was irresponsible, favored the rich and was a betrayal of the spirit of bipartisanship promised by the new administration. They said it was wrong to take up tax cuts before Congress acts on a fiscal 2002 budget that could see spending cuts required by the loss in tax revenues.
8) Senate Democratic leader Tom Daschle of South Dakota said the apparent Republican decision to go it alone on taxes was a return ``to the bad old days of divisiveness and confrontation.''
9) ``I haven't seen my members as exercised about anything since I've been here,'' said House Democratic leader Dick Gephardt of Missouri.
10) House Majority Whip Tom DeLay, R-Texas, said Republicans still hope to work with rank-and-file Democrats. But he added: ``I don't know how they can slow us down. ... We're moving today.''
11) Democrats on Thursday unveiled their own tax package, specifying $725 billion in tax cuts over 10 years _ $900 billion if increased interest on the debt is added. Their plan reduces the lowest income tax rate from 15 percent to 12 percent, gives relief to married couples penalized under current tax law, frees more individuals and small businesses from the estate tax and provides that low-income people who pay little or no income tax get cuts in their payroll taxes.
12) The 10-year, $958 billion across-the-board tax cut going to the House floor is the first of three or four the House will consider in the coming months. The Bush plan also would repeal the estate tax, provide relief from the ``marriage penalty,'' increase child credits and establish several provisions to encourage charitable giving.
13) Bush has put the overall cost of his plan at $1.6 trillion, although Democrats say it will go well past $2 trillion once interest on the public debt is added in along with adjustments in what is called the alternative minimum tax aimed at assuring that businesses and well-off individuals with write-offs don't avoid all tax obligations.
14) Hastert said he thought alternative minimum tax changes would be included in one of the tax bills, and he intends to keep the package within the $1.6 trillion guideline.
15) Republicans currently hold a 220-211 advantage in the House, with two vacancies and two independents, giving them the edge if party unity is held.
16) The situation is different in the Senate, which probably will consider only one comprehensive tax-cut bill this year. The Senate is evenly split, and while one Democrat, Zell Miller of Georgia, has come out for the Bush plan, two moderate Republicans have objected that it might be too big.
17) Democrats claim Bush's tax cuts would eat up all but $100 billion of the non-Social Security, non-Medicare surplus in the 2002-2011 period, leaving little or nothing for prescription drug benefits for older people, education, defense and other pressing national needs.
18) Republicans, denying that, say their plan leaves ample money to protect Social Security and Medicare, pay down most of the national debt and meet the nation's priorities.
19) The across-the-board tax cut would gradually reduce and condense the current five graduated income tax rates of 15 percent, 28 percent, 31 percent 36 percent and 39.6 percent. By 2006, rates would be pegged at 10 percent, 15 percent, 25 percent and 33 percent.
20) Committee Republicans changed Bush's plan slightly to create an interim 12 percent bracket retroactive to Jan. 1, 2001, applied to a taxpayer's first several thousand dollars of income. Republicans said this step was particularly important given the economic slowdown.
21) Republicans on the committee rejected the Democratic proposal to create the new 12 percent lowest-bracket rate but leave other rates unchanged.


Senate Won't Act Quickly on Tax Cut
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1) The Senate probably won't try to pass the $958 billion income tax cut, which is headed for a House vote this week, until a budget is adopted showing how President Bush's tax package affects other national priorities, Majority Leader Trent Lott said Monday.
2) Lott, R-Miss., also said the Senate GOP will try to attain ``the broadest possible support'' for the tax cuts, in contrast to a House Republican approach that has largely frozen out Democrats.
3) ``Our goal is to try to find a bill that will have total Republican support and a lot of Democrats, too,'' Lott said.
4) House Republicans are rushing to pass the income tax cuts Thursday, which would give Bush an early victory on the largest piece of his 10-year, $1.6 trillion tax package. But Lott said ``the Senate is going to be more inclined to take up the entire package'' after the budget is passed later in the spring.
5) Without a budget in place, a single senator could block the tax cuts unless proponents could muster 60 out of 100 votes to continue. With 50 Democrats among the 100 senators, that is unlikely. Most Democrats contend the budget blueprint must precede the tax cuts, which they claim would consume too much of the projected revenue surplus to pay adequately for such priorities as education spending and Medicare prescription drug benefits.
6) ``The way to do this is to have a more thoughtful debate in the context of a budget,'' said Michael Siegel, spokesman for Sen. Max Baucus of Montana, ranking Democrat on the Senate Finance Committee.
7) Bush is visiting North Dakota, South Dakota and Louisiana this week to promote his tax cut and spending plans in states he carried in the election and are represented by major Senate Democrats, including several up for re-election in 2002. At the White House on Monday, Bush acknowledged ``some methodology to my travels.''
8) ``I'll be going to states where we've got a good chance of convincing members in states where maybe there's some obstinance,'' Bush told reporters.
9) Meanwhile, Bush economic adviser Larry Lindsey said Monday that more tax relief could be proposed in the future if economic growth for the decade is above the administration's cautious 3 percent projection and taxes become a greater share of the economy than predicted.
10) ``You have the money there for roughly two more tax bills this decade on the order of the one we are proposing,'' Lindsey said. ``We want to get the president's bill through, and we'll see what happens after that.''
11) The bill expected to pass the House on Thursday would gradually reduce and shrink the current five income tax rates of 15 percent, 28 percent, 31 percent, 36 percent and 39.6 percent. By 2006, the rates would reach 10 percent, 15 percent, 25 percent and 33 percent.
12) The House GOP bill would create an interim 12 percent bracket retroactive to Jan. 1, 2001, that would apply to every taxpayer's first several thousand dollars of income.
13) Bush has also proposed eliminating the estate tax, doubling the child tax credit to $1,000, easing the tax penalty paid by millions of married couples, expanding charitable deductions and making the business research tax credit permanent.
14) Some moderate Republicans and Democrats are pushing for a ``trigger'' that would permit tax relief in a given year only if projected surpluses materialize, but Bush spokesman Ari Fleischer said that could effectively result in a tax increase in future years.
15) ``Certainly, any trigger that is designed to stop a tax cut from going into place would result in a tax hike, according to all the rules,'' Fleischer said.


Democrats Oppose Bush Tax Cuts
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1) Democratic opposition to President Bush's $1.6 trillion tax cut hardened Tuesday, as many lawmakers showed resentment at what they perceived as heavy-handed tactics by the administration and its Republican allies in Congress.
2) They argued that tax cuts should wait until passage of an overall budget that shows the disposition of all the money, not just that earmarked for tax cuts.
3) ``The strong-arm tactics being used by the administration are clearly backfiring,'' said Senate Minority Leader Tom Daschle, D-S.D.
4) Several Democrats said Bush should curtail his campaign-style trips to promote his tax cuts in states represented by Democrats and sit down instead to work out compromises in the bipartisan fashion he promised a few weeks ago in numerous cordial face-to-face meetings.
5) Sen. Tim Johnson of South Dakota, which Bush plans to visit this week on his latest tax tour, said the pressure would not affect him and that he would oppose the tax cut without greater assurances that enough surplus money will be available for debt reduction, health care and education. Johnson is up for re-election next year.
6) ``I've won 13 consecutive elections in South Dakota by listening to the people in my state and reflecting their values, not by being a rubber stamp for either political party,'' Johnson said.
7) Sen. Mary Landrieu of Louisiana, another Democrat up for re-election in 2002 from a state Bush is visiting, said she has ``problems with the size and the substance'' of the president's plan and worries that it might produce future budget deficits.
8) ``I support cutting taxes, but let's cut them right,'' she said. ``People in Louisiana don't want to go back in the deficit ditch.''
9) Undaunted, House Republicans pressed ahead with plans to pass the biggest piece of the Bush tax plan on Thursday, a 10-year, $958 billion across-the-board income tax cut. It is expected to pass, and some GOP leaders said they expect Democrats to oppose any tax bill they are pushing.
10) ``I'm not sure a majority of Democrats want to cut taxes. They do not want to see us succeed,'' said House Majority Leader Dick Armey, R-Texas.
11) The bill would gradually reduce and condense the current five income tax rates of 15 percent, 28 percent, 31 percent, 36 percent and 39.6 percent. By 2006, the rates would reach 10 percent, 15 percent, 25 percent and 33 percent. The House GOP bill would create an interim 12 percent bracket retroactive to Jan. 1, 2001, that would apply to every taxpayer's first several thousand dollars of income.
12) While nearly all GOP lawmakers appear to be supportive in the House, Democratic vote-counters expect only a handful of defections _ especially after an influential group of 33 conservatives known as the ``Blue Dog Coalition'' said tax cuts were only one of several budget priorities.
13) Conservative and moderate Senate Democrats echoed the same theme, adding that Bush is running out of time to demonstrate the cooperation he promised.
14) ``Members of Congress would rather sit down and negotiate with the president,'' said Sen. Max Baucus of Montana, ranking Democrat on the Senate Finance Committee. ``It's just difficult to do so when he's out campaigning around the country, particularly in states where they are targeting Democrats. People are reacting against that.''
15) Republicans, for their part, sought unity Tuesday by lining up dozens of business lobbyists who pledged to back the Bush tax cut without attempting to weigh it down with special-interest tax provisions. The Tax Relief Coalition, with 175 members and growing, includes such business heavyweights as the National Association for Manufacturers, U.S. Chamber of Commerce and National Federation of Independent Business.
16) Mike Baroody, executive vice president at the manufacturers' group, said many lobbyists believe surplus projections that will be updated this summer could provide ample room for a second tax bill geared more toward business. Bush has warned business against trying to add provisions to his 10-year, $1.6 trillion plan.
17) ``We want to see this bill pass and the president to succeed,'' Baroody said. ``There's time enough for a follow-on after we've dealt with first things first.''


House OK's Bush Tax-Cut Plan
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1) The Republican-controlled House voted Thursday for an across-the-board tax cut of nearly $1 trillion over the next decade, handing President Bush a major victory only 48 days into his term.
2) The vote was 230-198 in favor of the reductions at the heart of the president's economic program, and came over the objections of Democrats who said the cut was too big and aimed at upper-income taxpayers.
3) ``One house down, and now the Senate to go,'' Bush exulted a few minutes moments after the vote as he delivered the news to an audience in North Dakota. ``The American people had a victory today. The American family had a victory today. The American entrepreneur had a victory today.''
4) Approval of Bush's plan sent the bill to an uncertain fate in the Senate, where a pivotal bipartisan group of lawmakers has expressed concern about the $958 billion price tag.
5) ``Who among us can say that the economy doesn't need a little encouragement,'' said Speaker Dennis Hastert, R-Ill., as the House debated the first priority piece of legislation of the new president. In addition, he said, cutting taxes ``will give consumers more money to pay off credit card bills. It will give families more money to pay off high energy bills. It will give parents more money to pay for education expenses.''
6) House Democratic Leader Dick Gephardt of Missouri countered that the plan was so big it would complicate efforts to pay down the national debt and make it more difficult to safeguard programs such as Medicare and Social Security. Underscoring Democratic complaints the GOP was favoring upper-income taxpayers, he added, ``If we're going to deliver tax relief let's deliver it to people who need it.''
7) The legislation would gradually reduce and condense the current five graduated income tax rates of 15 percent, 28 percent, 31 percent, 36 percent and 39.6 percent. By 2006, rates would be pegged at 10 percent, 15 percent, 25 percent and 33 percent.
8) To provide relief immediately, the measure also would create an interim 12 percent bracket, retroactive to Jan. 1, 2001, applied to the first $12,000 of taxable income for couples and $6,000 of taxable income for individuals.
9) Officials said that would mean a maximum tax cut this year of $360 for a couple and $180 for an individual.
10) Beyond that, the administration says that when the plan is fully phased in six million families who now pay taxes would no longer be required to.
11) At the direction of Hastert and other GOP leaders, House Republicans are expected to advance other elements of Bush's larger tax cut program to the floor over the next several weeks, including ``marriage penalty'' relief, a child tax credit and estate tax relief or repeal.
12) In a striking show of unity, all 219 Republicans who voted did so in support of Bush's plan. Ten Democrats crossed the aisle to vote with them. One independent also supported the measure.
13) In opposition were 197 Democrats and one independent.
14) House Democrats crafted an alternative, knowing in advance it was doomed to defeat but eager to highlight competing budget priorities. It was rejected on a vote of 273-155.
15) It called for $586 billion in tax cuts over 10 years, little more than one third the size of the GOP measure. It would lower the tax rate from 15 percent to 12 percent on the first $20,000 of income for a couple, and provide marriage penalty relief and an additional break for lower-wage earners. Unlike the GOP measure, it includes no reductions in the income tax rates that apply further up the income ladder.
16) At the same time, it provided more money for national debt reduction than the GOP measure _ a priority that consistently rates high in public polling.
17) Democrats forced a series of time-consuming votes on parliamentary motions early in the day, part of their effort to protest the Republicans' decision to advance the tax cut before completing work on an overall tax and spending plan.
18) Moderate and conservative Democrats led the argument on that point, saying they are ready to support higher tax cuts than other members of their party, but only if they fit into a plan that also continues to reduce the debt and cover other obligations.
19) ``I know of no prudent business person'' who would follow the example of the Republicans, said Rep. John Tanner, D-Tenn.
20) ``But we have a surplus this year, and we want to help American taxpayers this year,'' countered Rep. Tom DeLay, R-Texas, the GOP whip.
21) Much of the day was consumed with debate that contained echoes of the presidential campaign, in which Bush argued that the surplus belongs to the taxpayers, not the government.
22) ``The government shouldn't spend money it doesn't have or give away money it might need,'' said Rep. Dennis Kucinich, D-Ohio at one point.
23) Rep. Clay Shaw, R-Fla., was on his feet within minutes, arguing, ``This is the taxpayers' money. It's not the government's money.'' He added, ``It is our obligation to let American taxpayers keep more of what they earn.''
24) The legislation is unlikely to move quickly in the Senate, which is divided 50-50 along party lines. To avoid subjecting the measure to a filibuster by Democrats, Republicans must first win approval of the type of overall tax and spending plan that House Democrats sought.
25) Bush faces a challenge beyond that, though. Nine senators, five Democrats and four Republicans, called a news conference on Wednesday to endorse the idea of a ``trigger'' that would make tax cuts conditional on progress in paying down the debt. The administration has promised to fight that idea.


Democrats Offer Tax Cuts Compromise
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1) Each American taxpayer would get a $300 tax rebate check this year under a proposal offered Tuesday by Senate Democrats to give the economy an immediate $60 billion jolt. Republicans insisted any 2001 stimulus plan accompany President Bush's entire 10-year, $1.6 trillion tax cut.
2) Trying to seize the initiative on an idea gaining momentum on both sides of the Capitol, Senate Minority Leader Tom Daschle outlined a plan that would permanently lower the current 15 percent income tax rate to 10 percent, retroactive to Jan. 1.
3) The proposal, costing $460 billion over 10 years, would mean a $300 rebate check this year for a single person, $600 for a married couple. Besides the one-time check, reducing the bottom tax rate would create additional tax savings by year's end and in the years ahead.
4) Democrats said the 2001 tax cut, which has broad bipartisan support, should not be ``held hostage'' to Republican determination to attach it to Bush's overall tax package.
5) ``We're saying if we've got that, let's go to work, let's pass it,'' Daschle, D-S.D., told reporters. ``Let's put it on the president's desk.''
6) Checks would be sent to addresses of those who paid income taxes or payroll taxes based on the 2000 income tax returns and W-2 information received this year by the Internal Revenue Service. There also would be a provision for people who don't get checks to file claims for the money, but dependents would not be eligible.
7) Senior Republicans, echoing Bush and administration officials, generally agree on the use of $60 billion of 2001 surplus as a tax stimulus. But they said no retroactive tax cut would move without at least Bush's $958 billion in across-the-board income tax cuts over 10 years, which already have passed the House but which Democrats say are too large and tilted too much toward the wealthy.
8) ``The most important thing is to make sure we get long-term rate reduction,'' said Senate Finance Committee Chairman Charles Grassley, R-Iowa. ``I'm suggesting we do the two together.''
9) Treasury Secretary Paul O'Neill said in a speech to business economists that the administration is working to make more of Bush's plan retroactive. Less than $6 billion of the current plan would take effect in 2001.
10) But O'Neill said rebates haven't worked well in the past, and the nation's long-term economic health depends on reductions in all income tax rates, including Bush's proposal to reduce the top 39.6 percent income tax rate to 33 percent.
11) ``Far and away, cutting marginal tax rates is the cleanest and simplest instrument we have available to have an impact quickly,'' O'Neill said. ``And we must cut every rate.''
12) Until Tuesday, most tax rebate debate was in the Senate. But in a memo to GOP rank and file, House Majority Leader Dick Armey said it was time to give the idea ``a serious look,'' but not if it jeopardizes prospects for Bush's larger tax plan.
13) ``Under no circumstances should we allow rebate proposals to be used as an excuse to kill or delay the pro-growth tax cuts which are crucial to the health of our economy,'' the Texas Republican wrote.
14) More parts of Bush's tax package are moving ahead in the House this week, and it was possible they could be modified to include greater tax relief in 2001.
15) A $399 billion measure likely to reach a floor vote Thursday would reduce the tax penalty on 25 million two-income married couples and gradually double the $500 child tax credit. The House Ways and Means Committee, meanwhile, is working on its version of Bush's proposal to gradually eliminate the estate tax.
16) Estate tax repeal supporters were dealt a setback by the Joint Committee on Taxation, which provides Congress with official tax bill estimates. Using new analysis, the committee estimated that killing the ``death tax'' would cost $662 billion over 10 years, far more than Bush estimated even if many of the inherited assets are subject to higher capital gains taxes when sold.
17) The analysis concluded that eliminating the estate tax would open new loopholes for people to avoid income taxes, dramatically raising the overall revenue loss to the government. Talks were continuing on how to reduce that cost, including extension of the tax phaseout beyond Bush's original 2009 target, to limit the overall Bush plan cost to $1.6 trillion over a decade.


Bush Budget Ready for House To OK
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1) A divided House is ready to embrace a $1.94 trillion budget outline for next year mapping President Bush's vision of deep tax cuts and curbed spending, even as he duels with Democrats over delivering a fiscal nudge to the economy.
2) The Republican-led House planned to endorse the budgetary blueprint on Wednesday. It would be the first vote by either chamber of Congress on Bush's overall tax and spending plans, which face a sterner test next week in the evenly divided Senate.
3) The measure lays the groundwork for Bush's proposed 10-year, $1.6 trillion tax cut plan, steers $2.3 trillion toward debt reduction over the same period and limits spending for many programs in 2002 to 4 percent more than this year. That is half the spending growth that lawmakers and former President Clinton approved last year.
4) ``This is an opportunity that only comes around every few years ... to have a watershed budget,'' House Budget Committee Chairman Jim Nussle, R-Iowa, said Tuesday as debate began.
5) The GOP plan also sets aside Medicare surpluses for overhauling that program, including $153 billion over 10 years for a new prescription drug benefit.
6) Democrats readied their own budget with a smaller tax cut, more debt reduction and additional money for prescription drugs, aid for schools and other initiatives. Bush's tax cut is so big that if huge surpluses don't materialize as projected, it would force a return to annual federal deficits and erode Medicare's trust fund, they warned.
7) ``It has been too long, too hard getting to where we are to risk it all,'' said Rep. John Spratt of South Carolina, senior Democrat on the House budget panel.
8) The Democratic budget was fated for defeat, as were other alternatives by liberals, conservative Democrats and conservative Republicans.
9) Congress' budget, which does not need the president's signature, maps broad tax and spending goals that are enacted in detailed bills later. This budget covers fiscal 2002, which begins next Oct. 1.
10) Bush on Tuesday predicted the economy will ``come roaring out of its doldrums'' and lambasted Democrats for proposing a mere ``pick-me-up'' as a stimulus: one-time, $300-per-taxpayer rebate checks this year.
11) Bush endorsed the idea of a retroactive tax cut ``to get cash into the consumers' hands as swiftly as possible.'' But he said he would not separate it from his 10-year plan to lower income-tax rates, eliminate the estate tax and reduce other levies.
12) ``If we face facts and act boldly, I'm confident we can build the long-term prosperity we seek,'' he said in a speech in Kalamazoo, Mich.
13) For a $60 billion price tag, Senate Democrats would provide rebates to everyone who pays income or Social Security and Medicare payroll taxes. Only taxpayers _ not their dependents _ would qualify.
14) Democrats also would immediately cut the lowest 15 percent income tax rate to 10 percent for the first $6,000 of income for individuals, $12,000 for couples. This would produce additional tax savings starting this year, costing the government another $400 billion over the next decade.
15) The proposal lets Democrats endorse Bush's goal of invigorating the economy while rejecting his long-term tax cut as too big and skewed toward the rich. They taunted Republicans for rejecting the Democrats' plan.
16) ``Is it that tax relief for everyone is being held hostage by their commitment to a massive tax cut to the very few?'' said Senate Minority Leader Tom Daschle, D-S.D.
17) Bush's original plan, which has passed the House, would provide less than $6 billion in tax relief this year.
18) The Senate GOP's budget would allow $60 billion to be rushed to taxpayers this year, with details to be filled in later. But GOP leaders were still hunting for enough votes to push their budget through that chamber, where each party holds 50 seats. That debate should last all of next week.
19) Leaders were hoping to solidify support from moderate Republican senators with a provision that could ease some tax cuts if the government falls short of annual debt-reduction targets.
20) Senate Republicans also said getting their budget passed might require more spending than Bush has so far proposed for farm aid, education for the handicapped and defense.
21) Even so, Sen. Ted Stevens, R-Alaska, joked it would take ``an all-night prayer session'' for Republicans to push their budget through the Senate. And GOP leaders planned for the presence of Vice President Dick Cheney, who can vote to break Senate ties.


House Votes To Cut Tax Penalty
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1) The House voted overwhelmingly Thursday to cut income taxes for most married couples and to gradually double the $500-per-child tax credit, endorsing two major pieces of President Bush's $1.6 trillion tax relief plan.
2) A few hours after the 282-144 vote, which included 64 Democrats in favor, the House Ways and Means Committee approved a third component of the Bush plan: a measure that would eliminate the estate tax by 2011 at a cost of almost $193 billion. That bill is expected to reach the House floor next week.
3) Before the votes, Bush told a news conference that Congress was well on the way to enacting ``meaningful, real, long-lasting tax relief,'' even though the legislation that is speeding through the House faces almost certain change in the Senate, which is divided evenly between 50 Democrats and 50 Republicans. The House has already passed Bush's package of $958 billion in across-the-board income tax cuts.
4) Bush repeated that he would not back away from his $1.6 trillion figure over 10 years and that any short-term economic stimulus tax relief _ such as a $300 individual tax rebate suggested by Senate Democrats _ must be part of a broader plan.
5) ``I've been calling for immediate tax relief. I think it makes sense to do so. But we've got to have long-term relief as well,'' the president said.
6) In the first congressional vote on the $300 rebate idea, the House defeated by 240-194 a Democratic measure that would have substituted its $50 billion in immediate tax relief for the $399 billion over 10 years in the GOP-written bill to ease the tax marriage penalty by 2009 and increase the child credit beginning in 2001.
7) The marriage bill would cut taxes for almost every married couple, both the 25 million with two incomes who pay a tax penalty and an almost equal number of one-earner families that the tax code gives a bonus. The standard deduction for married couples would equal twice that of a single taxpayer in 2002; for those who itemize deductions, marriage penalty relief would come gradually as the bottom 15 percent tax bracket is widened two twice that of singles between 2004 and 2009.
8) The bill would also raise the $500 child credit to $600 retroactive to 2001 and then gradually increase it to $1,000.
9) Rep. Bill Thomas, chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee, estimated that 60 million taxpayers would benefit from the two provisions when they are fully in effect.
10) ``Under this plan, a family of four would get an additional $1,000 in tax relief to spend or save however they wish _ for new clothes, college savings, or a host of other items in a family budget,'' said Thomas, R-Calif.
11) Many Democrats objected to the measure because, they say, it is part of an overall Bush tax package that relies on uncertain future budget surplus projections, provides meager tax relief in the early years, is far more costly than the GOP estimates and is tilted toward wealthy taxpayers.
12) ``We shouldn't take a riverboat gamble,'' said Rep. Charles Rangel of New York, ranking Democrat on the Ways and Means Committee.
13) But a Democratic alternative that included marriage penalty relief measures and an immediate reduction in the bottom 15 percent tax bracket to 12 percent for all taxpayers was defeated by 231-196.
14) The Ways and Means Committee voted largely along party lines later Thursday for the bill eliminating the estate tax by 2011. Democrats failed to win approval of an alternative they said would address the problems faced by most small businesses and farms by raising the current $675,000 individual exemption immediately to $2 million and to $2.5 million in 2010.
15) The GOP bill, Democrats charged, would cost far more than $193 billion in the decade after repeal and could threaten financially shaky Medicare and Social Security programs just as the baby boom generation begins retiring.
16) Similar to legislation vetoed last year by former President Clinton, the bill includes a provision that will in many cases increase the capital gains taxes paid by heirs when they sell assets they inherit, which would hold down the cost of the repeal bill. The first $1.3 million in gain would be exempt from this new provision, $4.3 million if the heir is a surviving spouse.


Senate Approves Smaller Tax Cut
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1) In a stinging defeat for the young Bush administration, the Senate approved a budget Friday that sharply reduces the president's $1.6 trillion, 10-year tax cut.
2) The vote was 65-35 in favor of a budget that leaves room for a tax cut of roughly $1.2 trillion.
3) The Senate acted after the administration and Senate GOP leadership gave up on efforts to find the votes needed to preserve the full tax cut that the president made the heart of the president's economic program.
4) GOP officials said they would attempt to increase the tax cut in negotiations with the House, which has already approved a budget along the lines that Bush sought.
5) The vote highlighted the difficulty of maneuvering controversial legislation through the 50-50 Senate without attempting a bipartisan compromise. Democrats said the tax cut would shortchange Medicare, health care and other programs, and argued the cuts themselves were too generous to the wealthy.
6) Weeks ago, Bush won the support of one Democrat, Sen. Zell Miller of Georgia, for the full tax cut. But GOP Sen. Lincoln Chafee of Rhode Island sided with the Democrats, and a second Republican, Sen. James Jeffords of Vermont, said he wanted more than $150 billion for education support for the disadvantaged before he would agree to back a tax cut of $1.6 trillion.
7) Fitful negotiations involving Vice President Dick Cheney, Budget Director Mitchell Daniels and other senior administration officials failed to yield an agreement. After a brief stab at trying to fashion a compromise with one or two Democrats, the White House and Republican leaders decided to go ahead with the vote.
8) ``We're looking for the highest possible number'' for a tax cut, Majority leader Trent Lott, R-Miss., said earlier in the day.
9) Bush was in the Oval Office while the vote unfolded, having traveled to 22 states in an attempt to mold public opinion behind the $1.6 trillion cut. The president spoke during the day with Lott and Sen. Pete Domenici, R-N.M., chairman of the Budget Committee.
10) Bush was ``upbeat about the fact that all the movement has been in the direction of the tax bill that we campaigned on,'' White House spokesman Ari Fleischer said earlier Friday. He said Bush continues to believe that $1.6 trillion is the right number but also ``understands the reality of where we are.''
11) Following the last in a long series of votes Thursday night, the tax cut stood at approximately $1.2 trillion. Vermont Republican Sen. James Jeffords, who has defied his own leadership's attempt to unify the party behind the Bush plan, said ``it's right at the level we want now.''
12) On Wednesday two Republicans, Jeffords and Sen. Lincoln Chafee of Rhode Island, joined all but one Democrat in an amendment that reduced the tax cut to $1.15 trillion.
13) Three amendments passed Thursday adjusted that figure to $1.2 trillion, including one on which Vice President Dick Cheney, in his role as Senate president, was summoned at 9 p.m. to vote to break a 50-50 tie.
14) Bush, in an address to newspaper editors Thursday, said his budget was ``in line with the values of the American people'' and he sought to shake off the rebuke delivered by the Senate. ``The budget process is a long and winding one. No one vote is decisive.''
15) The House already has passed a budget with Bush's $1.6 trillion tax cut, and a House-Senate conference committee could agree to the House version. But the Senate action on the budget, a non-binding guide to future tax and spending legislation, has helped mobilize Democrats and their few Republican allies who contend that the Bush tax cut is too large.
16) With the Senate divided 50-50, only minor slippage in GOP support can seriously disrupt Bush's tax cut plans. So far only one Democrat, Zell Miller of Georgia, has come out in favor of the Bush proposal.
17) Sen. John Breaux, D-La., who has joined moderate Republicans in proposing a $1.25 trillion compromise, said the White House and GOP leaders weren't ready yet to negotiate. ``They are still so concerned that anything less than the number ($1.6 trillion) is a defeat.''
18) ``This is an early round,'' White House budget director Mitch Daniels said. With Democrats endorsing amendments offering tax cuts of more than $1 trillion, ``what I see is steady progress in the president's direction.''
19) Central to how close they get to $1.6 trillion is Jeffords, the chairman of the Senate Education Committee, who wants the tax cut reduced so that $180 billion can be spent over the next decade on educating the mentally and physically disabled, compared with $6.3 billion this year.
20) Jeffords was lobbied without success Thursday by Cheney, Lott and other Republican senators. White House officials met again Thursday night with Jeffords, Breaux, Chafee and Sen. Ben Nelson of Nebraska, a conservative Democrat being courted by the Republicans.
21) Bush scored one expected victory with a 51-49 vote that prevents Democrats from using parliamentary tactics, including requirement of a 60-vote majority, to block tax-cutting legislation to come up later this year.
22) The Senate on Thursday defeated, 61-39, a proposal by Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., to provide an immediate $60 billion tax cut stimulus to help the faltering economy. It also would have sanctioned additional tax cuts over the next decade of around $745 billion, close to the figure Democrats say is most appropriate if the government is to pay down public debt while meeting spending priorities.


Education, Taxes Facing Congress
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1) A well-rested Congress returns to work on school accountability and tax cuts, issues at heart of the Bush administration's agenda.
2) By midweek, the Senate is to take up a major education bill in line with the president's plan to improve the performance of both the nation's students and the public schools they attend.
3) House and Senate negotiators also sit down this week to grapple with differences in their approach to the budget for the fiscal year that begins Oct. 1.
4) The House voted for a budget that endorsed Bush's 10-year, $1.6 trillion tax cut. The Senate, in its final act before the two-week Easter break, approved a package that included more spending than the president wants and a $1.2 trillion tax break.
5) A vote on a compromise could come by the end of the week.
6) In what is expected to be a busy five weeks before Memorial Day, Republican leaders hope to send a tax cut package to the president and come up with a long-term energy plan.
7) The Senate is likely to vote on legislation to raise the minimum wage while giving small businesses some tax relief. Democrats also are pressing on such issues as campaign finance legislation, prescription drug benefits for seniors and patient rights for those in HMO programs.
8) These activities follow the fairly cautious approach taken so far by Republican leaders who finally have a soul mate in the White House but also must deal with a Democratic force of nearly equal strength.
9) Congress this year has passed two major bills. One makes it tougher to declare bankruptcy, the other overturns Clinton administration ergonomic rules aimed at reducing workplace injuries.
10) The House has passed the main parts of the Bush tax plan while the Senate, in a victory for Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., approved limits on campaign contributions.
11) House Majority Leader Dick Armey, R-Texas, said Congress in the first 75 days of the Bush administration has been ``less sensational'' but more productive than the Clinton administration in its opening days.
12) Rep. Martin Frost, D-Texas, head of the House Democratic Caucus, said Republicans were ``determined to taken an unrealistic approach,'' charging ahead with tax cuts before they know how much the country needs for other priorities, and before dealing with urgent matters such as prescription drug benefits.
13) After weeks of negotiations with Democrats, Senate Republicans hope to pass an education bill that will largely reflect Bush's goals of holding schools more accountable, requiring annual testing to measure student performance and providing other options to students attending failing schools.
14) A tentative compromise was reached before the recess on the contentious issue of vouchers, under which students at substandard schools could get funds for after school tutoring or to transfer to another public school but would not, as proposed by Bush, allow public funds to be used for private school tuition.
15) But the opening of debate on the bill was put off until at least Wednesday because of remaining differences over funds. Democrats say the Bush budget proposal, while increasing education spending, does not go far enough to meet the costs of hiring more teachers and building or repairing schools.
16) The House this week takes up two bills that are favorites of social and fiscal conservatives but have had little success in past congresses. A measure that makes it a crime to harm a fetus during a violent act against a pregnant woman is the first showdown this year on the abortion issue. The bill passed the House during the last Congress but stalled in the Senate.
17) On Thursday the House is to take up a proposed amendment to the Constitution requiring Congress to have a two-thirds majority for tax increases. The same proposal failed last year, with supporters falling some 50 votes short.
18) Off the floor, the tax-writing committees of both chambers, Ways and Means in the House and Finance in the Senate, will be crafting tax cut legislation, possibly at cross-purposes.
19) The House has already passed tax cuts totaling more than $1.5 trillion, and Ways and Means is considering further cuts. ``We might go beyond $1.6 trillion,'' said Terry Holt, spokesman for Armey. ``We never considered $1.6 trillion a tripwire beyond which we cannot go.''
20) The Senate Finance Committee has set a May 18 deadline for coming up with its tax package, which is likely to reflect pressures from Republican and Democratic moderates to reach a figure closer to the $1.2 trillion in the Senate budget resolution.


GOP Strikes Tentative Tax Deal
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1) House and Senate Republicans tentatively agreed Tuesday to push for an 11-year, $1.35 trillion tax cut. President Bush cheered the compromise as ``a great day for the American people and the American taxpayer.''
2) The deal would give Bush most of the tax reduction he wants and resolve one of the two outstanding issues blocking completion of a 2002 budget. It also reflects the failure of the White House and Republican leaders to persuade Senate moderates to move closer to the $1.6 trillion, 10-year tax reduction that had been the pillar of Bush's economic program since his presidential campaign.
3) Bush, appearing in the White House Rose Garden, said the tax cut will be paid for and spending will be held to a ``reasonable level.''
4) ``I'm absolutely convinced we'll be able to fund the tax cuts,'' Bush said. ``I suspect I am going to have to remain diligent over the next year to keep the spenders in check.''
5) He congratulated Democratic and Republican lawmakers who crafted a compromise, saying their cooperation was a positive harbinger for other legislative issues. ``You all deserve great credit,'' Bush said. ``You have proved we can work together to do what's right for the American people.''
6) Under the agreement, taxes would be cut by $1.25 trillion between 2002 and 2011 _ $350 billion less than Bush had insisted on for more than a year. There would also be a $100 billion tax cut aimed at stimulating the economy that would be enacted this year but would cover 2001 and 2002.
7) Details of the agreement were disclosed by GOP aides and lawmakers speaking on condition of anonymity.
8) The pact underlines the clout moderates of both parties can wield in a Senate divided 50-50 between the two parties.
9) The more conservative House had approved Bush's full $1.6 trillion 10-year figure, and its leaders have been insisting that they would like to see an even deeper tax reduction.
10) Asked by a reporter if he could accept the deal, House Majority Leader Dick Armey, R-Texas, said, ``Not very happily,'' adding, ``You've got to have something. Something has got to pass both houses.''
11) For weeks now, 16 Senate moderates _ 14 Democrats and two Republicans _ have refused to move any closer to Bush's proposal than $1.25 trillion over 10 years, plus more for a stimulus package.
12) Bush conceded last week that he would have to compromise on his $1.6 trillion proposal, the core of his economic plan. GOP bargainers spent the last few weeks hunting votes for between $1.3 trillion and $1.4 trillion in 10-year reductions.
13) In the end, they had to settle for $1.25 trillion over the decade _ still one of the biggest tax reductions in decades.
14) Lawmakers and aides from both parties said that many of those moderates were expected to support the tax agreement, all but ensuring that a budget reflecting those figures would pass both chambers of Congress.
15) Asked about the deal, one of the moderates' leaders, Sen. John Breaux, D-La., said, ``We're moving in a direction that would give us an agreement.''
16) And Senate Majority Whip Don Nickles, R-Okla., said he expected a tax agreement to be announced later on Tuesday.
17) ``We'll come up with a good tax bill,'' Nickles said.
18) The budget is an outline that sets overall tax and spending figures and guides later tax and spending bills. GOP leaders want to send Bush a big tax bill by Memorial Day.
19) The tax figure in the budget is important because under congressional procedures, it ensures that a bill cutting taxes by that amount cannot be filibustered in the Senate. Filibusters are endless delays that can kill legislation, and can only be ended with the votes of 60 of the 100 senators. In today's Senate, that would be impossible for Republicans to achieve if at least 10 Democrats did not go along.
20) Republicans hope to pass other tax bills _ not protected from filibuster _ in an attempt to boost this year's total tax cut.
21) With the tax question all but resolved, Republicans still had to work out internal conflicts over spending.
22) Bush proposed _ and the House endorsed _ holding many programs to a 4 percent increase next year. The Senate approved a boost of more than 8 percent. The two sides were discussing ratcheting that back to about 5.2 percent, but talks were still under way.
23) Earlier Tuesday, Republican members of the Senate Finance Committee met to discuss how to fit Bush's tax priorities into the lower tax cut figure but reached no consensus.
24) A leading GOP moderate, Sen. Olympia Snowe of Maine, said the biggest issue is what to do about Bush's across-the-board income tax cut _ particularly whether to drop the top 39.6 percent rate to 33 percent as the president wants or agree to a higher figure, perhaps 35 or 36 percent.
25) ``It is the marginal rates around which everything revolves right now in terms of the centerpiece of the tax proposal,'' she said. ``We really do need to make some adjustments to accommodate some other priorities and address the distribution issue of who gets this tax cut.''


Congress Set To Vote on Budget
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1) Republicans began pushing a 2002 budget through the House on Wednesday, a first step toward enacting the big tax cuts and spending restraint favored by President Bush.
2) The GOP's narrow but united majority made House approval of the near-$2 trillion spending plan virtually certain, despite near unanimous Democratic opposition. Passage in the evenly divided Senate also seemed assured as White House officials and GOP Senate aides said they believed they would get a crucial handful of votes from Senate Democratic moderates.
3) ``I think that's correct,'' Sen. John Breaux, D-La., a leader of those moderates, said of the GOP predictions.
4) The budget calls for a $1.35 trillion, 11-year tax cut and 4 percent growth _ half of this year's increase _ for many federal programs. Bush had long sought a 10-year, $1.6 trillion tax reduction, but accepted the smaller package as the price for ensuring support from moderate Senate Democrats.
5) The Senate planned to debate the measure Wednesday, and final passage there seemed likely on Thursday. That would be nine days after Republicans, Bush and centrist Democrats announced they had reached an agreement, with days of further negotiations needed to complete the last details.
6) ``I believe we do,'' said Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott, R-Miss., when asked if Republicans finally had the decisive votes in hand. ``I haven't got a final count yet because we're growing the vote.''
7) Bush celebrated his expected victory Tuesday evening in remarks to business executives of the Electronic Industries Alliance.
8) ``I want to thank both Republicans and Democrats for setting out a budget that understands the projected surplus is not the government's money,'' he said.
9) The budget sets tax and spending guidelines that lawmakers are supposed to follow _ but often ignore _ when writing later bills that finance federal programs and change tax law. It does not need the president's signature.
10) But under congressional rules, budget passage would ensure that the tax cut the measure envisions could not be killed by a Senate filibuster _ delays that would require 60 votes to end. The budget vote is also an important signal of where congressional sentiment lies on a president's fiscal proposals.
11) A House vote last week was postponed after aides realized two pages of the two-inch thick measure had been omitted.
12) Some Democrats insisted the final Senate vote would be close. But speaking on condition of anonymity, White House and Senate GOP aides said they expected to get more than enough votes to prevail in the Senate by winning support from some of the chamber's moderate Democrats.
13) Even some Democrats expressed doubts.
14) ``I'm in the middle of the road getting run over by trucks on both sides,'' said Breaux, a leader of the 14 centrist Democrats and two moderate Republicans who proved pivotal to Bush's quest for a big tax reduction.
15) Any Republican strategy that successfully splits the Senate moderates would underline the fragility of the centrists' coalition and decrease their clout, while increasing the power of both Bush and Senate GOP leaders.
16) Breaux's group all voted for an earlier Senate version of the budget that had a slightly smaller tax cut. One other Democrat _ Sen. Zell Miller of Georgia _ has already said he will vote for the GOP fiscal plan.
17) Republicans said they nailed down the moderate Democratic support they needed by agreeing that the Senate's forthcoming tax bill would limit a $100 billion portion of the tax cut aimed at stimulating the economy to 2001 and 2002.
18) The House tax bill could spread the money over the next 11 years. House-Senate bargainers would have to find a compromise later.
19) In addition, they answered Democrats' insistence for an extra $6 billion for schools by crafting nonbinding language saying that providing additional money for education would be a high priority.


Congress Approves Bush Budget
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1) A divided Congress approved a final 2002 budget Thursday as moderate Democrats supplied pivotal support for a measure clearing a path for President Bush's goals of cutting taxes and reining spending.
2) The Senate gave final congressional approval to the $1.95 trillion fiscal plan by a mostly party line 53-47 vote. In a chamber divided 50-50 between the two parties, the difference was that while two Republicans voted against the GOP-written blueprint, five Democrats supported it.
3) ``Is it a perfect document?'' asked Sen. John Breaux of Louisiana, a leader of the Senate's centrist Democrats who voted for the package. ``Of course not. But does it advance the cause of government in a democracy that is almost evenly divided between the two parties? I think the answer is yes, it does.''
4) Other Democrats joining Breaux in backing the budget were Sens. Max Baucus of Montana, Ben Nelson of Nebraska, and Max Cleland and Zell Miller of Georgia. Miller was the only Democrat long certain to support it.
5) Sens. James Jeffords of Vermont and Lincoln Chafee of Rhode Island were the only Republicans to stray from supporting the package.
6) At the White House, spokesman Ari Fleischer congratulated the Senate for taking ``bipartisan action'' to approve Bush's agenda.
7) ``The economic-recovery package that the president has talked about is on the way, tax relief is on the way, educational improvements are on the way,'' he said, adding, ``The president views this as a very important day in his new presidency and he is very pleased to thank the Democrats that helped make this possible.''
8) On Wednesday, Republicans pushed the measure through the House by 221-207, with only a handful of defections from either party. The budget does not need the president's signature.
9) In the measure's center ring are plans for an 11-year, $1.35 trillion tax cut and holding many federal programs to 4 percent growth next year, while proposing increases spending for education, medical research and other initiatives.
10) Bush had long sought a 10-year, $1.6 trillion tax reduction, but was forced to settle for less because of the Senate's delicate political balance. The moderates became a pivotal block of votes, and it took the White House and GOP leaders more than a month to woo enough of them to push the budget through.
11) ``You didn't get everything you want, Mr. President,'' said the Budget Committee chairman, Sen. Pete Domenici, R-N.M., adding, ``You have made us change direction. You have moved us in the direction of giving back taxes to the American people, rather than giving them the last cut of the deck.''
12) But Democrats, adopting a Mother's Day theme, asserted that the tax cut would be a boon to the rich while sapping money needed for schools, health care and shoring up the solvency of Social Security and Medicare.
13) ``Yes, Mother, I voted for the tax cuts,'' said Sen. Robert Byrd, W.Va., envisioning a conversation a lawmaker might have. ``But now on Medicare, no, we're putting that off for another day, Mother. Forget it.''
14) The budget is a guideline for lawmakers and does not need Bush's signature.
15) Specific tax and spending decisions will be made in later bills and are likely to exceed the budget's numbers. GOP leaders have vowed to seek deeper tax cuts, and lawmakers are likely to pursue more money for defense, farmers and other programs.
16) Final budget approval will give Bush a huge edge in shoving his cherished tax reductions through Congress.
17) Budget passage means Senate Republicans can get by with just 50 Senate votes _ plus a tie-breaking vote by Vice President Dick Cheney if needed _ to pass their big tax bill. Without the budget's protection, Democrats probably could kill the tax measure by filibuster, delays that take 60 votes to halt. Any tax cuts beyond the $1.35 trillion outlined in the budget would be vulnerable to filibuster.
18) The budget would hold spending to $661 billion _ the same 4 percent boost Bush sought _ for all programs except automatically paid benefits like Medicare and Medicaid. Democrats said that 4 percent rate of growth would prove inadequate _ in programs Congress grew this year by 8 percent.
19) Boosts are planned for education, defense, and biomedical research, and $300 billion is set aside for new prescription drug coverage. Other unspecified programs would face smaller increases or cuts.
20) The measure would also shrink the publicly held national debt by $2.4 trillion, which Republicans say is all that is feasible. Democrats say more could be done but for the GOP's huge tax cut.
21) The Finance Committee chairman, Sen. Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, said he will release a bipartisan tax cut bill Friday if he gets support from at least four of the 10 committee Democrats and most Republicans.
22) To fit Bush's tax proposals into the smaller $1.35 trillion figure, Grassley could delay the full income tax reductions beyond 2006; reduce the top 39.6 percent rate to more than the 33 percent Bush wants; and seek a smaller reduction in the tax marriage penalty paid by millions of two-income couples.


Tax Cut Proposal Takes Effect Later
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1) A couple tying the knot this summer would have to wait five years for relief to begin from the tax code's marriage penalty under a compromise Senate tax cut proposal. They'd be near their 10th anniversary by the time the penalty disappeared altogether.
2) The legislation, to be considered Tuesday by the Senate Finance Committee, also would postpone significantly the full impact of provisions that affect people who hope to grow tax-deferred savings for retirement, families who want to claim promised $1,000 child credits, and individuals who want to leave large estates to their heirs.
3) The centerpiece of the plan, an across-the-board income tax cut and creation of a new 10 percent tax rate, will take until 2007 to phase in entirely. Even with an upfront stimulus of $100 billion, only about 38 percent of the package's $1.35 trillion over 11 years in tax relief will come in the first five years.
4) ``That's too far down the road,'' said Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott, R-Miss. ``I'd like for that to be sooner.''
5) One reason for the delayed impact is size: the budget passed by Congress carved a significant chunk out of President Bush's original 10-year, $1.6 trillion tax cut proposal. Sponsors also were forced to add significant tax breaks for education and low-income workers to gain bipartisan support in a Senate divided between 50 Republicans and 50 Democrats.
6) ``We're doing the best we can, given the constraints that we're operating under,'' said Sen. Max Baucus of Montana, the committee's senior Democrat and a prime co-sponsor along with the committee chairman, GOP Sen. Charles Grassley of Iowa. ``There's always more anybody could do.''
7) The marriage penalty is a feature of the tax code in which couples with two incomes frequently pay higher taxes than two single people in identical circumstances would. Fixing it has broad bipartisan support; a bill passed by the Republican-led House got 64 Democratic votes.
8) The Senate bill would make two changes to give a married couple parity: it would make the standard tax deduction equal to that of two single people and raise the 15 percent tax bracket's upper limit for a couple so it equals that of two single people.
9) But the changes won't begin until 2006 under the Senate plan, taking a full five years to get into place. That reduces the 11-year cost to $60 billion, compared with $223 billion over 10 years for a similar but more immediate House plan.
10) Some senators say that's much too slow.
11) ``The bottom line is that the amount of tax relief is significant, but I hope to shorten the time frame in which it becomes effective,'' said Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison, R-Texas.
12) Other sluggish phase-in periods under the Senate bill:
13) _Repeal of the estate tax would occur in 2011, but the top estate tax rate would have fallen only from 55 percent to 45 percent before then. The current individual exemption of $675,000 would rise to $1 million in 2002, gradually reaching $4 million by 2010.
14) Many Democrats favor retaining the estate tax but raising the exemptions much more quickly.
15) _The $500 child credit would double to $1,000, but not until 2011. The first five years would see the credit rise slowly to $700. It would go up to $600 effective in 2001, however, meaning millions of families could claim the higher credit on next spring's tax returns. It also would allow a portion of the credit to be claimed by about 16 million low-income people.
16) _Tax-favored contribution limits for individual retirement accounts would rise from $2,000 to $5,000, but not until 2011. For 401(k)-type plans, the limit would increase from $10,500 to $15,000, but not until 2010. Both contribution limits would see gradual increases until then.
17) _A new 10 percent income tax bracket would apply to the first $6,000 of an individual's income, $12,000 for a married couple, retroactive to this year. But the overall income tax rate cuts will take seven years to phase in. And proposals to raise the income limit on itemized deductions and repeal the phaseout of the personal exemption wouldn't occur until 2008.
18) Lott and other GOP conservatives prefer focusing the bill on the income tax cuts and reducing the top rate from 39.6 percent to 33 percent _ as Bush wanted _ instead of the 36 percent included in the Grassley-Baucus bill.
19) Lott said some popular items could be removed and considered at a later date, such as the marriage penalty and retirement provisions. But that runs the risk of losing votes, particularly among Democrats.


Finance Committee Approves Tax Cuts
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1) Racing to get a tax cut to President Bush by Memorial Day, a bipartisan coalition pushed through the Senate Finance Committee an 11-year, $1.35 trillion tax relief bill containing the core elements of the president's tax-cutting plan.
2) The committee, which like the 50-50 Senate is evenly divided between Republicans and Democrats, voted 14-6 Tuesday night to approve the legislation. Floor debate is scheduled to begin Thursday, with final votes planned for Monday.
3) ``We hope to move the bill very quickly through the Senate,'' Finance Committee Chairman Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, said.
4) Joining the 10 Republicans in supporting the bill _ and helping fend off a series of Democratic amendments _ were Democratic Sens. Max Baucus of Montana, John Breaux of Louisiana, Robert Torricelli of New Jersey and Blanche Lincoln of Arkansas. They said the compromise bill was less costly and balanced than the 10-year, $1.6 trillion package proposed by Bush.
5) ``It is better legislation because it was reduced in scale,'' Torricelli said. ``It was made better and more fair. It is affordable and balanced.''
6) Even so, it must still survive amendments on the Senate floor and is likely to change in a conference with the House, which has already passed tax cuts that more closely track Bush's original plan.
7) ``We are a long ways from getting a final product,'' Breaux said.
8) The bill would slash income taxes across the board, creating a new 10 percent rate for a portion of every taxpayer's income, retroactive to Jan. 1, as an economic stimulus. The top 39.6 percent income tax rate would drop to 36 percent, and most other rates would fall by three percentage points by 2007.
9) Among other things, the measure also would gradually repeal the estate tax, ease the marriage penalty paid by millions of two-income couples by 2010, gradually double the $500 child credit and expand tax-favored contribution limits for IRAs and 401(k)s.
10) The Finance Committee defeated Democratic amendments intended to boost the immediate economic stimulus; reduce the lowest current rate, which is 15 percent, to 14 percent instead of 10 percent; accelerate the pace of marriage penalty relief; and delay cuts in the top 39.6 percent tax rate until Congress had passed a universal prescription drug benefit under Medicare.
11) Some Democrats, including Minority Leader Tom Daschle of South Dakota, attacked the legislation as tilted toward the wealthy, too costly and unwise given the uncertainty of long-term budget projections.
12) Daschle said the bill would cost as much as $4 trillion in the decade after it is fully in effect, jeopardizing Medicare and Social Security just as the baby boom generation begins retiring. One-third of the tax cuts, he added, would benefit just 1 percent of taxpayers. Republicans countered that since high-earners pay most of the taxes, they obviously stand to benefit more.
13) Republicans grumbled that many of the tax cuts would take too long to take effect and objected to provisions that would allow millions of low-income people to claim part of the child credit even if they pay no income tax. But they refrained from trying to make any changes, waiting instead for the Senate floor or a House-Senate conference that will determine the contours of the final bill.
14) Sen. Phil Gramm, R-Texas, said he wanted deeper income tax rate cuts but would wait until that conference ``and pray that somehow our prayers will be heard.''
15) The House, which already has passed the bulk of the tax cuts in much the same form as Bush proposed, planned to pass another version Wednesday that fits within the $1.35 trillion limit set by the congressional budget.
16) One change that was made Tuesday by the Finance Committee, required by budget rules, would end the tax cuts at the close of the 11-year period on Sept. 30, 2011. That means a future Congress would have to decide whether to extend them or make them permanent.


Senate Tries to Finish Tax Cut
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1) The Senate neared passage Wednesday of an 11-year, $1.35 trillion tax cut package as Democratic efforts dwindled to change or derail the bill.
2) Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev., said Democrats planned to offer six more amendments, which would permit sponsors to wrap up the bill and pass it by early afternoon.
3) Even as the Senate waded through 43 roll call votes Monday and Tuesday, negotiators were discussing ways to bridge differences between the House and Senate in hopes of getting the tax bill to President Bush by week's end.
4) ``We're going to be able to get it done in the time frame'' of Memorial Day, predicted the House Ways and Means Committee chairman, Rep. Bill Thomas, R-Calif.
5) Further complicating the tax debate was the speculation about whether Sen. James Jeffords of Vermont would leave the Republican Party to become an independent or a Democrat. Although most senators say that wouldn't necessarily derail the tax bill in the Senate, it could disrupt progress on a House-Senate conference.
6) ``It just raises a lot of questions,'' said Sen. Max Baucus of Montana, ranking Democrat on the Finance Committee and chief co-sponsor of the tax bill. ``It puts everything up in the air.''
7) Both the House and Senate bills contain the core of Bush's original 10-year, $1.6 trillion tax cut: across-the-board income tax reductions, relief from the marriage penalty on many two-income couples, doubling of the $500 child tax credit and gradual repeal of the estate tax.
8) They differ in how quickly the tax cuts are phased in, mainly because the Senate bill had to offset the costs of including of tax breaks for education, such as a $5,000 college tuition deduction, and provisions for lower-income people, such as allowing them to claim a portion of the child credit for the first time.
9) The Senate also carves out a new 10 percent tax bracket for the first portion of every taxpayer's income, retroactive to Jan. 1, while the House creates an immediate 12 percent rate that eventually drops to 10 percent.
10) It appeared increasingly likely that the final compromise would be closer to the Senate version, simply because of the need to appeal to moderate Democrats and Republicans who hold the key to passage.
11) One Republican source, speaking on condition of anonymity, said House GOP leaders were ``coming to grips'' with the idea that fundamental changes would put the compromise bill in serious jeopardy when it goes back to the Senate for final passage.
12) The main author of the Senate bill, Sen. Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, the Finance Committee chairman, said House leaders have indicated to him that they were ``receptive to more components'' in the Senate measure with the knowledge that it was written to pass in a Senate divided between 50 Democrats and 50 Republicans.
13) ``We're well on our way to having a bipartisan bill,'' Grassley said.
14) Democrats forced vote after vote Tuesday to underscore their unhappiness with the bill, which they say was tilted too much toward the wealthy and would consume surplus dollars that could be better used for priorities such as education, debt reduction and Medicare prescription drugs.
15) ``The alternative is just waving a white flag,'' said Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y.
16) Some Republicans insisted the delaying tactics would only serve to remind Americans that they are the party pushing hardest for tax cuts.
17) ``The longer we have the Democrats dragging it out, the better for us,'' said Sen. Sam Brownback, R-Kan.


Senate Democrats To Push Education
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1) Democrats savored their prospects Wednesday for grabbing control of the Senate, promising to push education, health, and other initiatives while stifling President Bush's more conservative agenda.
2) ``It would have a ripple effect on every single committee,'' said Sen. Richard Durbin, D-Ill. ``We're going to have a much stronger voice now.''
3) Rather than playing defense, Democrats would have the muscle to set the Senate's agenda, forcing consideration of legislation to raise the minimum wage, create prescription drug benefits, boost school spending and buttress environmental protection.
4) Bush would find his clout noticeably diminished just four months into his presidency. His nominations for the Supreme Court and other posts would face more difficulty, energy policy would be given more emphasis on conservation and renewable energy, and the price tag of his education plan will be bigger than he wants.
5) ``Right now, I guess President Bush will get his two primary objectives, the tax cut and the education bill, and nothing else,'' conceded Sen. Robert Bennett, R-Utah.
6) Durbin, Bennett and others pondered the Senate's future on an extraordinary day in which moderate Sen. James Jeffords, R-Vt., seemed ready to abandon the GOP and become an independent voting with Democrats.
7) His announcement, scheduled for Thursday, would throw the evenly divided Senate back into Democratic hands after almost 6 1/2 years of Republican control.
8) With a 51-49 minority, Republicans would still have a strong voice in what the Senate does and does not do. They would remain well-positioned to build majorities by luring handfuls of moderate Democrats and could always kill whatever they wish with filibusters, which require 60 votes to halt.
9) ``It's certainly an impediment, but it's not the end of the world,'' said Nicholas Calio, the White House's chief lobbyist in Congress, ``because quite clearly, there are Democrats willing to work on a bipartisan basis. The game's the same.''
10) Even so, new Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle, D-S.D., would have the power to decide what the chamber will debate and when. And the Democrats' new roster of committee chairmen _ likely to include Jeffords as head of the Environment and Public Works panel _ will control their agendas as well.
11) Asked how conservative nominees would fare before the Judiciary Committee he is expected to head, Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., said, ``I never predict how they're going to do until they have the hearing _ if they have one.''
12) Reflecting the new Democratic influence, Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., walked past Sen. Russell Feingold, D-Wis., on Wednesday and joked, ``We're going to have to change it to Feingold-McCain,'' a reference to their campaign finance bill usually referred to as McCain-Feingold.
13) Things may not move ahead quickly at first, reflecting some confusion and possible partisan conflict over the Senate's procedures for transition to Democratic control. Senate historians say the Senate's majority never has changed hands between elections.
14) Daschle would get his new job, and Senate Minority Leader Trent Lott, R-Miss., would become minority leader, automatically upon Jeffords' departure from the GOP, both sides agree.
15) But while Democrats and some Republicans said new Democratic committee chairmen also would get their jobs automatically, some Republicans said this could happen only after Senate approval of a resolution that could be filibustered.
16) In addition, under Senate rules, until the chamber approves a resolution reshaping the committees to reflect the Democrats' majority, each committee would revert to its membership at the end of 2000 when Republicans held a Senate majority. Until a new resolution could be approved, that would mean Democratic chairmen would be overseeing committees on which Democrats are the minority.
17) Republicans would be risking public wrath if they were seen as blocking Democrats from exercising their rights as the Senate's majority party.
18) A House-Senate compromise on Bush's top priority, a big tax cut, is expected to move swiftly through Congress, because Jeffords made its completion a condition of his departure from the GOP, Republican aides and Democrats said. The Senate approved a $1.35 trillion, 11-year tax cut bill on Thursday.
19) But Sen. Max Baucus, D-Mont., probably the next chairman of the tax-writing Senate Finance Committee, said the size and composition of any additional tax-cutting bills this year are in question. Republicans have spoken repeatedly of passing other tax measures in coming months.
20) On other issues:
21) _Democrats will have more control over investigations by Senate committees.
22) _Bush's plans to let religious groups provide more federally financed services will be in jeopardy.
23) _The president's push for oil drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, already facing rough going in Congress, may be all but dead. GOP hopes of completing energy legislation by July 4 may be over. And renewable fuels are likely to benefit under Jeffords, who supports them strongly.


AP Executive Morning Briefing
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1) A service of The Associated Press
2) Copyright 2001 All rights reserved
3) The top business news from The Associated Press for the morning of Thursday, May 24, 2001:
4) Senate Votes for $1.35T Tax Cut
5) WASHINGTON (AP) _ With a dozen Democrats joining in, the Senate passed an 11-year, $1.35 trillion tax relief package that represents the largest tax cut in two decades and matches the priorities President Bush has been pushing since his campaign for the White House. House and Senate negotiators began meeting to work out a final compromise, which Republican leaders are scrambling to get on the president's desk by the end of the week. The Senate voted 62-38 to pass the bill _ the biggest tax cut since President Reagan's in 1981. All 50 Senate Republicans and 12 Democrats voted in favor of the tax cut. Bush said at the White House that those 62 senators ``deserve our country's thanks and praise.''


Congress Negotiates Tax Cut Bill
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1) Despite upheaval in the Senate, negotiations on a final 11-year, $1.35 trillion tax package moved ahead Thursday as President Bush urged lawmakers anew to finish the bill this week.
2) ``We feel we need to go forward with this,'' said Sen. Trent Lott, R-Miss., the majority leader who will lose that title because of the decision by Vermont GOP Sen. James Jeffords to become an independent and tip the Senate balance of power toward the Democrats. ``This is bigger than who's in charge.''
3) As the bargaining continued in a first floor room in the Capitol, the House remained in recess but was ready to quickly take up a compromise if a deal was reached. The Senate could then act as early as Friday.
4) Bush, speaking in Cleveland, urged lawmakers to complete the bill.
5) ``I call on Congress not to recess for Memorial Day until they have finished the job and passed tax relief for the American people,'' Bush said.
6) Democrats indicated they would not try to slow things down. Jeffords said his switch wouldn't take effect until the tax bill is wrapped up, meaning Democrats could ascend to power once the Senate passes it.
7) ``The tax bill will go through in respect to Jim Jeffords,'' said Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y.
8) Beyond Senate politics, the central issue for the tax negotiators was how deeply and quickly to cut income tax rates. Bush and the House wanted the top 39.6 percent rate cut to 33 percent, while the Senate-passed bill would cut it to 36 percent and delay the full impact of most other income tax cuts until 2007.
9) At the same time, the Senate bill contains tax breaks for education and people of modest incomes that are essential to keep support of moderates such as Jeffords.
10) ``With a limited amount of money, you can't fund them all,'' said Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, a conference committee member.
11) There was some pressure on House Republicans from the White House to accept a compromise similar to the Senate measure, but Speaker Dennis Hastert, R-Ill., said the House would be reckoned with.
12) ``We're not going to cave in, but we are not inflexible either and we are going to find something that is right for everybody,'' Hastert said.
13) Both bills contain the essential elements of Bush's original 10-year, $1.6 trillion plan: across-the-board income tax cuts, eventual repeal of the estate tax, relief from the marriage penalty paid by millions of two-income couples and doubling of the $500 child credit.
14) The Senate added one item Bush wanted for corporate America: permanent extension of the research and development tax credit, which would otherwise expire in 2004.
15) Unlike the Bush and House plans, the Senate bill would give greater benefits to low- and middle-income people. It would permit millions of low-income people to claim a portion of the child credit, boost contribution limits for 401(k) plans and IRAs, give education breaks such as a $5,000 college tuition deduction and create a new, retroactive 10 percent income tax rate for the first portion of every taxpayer's income.


Senate Majority Vote for Tax Cuts
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1) A Senate majority voted Saturday for passage of a broad tax relief package with rebates this year of up to $300 for singles and for married couples.
2) Forty-five minutes after the voting began, 57 of the Senate's 100 members and voted for it and 34 against. The vote was kept open to accommodate Democrat Sen. Joseph Biden, who was traveling from his home in Delaware to the Capitol.
3) ``I think it's good for the economy. It's surely good for the working men and women of America to have tax relief,'' said Sen. Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, chairman of the Finance Committee and a chief negotiator in the compromise finally reached Friday after days of negotiations.
4) The House, in a rare Saturday session, passed the 10-year, $1.35 trillion measure by a 240-154 vote. With favorable Senate action, Congress is giving President Bush his biggest victory since taking office.
5) ``This morning, we're returning some of the taxpayers' money,'' said House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Bill Thomas, R-Calif., one of the bill's chief authors.
6) House Majority Leader Dick Armey, R-Texas, said the reduction in tax revenues also could profoundly affect how Congress spends the public's money. ``The party is over, the party has moved, the party is no longer in Washington,'' he said. ``The addicts are going to have to take the cure, we're no longer going to get stoned on other people's money.''
7) The legislation, a blend of Bush's proposals and those from Congress, cuts income taxes across the board, abolishes the estate tax, eases the marriage penalty, and doubles the $500 child tax credit. It also includes breaks for education and retirement savings.
8) In a statement Friday, Bush said the agreement means ``American taxpayers will have more money in their pockets to save and invest and the economy will receive a well-deserved shot in the arm. Tax relief is the centerpiece of our American agenda and I look forward to signing it into law.''
9) During floor debate Saturday, many House Democrats criticized the bill as an unwise drain on projected budget surpluses needed for other priorities, such as education and Social Security. They also contended that too great a share of the tax cuts would go to wealthier Americans.
10) ``You have a little bit of sugar hiding a pot full of fiscal irresponsibility,'' said Rep. Sander Levin, D-Mich.
11) The deal was reached by four lawmakers who met all day Friday in a second-floor Capitol room.
12) Thomas and Grassley represented the Republicans. The Democratic members were Sens. Max Baucus of Montana and John Breaux of Louisiana.
13) ``Democrats fully participated in this process,'' Baucus said. ``I do believe this is a very good result.''
14) Under the plan, the Treasury Department would begin mailing out lump-sum checks starting this summer to reflect the first year of a new 10 percent income tax rate on the initial $6,000 of an individual's income, $12,000 for married couples.
15) Individuals would get up to a $300 refund this year. Single parents would get up to $500 and married couples up to $600.
16) The new 10 percent rate would remain in effect in later years. The top 39.6 percent income tax rate would drop to 35 percent by 2006, with most other rates falling by 3 percentage points. The first installment of the reductions would take effect July 1. The 15 percent rate, however, remains the same.
17) Total tax relief for 2001 would amount to about $55 billion, said White House chief economic adviser Lawrence Lindsey.
18) Although the budget passed by Congress envisioned an 11-year tax cut, the compromise assumes that the tax cuts end in 2010 so that all the relief would fit under the $1.35 trillion ceiling. The provisions also would end in 2010 unless renewed by a future Congress.
19) Other provisions of the plan would double the $500 child tax credit gradually by 2010 _ to $600, effective in 2001 _ and expand contribution limits for IRAs and 401(k)-type plans. The estate tax would be repealed by 2010, with exemptions rising from $675,000 now to $3.5 million over time.
20) For married couples who pay a tax penalty, the 15 percent bracket would widen so that more of their earnings are taxed at a lower rate. The package also would increase the standard deduction for married couples so it equals twice that of singles.
21) The negotiations occurred against an unprecedented political backdrop: Vermont Sen. James Jeffords' switch from Republican to independent becomes official when the tax bill is passed, handing Senate control to the Democrats.


Congress Passes Tax Cuts
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1) Republicans and moderate Democrats drove a sweeping $1.35 trillion, 10-year tax cut through Congress on Saturday, handing President Bush his premier legislative goal in a bittersweet week that also saw his party lose Senate control.
2) Less than five months into his presidency, the House and Senate votes gave Bush a triumph on the tax reductions that have been his defining issue since the early days of his race for the GOP presidential nomination nearly two years ago. The measure, though $250 billion less than Bush wanted, is the biggest tax cut since President Reagan's in 1981.
3) Though its details were reworked by lawmakers, the final package featured the four elements central to Bush's showcase tax plan. Over the coming decade, it will reduce income tax rates, trim taxes owed by married couples, phase out taxes on large estates and double the $500 per child tax credit.
4) To that core, lawmakers added rebates this year of up to $300 for individuals and $600 for married couples, plus breaks for education and retirement savings.
5) ``Substantial tax relief is on the way,'' said Senate Finance Committee Chairman Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, a chief architect of the final bill. ``The government will ease its grip on your wallet.''
6) Ironically, the package's approval also sets the stage for a resounding and long-term setback for Bush.
7) The bill's transmission to the White House _ expected when lawmakers return from their Memorial Day recess in early June _ will formally push the Senate into Democratic hands. That is when Vermont Sen. James Jeffords will leave the GOP and become an independent voting mostly with Democrats, leaving the rest of the Senate tipped toward Democrats 50-49.
8) ``Win some, lose some,'' said Senate Minority Leader Tom Daschle, D-S.D., the next majority leader, when asked about the extraordinary week just ended.
9) Propelled by Bush's repeated prodding to produce a bill by Memorial Day _ and the impending Democratic Senate takeover _ days of bargaining among a handful of top lawmakers and White House officials culminated in a compromise Friday evening.
10) In an unusual Saturday morning session, bleary-eyed House members _ some who had slept on office couches _ approved the measure by 240-154, backed by 28 Democrats and all voting Republicans.
11) The Senate followed suit by 58-33. Twelve Democrats voted for the measure, while two Republicans opposed it: Sens. John McCain of Arizona and Lincoln Chafee of Rhode Island.
12) In another irony, Jeffords voted for the measure that helped drive him from his lifelong affiliation with the GOP. Jeffords had said the tax cut Bush originally sought _ $1.6 trillion _ was draining funds needed for education and health care programs.
13) The Senate vote in particular was bursting with political implications. It underlined the pivotal role moderate Democrats will continue to play and raised questions about Daschle's ability to keep his senators unified.
14) It also signaled the continued willingness of McCain, Bush's once and perhaps future nemesis, to continue his maverick ways. McCain said the measure cut tax rates for the wealthy ``at the expense of middle-class Americans.''
15) During truncated debate as lawmakers rushed to leave town for the recess, Republicans said the tax cut would energize the economy over the long term, return money to nearly all Americans and leave less money in federal coffers for Democrats to spend.
16) ``We're no longer going to get stoned on other peoples' money,'' said House Majority Leader Dick Armey, R-Texas.
17) Democrats said the measure was skewed toward the rich and diverted projected federal surpluses that should be aimed at buttressing Social Security and Medicare and for schools and other programs.
18) They also objected to a device the compromise's authors used to fit all the tax cuts within expected surpluses. All of the measure's tax reductions would automatically end in 2011 unless renewed by lawmakers in the future, which Democrats said was politically likely. Without that device, the bill's 11-year cost would be $1.7 trillion, they said.
19) ``If baloney were electricity, this tax bill could solve our energy crisis,'' said Sen. Richard Durbin, D-Ill.
20) Moderate Democrats like Sen. Max Baucus of Montana, the incoming Finance Committee chairman, praised the package for being more equitably distributed than Bush's original plan. Republican leaders, in turn, said the moderate Democrats' support showed they and Bush had produced a bipartisan package.
21) ``No matter what personalities may be in various and sundry positions, we can do this again and again,'' said outgoing Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott, R-Miss.
22) But Democratic leaders, who had no role in the package's evolution, denied that the product was bipartisan.
23) ``This was confrontational politics,'' said Daschle.
24) It was also the last major tax bill likely to move through Congress this year. Though Republicans will seek tax breaks for business and health care costs, Daschle said there would be no additional tax cuts that are not paid for with other savings.
25) Under the bill, Americans would begin getting checks in the mail this summer of up to $300 for individuals, $500 for single parents and $600 for couples. This would reflect the first year of a new 10 percent income tax rate on the initial $6,000 of an individual's income, $12,000 for married couples.
26) Most other income tax rates will also begin to fall. By 2006, the current top 39.6 percent rate would fall to 35 percent, with most other rates dropping by 3 percentage points. The 15 percent rate will remain the same.
27) In addition,
28) _The standard deduction for married couples will gradually grow beginning in 2005 so that it becomes twice that of single taxpayers. The 15 percent tax bracket will also be gradually adjusted beginning in 2005 to cover more of married couples' incomes until it doubles that of singles.
29) _The $500 tax credit for children will rise to $600 this year and $1,000 by 2010.
30) _The inheritance tax would be repealed by 2010. Exempted estates would gradually rise from $675,000 now to $3.5 million.
31) _Contribution limits for IRAs and 401(k)-type plans will expand.


Bush Signs Tax Cut Into Law
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1) Fulfilling a central campaign promise, President Bush signed into law Thursday a $1.35 trillion tax cut bill that will immediately benefit every American who pays income taxes but will require years to take full effect.
2) The 10-year tax cut was tempered by Democratic and Republican moderates from the $1.6 trillion plan Bush first began pushing in 1999 but still contains its essential elements, lending a celebratory air to a White House East Room ceremony not quite large enough to contain the crowd.
3) Bush, joined by first lady Laura Bush, members of his Cabinet and a bipartisan group from the House and Senate _ as well as 15 families Bush used to illustrate the need for tax relief _ said it was ``about time'' some of the projected $5.6 trillion budget surplus is returned to taxpayers.
4) ``A year ago, tax relief was said to be a political impossibility. Six months ago, it was supposed to be a liability. Today, it becomes a reality,'' Bush said to applause.
5) Most visible to American taxpayers will be the estimated 96 million tax refund checks of between $300 and $600 to be mailed to taxpayers beginning July 20. But much of the tax bill's relief occurs slowly over the next decade, including across-the-board reductions in income tax rates that will mean more take-home pay for all taxpayers.
6) ``You are going to get a check and then you are going to get, in every paycheck, a reduced bite,'' said Rep. Bill Thomas, R-Calif., chairman of the tax-writing House Ways and Means Committee.
7) Passage of the legislation May 26 marked the biggest legislative victory in Bush's young presidency and follows years of Republican frustration as former President Clinton blocked or vetoed several previous tax cuts.
8) Rep. J.C. Watts of Oklahoma, the fourth-ranking House Republican, told colleagues in a memo that as the refund checks go out to constituents, Republicans should ``take every opportunity to remind them who is working to give them more of their own money back to meet their own priorities, not Washington's.''
9) In addition to the refund checks and gradual income tax cuts _ which include creation of a new 10 percent bottom rate _ the measure eventually abolishes the estate tax, eases the marriage penalty paid by millions of two-income couples, gradually doubles the $500 child credit and contains breaks for increased retirement savings and education.
10) While the bill got significant Democratic support, most Democrats criticized it as far too large to meet other national priorities, such as increased spending on education and a Medicare prescription drug benefit, and said it would cost at least $4 trillion in the second decade. They contend it remains unfairly tilted toward the wealthy, even though several provisions were added by Senate moderates to benefit lower-income people.
11) House Minority Leader Dick Gephardt, D-Mo., said Thursday that taxpayers at the top 1 percent income level will get more than a third of the law's benefit, while its cost threatens a return to budget deficits because of increased spending needs.
12) ``This is a bill that turns its back on fiscal responsibility,'' Gephardt said. ``This bill fails the American people.''
13) Democrats now control the Senate, due to Vermont Sen. James Jeffords' switch from the GOP to independent. New Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle of South Dakota said there would be no immediate effort to undo the tax cut but predicted changes in coming years _ particularly since most provisions expire on Dec. 31, 2010, under Senate budget rules.
14) ``We don't have the votes to revisit it today with any success,'' Daschle said Wednesday. ``I just know that at some point, that reality is going to come crashing down on all of us, and we're going to have to deal with it.''
15) House Republican leaders said they will attempt to pass legislation this year to eliminate the ``sunset'' expiration date and make the tax cuts permanent. The Democratic majority in the Senate, however, could make it difficult for that measure or any other House GOP tax cuts to pass this year.
16) ``This debate is over,'' said Mike Siegel, spokesman for Sen. Max Baucus, D-Mont., new chairman of the Senate Finance Committee. ``We passed a strong bipartisan bill through months of negotiation. It's important that we turn our attention to other critical priorities.''
17) Yet Republicans promised to press ahead with more tax relief, possibly including cuts in capital-gains taxes, energy tax breaks, a package of cuts for small business to accompany an increase in the minimum wage and extension of several provisions that expire this year.
18) ``This tax bill is the beginning, not the end,'' said House Majority Leader Dick Armey, R-Texas.
19) One other looming problem is the alternative minimum tax, which will limit the tax cut's benefits for millions of people in the coming years. Because it was never indexed for inflation, more taxpayers find themselves snared by the tax as their incomes rise. Official estimates say the tax, which affected just 1.4 million taxpayers this year, will hit 35.5 million in 2010.


Bush tells Congress that tax cuts, not more spending, should drive
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1) President George W. Bush urged Congress on Friday to approve at least dlrs 60 billion in fresh tax cuts to boost the staggering economy without resorting to the broad new government spending sought by many Democrats.
2) The announcement followed a Thursday night meeting on the White House's Truman Balcony during which House Republican leaders described for Bush a growing concern among conservatives that he appeared too open to Democratic spending proposals ranging from health insurance assistance to railroad construction.
3) At the meeting, which a senior White House official characterized as ``brutally frank,'' Republican leaders said they believed Bush's statements were being misinterpreted by many in Congress and advised him to communicate his thinking on the stimulus plan more clearly, said one participant who spoke on condition of anonymity.
4) Bush, flanked by his top economic advisers in the White House Rose Garden, said Friday the government is already responding with about dlrs 60 billion in spending to the aftermath of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, including his proposal to extend unemployment benefits by 13 weeks.
5) The president called for additional tax cuts totaling about the same dlrs 60 billion.
6) ``In order to stimulate the economy, Congress doesn't need to spend any more money. What they need to do is cut taxes,'' Bush said.
7) House Majority Leader Dick Armey said the tax-writing Ways and Means Committee was given a green light to begin assembling a package of up to dlrs 75 billion without waiting for a negotiated agreement with Democrats and the Senate. The panel's chairman, Rep. Bill Thomas of California, said work could begin as early as next week.
8) Democrats responded with dismay, saying that would virtually ensure a partisan outcome.
9) ``These people have a hidden agenda,'' said Rep. Charles Rangel of New York, senior Democrat on the Ways and Means Committee. ``They think they can dust off anything they want and wrap the American flag around it.''
10) The president made his clearest statement yet on the components of his plan, which would include accelerating some or all of the income tax rate cuts now set to take effect in 2004 and 2006 as part of the 10-year, dlrs 1.35 trillion tax relief measure enacted earlier this year. Treasury Secretary Paul O'Neill has proposed moving the 1 percentage point reduction in the 27 percent income tax rate from 2004 to 2002, a Treasury official said.
11) Because the bottom 10 percent and 15 percent tax brackets would not be reduced, Bush said Congress should ``make sure that low- and moderate-income workers get tax relief as well.'' The leading option is a new round of tax rebate checks, which could arrive in time for the critical holiday shopping season.
12) For businesses, Bush proposed repeal of the corporate alternative minimum tax, which can impose big tax bills on struggling businesses, and greater expensing writeoffs for business capital investment. House Republican leaders are considering a 30 percent immediate expensing writeoff for all assets, perhaps with a three-year time limit.
13) The president's list pointedly left out cuts in capital gains taxes on investment, which many Republicans are pressing for but Democrats fiercely oppose as benefiting the wealthy. House Republicans, however, still want to consider a measure that would reduce the long-term capital gains rate from 20 percent to 18 percent for investments made after the Sept. 11 attacks.
14) ``Some of us just won't give that up,'' Armey said. ``There's going to be a big fight over the capital gains tax reduction.''
15) Democrats have gone far beyond tax cuts in their vision of a stimulus package, envisioning that half of up to dlrs 75 billion would go for spending.
16) Some Democrats want to give workers a 50 percent federal match for the COBRA health insurance plans available for the jobless. Others want to raise the dlrs 5.15-an-hour minimum wage, begin a broad new public works program and spend money on the national passenger railroad Amtrak, high-speed rail and highways.


House readies dlrs 100 billion stimulus bill; Senate Democrats
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1) House Republicans say a dlrs 100 billion economic stimulus package focused on business and investment tax cuts is the right tonic for the ailing economy. Senate Democrats are countering with greater assistance for laid-off workers and more spending on homeland security.
2) With President George W. Bush urging them on, congressional leaders are attempting to come up with a package to address an economic downturn worsened by the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. The House was expected to approve the Republican plan Wednesday.
3) ``This tax relief package will help jump-start our lagging economy and give Americans much-needed jobs,'' said House Majority Leader Dick Armey.
4) Passage of the House proposal will set up a confrontation with Senate Democrats, who say the package is too heavy on business tax cuts, too costly in the long term and too light on help for individuals affected by the economic woes.
5) ``It's clear the House bill cannot pass the Senate as it is,'' said Sen. John Breaux, a Democrat from Louisiana.
6) The House legislation, which would cost an estimated dlrs 99.5 billion in 2002 and more than dlrs 159 billion over 10 years, includes four key items sought by Bush: repeal of the corporate alternative minimum tax, a new round of tax rebate checks of up to dlrs 600 for lower-income workers, a cut in the 27 percent income tax rate to 25 percent in 2002 instead of 2006 and greater expensing write-offs for business equipment purchases.
7) Among other things, the bill also cuts long-term capital gains rates from 20 percent to 18 percent for most taxpayers, gives major corporations refunds for alternative minimum taxes they paid as far back as 1986 and permanently extends a tax break for financial services firms that do business overseas. The alternative minimum tax ensures that people or businesses that take many deductions and credits still pay a minimum amount of taxes.
8) While there is bipartisan support for some House items, Senate Democrats have been pushing for expanded unemployment benefits and assistance for workers who lose employer-provided health insurance.
9) Sen. Max Baucus, chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, unveiled a dlrs 70 billion proposal Tuesday that extends unemployment benefits by 13 weeks, provides a 50 percent federal match for health insurance policies for laid-off workers, and allows more workers to qualify for Medicaid, the government health insurance program for the poor.
10) The legislation also includes the rebate checks and some business items similar to the House bill, but not the capital gains reduction or the alternative minimum tax repeal. Tax cuts in the Baucus measure total dlrs 35 billion in 2002, far less than the House Republicans want.
11) ``This proposal appropriately responds to the sign of the times, helping this nation get back to work and recover quickly,'' said Baucus, a Montana Democrat.
12) But the Bush administration reacted with displeasure. Treasury Secretary Paul O'Neill said he was ``disappointed'' with the Baucus proposal because it would add some dlrs 50 billion in new spending to the package already approved by Congress in the aftermath of the Sept. 11 attacks.
13) ``This is a spending package, not a stimulus package,'' O'Neill said in prepared statement.
14) Yet other Democrats were working on even more spending programs. Senate Appropriations Committee Chairman Robert Byrd of West Virginia said he was putting together a dlrs 20 billion package that included hiring extra customs and border agents and food inspectors, enhancing nuclear plant security and purchasing more vaccines.


Moderate Democrats could hold key to passing economic stimulus
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1) President George W. Bush renewed his push Tuesday for agreement on a U.S. economic stimulus package, with moderate Democrats possibly holding the key to breaking a partisan stalemate.
2) White House spokesman Ari Fleischer said the swing group of Senate Democratic centrists could be the difference and that Bush continued to make calls to line up support for a roughly dlrs 100 billion compromise proposal. It would probably take 60 votes in the 100-member Senate to overcome delaying tactics and pass the measure.
3) ``The president does not want to give up,'' Fleischer said. ``The president thinks it's too important to the unemployed and too important to the strength of the economy that he will go the extra mile this week to get an agreement.''
4) Republican and Democratic congressional leaders were meeting later Tuesday with Bush at the White House to discuss the stimulus plan as House leaders mulled whether to move the attempted compromise on their own as early as Tuesday night.
5) One key centrist, Democratic Sen. John Breaux, said House Republicans don't want ``to do something they don't think can pass the Senate. I would just hope there has to be a way we can reach an agreement.''
6) The new House plan would combine Republican tax cuts for individuals and businesses with the Democrats' 13-week extension of unemployment benefits and a 60 percent tax credit to help jobless people buy health insurance. Democrats oppose the health tax credit, favoring a direct subsidy to help laid-off workers afford health insurance policies.
7) Republicans say significant support from Democratic centrists could increase pressure on Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschl to schedule a vote.
8) An earlier dlrs 100 million House Republican proposal consisting mostly of tax cuts was never put to a vote in the Senate and a Democratic bill heavier on government spending was blocked by Republicans.


House passes economic stimulus package that faces probable failure
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1) The House passed a package of tax cuts and unemployment aid early Thursday, sending the plan for lifting the recession-hobbled economy to the Senate where staunch opposition from Democratic leaders seemed to guarantee its failure.
2) ``We deserve a vote,'' Sen. Charles Grassley of Iowa, senior Republican on the Senate Finance Committee, argued in advance of the House vote. ``This is bipartisan social policy everybody agrees needs to be done.''
3) But Majority Leader Tom Daschle offered no guarantee of a vote, labeling the bill's business tax cuts too large and its jobless health insurance subsidies too weak.
4) It appeared improbable that President George W. Bush and Senate Republicans could muster the 60 votes necessary to prevent Senate opponents from blocking the bill, which the White House has sought since shortly after the Sept. 11 terror attacks.
5) ``They can be sure it will never, never, never become law,'' said Rep. Charles Rangel of New York.
6) Bush kept up the pressure, issuing a pre-dawn statement: ``For the sake of America's workers, I call on the Senate to act now on this plan, which can pass the Senate with a bipartisan majority if it is brought up for a vote. If this bipartisan bill gets to my desk I will sign it.''
7) There remained sporadic efforts at achieving a bipartisan compromise, but the chances of that dwindled as Congress struggled to recess for the year. Nonetheless, the issue could resurface when lawmakers return in late January.
8) The House legislation, which would provide dlrs 218 billion in economic stimulus and jobless aid over the next three years, passed at shortly before 4 a.m. EST (0900 GMT) Thursday by a 224-193 vote. Only nine Democrats joined nearly all Republicans in support.
9) It would extend unemployment benefits by 13 weeks for those laid off since the March 15 onset of economic recession and provide a 60 percent, upfront tax credit unemployed people could use to help pay for health insurance. People who didn't get a tax rebate this summer would get a check of up to dlrs 600.
10) The 27 percent income tax rate would drop to 25 percent on Jan. 1, four years ahead of schedule. That rate applies in 2002 to taxable income between dlrs 27,950 and dlrs 67,700 for individuals, dlrs 46,700 and dlrs 112,850 for married couples.
11) Businesses could write off 30 percent of new investment in each of the next three years, small businesses would have a higher expensing write-off limit of dlrs 35,000 for two years and corporations would get dlrs 13 billion in relief over 10 years from the alternative minimum tax. There would also be aid to help New York City recover and dlrs 4.6 billion for states to use for health care needs.
12) Republicans said these provisions reflected their concessions on numerous Democratic priorities, forming a combination that would help the unemployed make it through temporary hard times and spur investment that would lift the economy and create more jobs.
13) ``The engine in this country that creates jobs is the magic of people taking capital and creating wealth,'' said House Speaker Dennis Hastert. ``We should get it done.''
14) Democrats countered that the bill was chock full of unwise Republican tax cuts aimed at their business and wealthy constituencies that would drive up the federal deficit. But the biggest Democratic objection came over the health insurance tax credit, which they said was insufficient to cover all laid-off workers and would subject people to an uncertain open marketplace.
15) ``We don't think a tax credit alone will effectively deliver the aid that's needed,'' said House Minority Leader Dick Gephardt.
16) The House passed its first economic stimulus package in late October, but it didn't include the unemployment benefit extension or the health insurance tax credit _ and it did include billions of dollars in refunds to corporations for alternative minimum taxes they paid as far back as 1986. Republicans pushed through the second bill in part to give uneasy lawmakers a more satisfactory product to stand behind.
17) ``Republicans have given a lot,'' said House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Bill Thomas. ``But our Democratic colleagues have given very little.''


Senate poised to abandon long-stalled economic stimulus package Eds: Timing of votes uncertain
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1) Some lawmakers hope to give the nation's unemployed workers extended jobless benefits even if the Senate appears ready to give up on a broader economic stimulus package.
2) Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle said he would ``continue to look for ways'' to win approval of a simple 13-week extension of unemployment aid if, as expected, competing Republican and Democratic stimulus plans fail in votes planned Wednesday.
3) An dlrs 89 billion House-passed package supported by President George W. Bush and a leaner dlrs 69 billion alternative pushed by Daschle both faced a 60-vote threshold to overcome Senate procedural hurdles. Neither side expected their plan to prevail, and Daschle said the Senate would move to other business.
4) ``I've made every effort I can think of to find the common ground,'' said Daschle.
5) Republicans swiftly condemned the move. Minority Leader Trent Lott said the failure to act is ``sending a very dangerous and reckless message to an uncertain economy.''
6) Bush, returning Tuesday from a trip to Pittsburgh, said he, too, was disappointed. The president has been pushing since October for an economic stimulus plan that blended individual and business tax cuts with aid to the jobless to reverse a recession that got worse after the Sept. 11 terror attacks.
7) ``Our economy, while there's some good news, needs more stimulus,'' Bush said upon arriving at the White House. ``Workers need help, and we need to stimulate the economy.''
8) Republicans and Democrats were unable to compromise on the level of tax relief in the package, particularly an acceleration of individual income tax cuts, and how best to deliver aid to the unemployed. The Republican-led House passed two different measures last year, but neither could clear the 60-vote threshold necessary to pass a Senate divided between 50 Democrats, 49 Republicans and an independent.
9) Daschle, who was labeled an ``obstructionist'' by Republicans because of the stimulus deadlock, suggested in January that the Senate pass a bare-bones stimulus bill composed of the most popular items. Republicans derided the Democratic bill as virtually stimulus-free and argued for deeper tax cuts to spur growth.
10) ``If in fact the Senate, under its current leadership, can do nothing good, we are better off with them doing nothing at all,'' said House Majority Leader Dick Armey.
11) Democrats, however, said Republicans were trying to showcase their tax-cut priorities for voters in an election year, knowing they would not become law. They said some proposals, such as ensuring the estate tax repeal stays in place in the next decade, would have virtually no impact on the recession.
12) ``It was tied in with their tax breaks that are not justified,'' said Rep. Gerald Kleczka, a Wisconsin Democrat.
13) Some Republicans had begun to question whether money earmarked for the stimulus bill might not be better used to balance the federal government's budget. A group of 70 House conservatives is pushing for that goal if no stimulus bill is passed.
14) ``If we can't pass a solid economic stimulus bill, we should balance the budget this year,'' said Rep. Pat Toomey, a Pennsylvania Republican.
15) Other lawmakers expressed frustration that election-year politics already were dominating the congressional agenda. Voters will think ``we're too busy down here trying to figure out who's going to control the U.S. Senate'' to address crucial issues, said Sen. George Voinovich, an Ohio Republican.
16) The Bush administration supports a package that would provide dlrs 89 billion in stimulus in 2002 and dlrs 73 billion in 2003. It would accelerate income tax cuts now set to take effect in the future and provide a new round of rebate checks of up to dlrs 600 aimed at lower-income Americans.
17) It would extend unemployment benefits by 13 weeks, help laid-off workers pay for health insurance and give corporations and small businesses more generous tax breaks for new investment.
18) Daschle's bill, which would provide dlrs 69 billion in stimulus in 2002, includes the unemployment benefits extension, more limited business tax breaks, tax rebate checks and an increase in Medicaid money to help states balance their budgets.


Fourth House Republican economic package wins Democratic backing Eds: Vote expected about 1900 GMT
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1) On their fourth try at recession relief, House Republicans have found a combination of jobless aid and tax cuts that gained Democratic support and stand a decent chance of becoming law.
2) ``This is a package deserving of strong bipartisan support and should be taken up by the Senate,'' House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Bill Thomas said.
3) With House Democratic leaders endorsing the measure, passage seemed assured in a vote set for Thursday afternoon. Yet, as with three previous economic packages approved by the House, the bill's ultimate fate lies with a Senate divided almost evenly between Republicans and Democrats.
4) ``I want to see the (House) bill before I make any decisions about it,'' Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle said Wednesday. ``I think passage of an economic stimulus plan would still make sense if we could reach a consensus.''
5) President George W. Bush had been pushing for a broader economic stimulus package since the Sept. 11 terror attacks exacerbated an ongoing downturn. He told a Hispanic business group Wednesday that Congress should act despite evidence that the economy is recovering.
6) ``I think the economy has still got problems. ... I still think we ought to do more,'' Bush said. ``There needs to be a stimulus bill.''
7) The legislation, costing an estimated dlrs 94 billion over five years, would extend regular 26-week jobless benefits by 13 weeks and allow for additional automatic extensions in states with high unemployment rates. It would give businesses a three-year, 30 percent tax write-off for new business investment and a more generous way to deduct losses.
8) It also creates a ``Liberty Zone'' in the lower Manhattan section of New York in which dlrs 5 billion in various tax breaks would be available to help the city recover from the attacks. In addition, the bill would extend a list of popular tax breaks that have expired or will do so this year.
9) Discarded were provisions from earlier versions that had drawn Democratic opposition, including accelerated income tax rate reductions, bigger tax breaks for corporations and a tax credit to help the jobless buy health insurance.
10) ``We could have passed this bill last fall,'' House Minority Leader Dick Gephardt, said. ``It's too bad it took the House Republicans so long to assist the hundreds of thousands of people who lost their jobs through no fault of their own.''
11) The three previous House-passed economic packages went nowhere in the Democratic-led Senate, which responded by twice passing a straightforward extension of the unemployment benefits.
12) Democrats have been pressing Republicans to take up and pass the simple unemployment benefits extension, pointing to the estimated 1.3 million people who have exhausted their regular 26 weeks of aid since Sept. 11. In January, there were about 7.9 million unemployed people in America.


Republicans captures control of U.S. Senate
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1) Republicans narrowly seized control of the U. S. Senate on Wednesday, giving President George W. Bush a major political and legislative boost as he starts the final two years of his first term at the White House.
2) By winning their 50th seat, the Republicans were ensured control of the chamber next year because Vice President Dick Cheney will cast tie-breaking votes. Their team will include at least seven new senators, including two who briefly challenged Bush for their party's presidential nomination in 2000, Tennessee's Lamar Alexander and North Carolina's Elizabeth Dole.
3) Democrats took just one seat from Republicans when Arkansas Attorney General Mark Pryor, the son of former Sen. David Pryor, defeated incumbent Sen. Tim Hutchinson.
4) In Georgia, Republican Rep. Saxby Chambliss defeated moderate first-term Democratic Sen. Max Cleland, a triple amputee from the Vietnam War, after chiding him for opposing President Bush's plan for creating a new Department of Homeland Security.
5) Because of Rep. Jim Talent's victory in Missouri, the Republicans also could take control of the lame-duck session of the current Congress, which convenes next week to tackle unfinished budget business and perhaps other legislation
6) Talent could be sworn into office quickly after defeating Democratic Sen. Jean Carnahan. She was appointed to the seat after her husband, Mel Carnahan, was elected in 2000, three weeks after he was killed in a plane crash. That would give the Republicans at least 50 seats in Senate returning next week _ enough for control because of the vice president's vote.
7) The results strengthen Bush's political hand. He reversed a two-decade trend of the party holding the White House losing Senate seats in mid-term elections, and saw Republican victories in at least five of nine states he visited in the campaign's closing days.
8) ``President Bush and the Republican Party tonight have made history,'' said White House spokesman Ari Fleischer.
9) Sen. Patty Murray, a Democrat who led her party's Senate election drive, said Democrats failed to hone a sharp message on issues like education and jobs.
10) ``The country is still divided, but there were a lot of people on the left who didn't hear what they needed to hear in this election and might have stayed home,'' she said in an interview.
11) Still undecided Wednesday were a pair of races: Democrat Walter Mondale's effort to replace the late Democratic Sen. Paul Wellstone in Minnesota, and a South Dakota battle between Democratic Sen. Tim Johnson and GOP Rep. John Thune.
12) Rep. John Sununu was victorious for the Republicans in New Hampshire, retaining a Republican-held seat that Democrats had high hopes of winning. He defeated Democratic Gov. Jeanne Shaheen, despite a lack of help from many conservatives bitter over his primary defeat of Republican Sen. Bob Smith.
13) In Colorado, incumbent Republican Sen. Wayne Allard held off former U.S. Attorney Tom Strickland in a rematch of their race six years ago.
14) The triumph came on a night that began with Democrats clinging to a one-seat margin, and it meant they will have to relinquish the majority they have held since Vermont Sen. James Jeffords abandoned the Republicans in June 2001.
15) With at least 47 senators, Democrats still can use filibusters _ procedural delays _ to kill Republican initiatives because such roadblocks need only 41 votes to succeed.
16) Even so, the Republican's capture of the Senate denied Democrats their major remaining source of power. Republicans already control the White House and they recaptured their House majority Wednesday.
17) Democrats seemed to have a slight advantage going into Election Day, holding a 50-49 Senate margin including Jeffords. That excluded Dean Barkley, the independent named by Minnesota Gov. Jesse Ventura to replace the late Democratic Sen. Paul Wellstone for a postelection session of Congress that begins next week.
18) Democrats also had the advantage of having to defend only 14 of the 34 Senate seats in play, compared to 20 seats held by Republicans.
19) Even with a slender margin of control, Senate Republicans would command committees and control which bills the chamber would debate to Bush's advantage. His proposals for tax cuts, economic stimulus, defense and domestic spending, national security and judgeship nominations would dominate the chamber's agenda _ and put Democrats in a defensive role.
20) Yet as Republicans learned early last year when Cheney gave them control of a 50-50 Senate, they will be able to take little for granted in keeping unity among Republican lawmakers who range from conservative to moderate.


House approves budget; Senate effort to trim Bush tax cut fades
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1) The House approved a $2.2 trillion budget for next year early Friday, embracing President George W. Bush's tax-cutting plan for bolstering the economy after top Republicans appealed for wartime unity.
2) The bill, passed by 215 votes to 212, came after a long day of arm-twisting by House Republican leaders and top administration officials, who were determined to shield the president from a domestic defeat as war with Iraq commences.
3) The fiscal blueprint for 2004 would pave the way for a bill later this year bearing Bush's signature initiative for stimulating the economy: $726 billion in tax reductions through 2013.
4) Responding to political pressure to eliminate federal deficits, it also calls for billions in cuts in programs like Medicaid and veterans assistance, which made many Republicans nervous.
5) That prompted telephone calls to wavering lawmakers from the Republican hierarchy, and repeated references to the war, which the House debated for two hours before the budget vote.
6) Democrats said the tax cuts would only make mounting deficits even worse _ passing that debt to the next generation, some of whom are fighting in Iraq.
7) ``You're sticking those 250,000 young Americans and their children with that bill,'' said Rep. Gene Taylor. ``And that's inexcusable.''
8) In the Senate, which debated its own Republican-written blueprint for next year, an attempt by Democrats and moderate Republicans to reduce by one-half Bush's $726 billion tax-cutting plan appeared in trouble.
9) With a vote on that proposal likely Friday, two pivotal senators _ Republican John McCain and Democrat Ernest Hollings _ said they would oppose trimming those tax reductions to $350 billion through 2013.
10) ``Without either of them, we lose,'' said Sen. John Breaux, a sponsor of the drive to reduce Bush's tax plans.
11) Bush's tax cut would eliminate levies paid by individuals on corporate dividends and accelerate already scheduled income tax cuts, such as immediately increasing the child care tax credit to $1,000.
12) The House spent all day debating its spending plan. It rejected three alternatives by Democrats that would have eliminated most of Bush's tax reductions and increased spending, and one budget by conservative Republicans with deeper tax and spending cuts.
13) In a bid for support from party moderates, top House Republicans removed proposed Medicare savings from their budget. Yet they still had to perform a balancing act between centrists unhappy with the tax reductions and cuts in social programs, and conservatives complaining that spending was too high.
14) But support for the plan grew after a closed-door meeting at which House Speaker Dennis Hastert, a Republican, and others argued that the outbreak of war was not the time to hand the president an embarrassing budget defeat.
15) ``I'd describe it as patriotic intimidation that's going on,'' said Rep. Gil Gutknecht, a Republican, describing the session.
16) The congressional budget limits overall spending and revenues, paving the way for future bills in which binding revenue and spending decisions are made. It does not need the president's signature.
17) Yet it always sparks a political firestorm. This year's focused on the Republican's quest for new tax cuts at a time of war and with annual federal deficits expected to set records exceeding $300 billion.
18) ``The Republican plan allows U.S. troops to go into a war today and then slashes their veterans benefits by billions when they return tomorrow because their budget needs those billions from veterans to fund a $90,000 tax cut per millionaire,'' said Democrat Steve Israel.
19) Democrats also accused the White House of delaying a request to pay for the war _ expected to approach $100 billion _ until the budgets were passed, preventing Democrats from arguing that the war's costs make the tax cuts unaffordable. Republicans denied that and said Congress would approve the funds quickly.
20) While the budget Bush sent Congress in February projected huge, unyielding deficits, the House sees surpluses returning in 2012, the Senate in 2013.
21) Both, however, rely on future spending cuts that many analysts say will not pass Congress.
22) The House budget would order lawmakers this year to find $255 billion in savings over the next decade in benefits such as student loans, Medicaid and civil servants' pensions _ all with staunch congressional defenders in both parties. It also plans 0.4 percent more next year for most non-defense programs _ a small fraction of recent years' increases.
23) The Senate plan proposes more spending than the House in the near term, but extremely small increases later _ which will be revisited by future Congresses anyway.


Bush scores victory in House for $726 billion tax cut
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1) The House of Representatives passed a $2.2 trillion budget that endorses President George W. Bush's plan to cut taxes by $726 billion over the coming decade. The vote moves the president closer to winning one of his top domestic goals.
2) Bush could grab another victory Friday in the Republican-led Senate, where Democrats and moderate Republican lawmakers were waging an increasingly desperate bid to cut the package in half.
3) In the early hours of Friday morning, the Republican-run House passed a $2.2 trillion budget for next year by 215-212 that embraces the president's entire $726 billion tax package.
4) The budget drafts broad outlines in tax and spending policies for other committees to follow, and there is no guarantee the final tax bill will give Bush the combination of accelerated income tax cuts and lower dividend taxes that he seeks.
5) ``We are one step closer to giving the economy the jump start it needs to grow, and one step closer to creating more jobs and restoring confidence,'' Treasury Secretary John Snow said.
6) A vote on the budget in the Senate seemed likely later in the day. But first, a vote was expected on the effort to trim the tax cut to $350 billion.
7) Moderates leading the fight made a long-shot plea to lawmakers opposed to all tax cuts, arguing their plan offered the best opportunity to stop the president's momentum.
8) ``I would prefer no tax cut at this time, but that is not politically popular,'' said Sen. John B. Breaux, who is leading the effort to halve the president's tax plan.
9) Senators worried about paying for the war in Iraq, protecting the nation against terrorist attacks and reversing a growing deficit remained unconvinced. ``This is playing for the needs of the campaign next year. And I'm for the needs of the country,'' said Democratic Sen. Ernest Hollings.
10) Hollings and the fence-sitters hold pivotal votes in the narrowly divided Senate. Republicans control the chamber by 51-48, plus a Democratic-leaning independent. The effort to slice the tax cut could succeed only if every Democrat but Bush supporter Zell Miller of Georgia voted 'yes.'
11) Republican Sen. John McCain planned to vote against all tax cuts, and Republican Sen. Lincoln Chafee said he might vote against the amendment if it appeared doomed.
12) In the House, Republican leaders cemented the last few votes in favor of their budget when they made a late-night concession and matched the Senate's spending on veterans' programs, exempting automatic benefits payments from cuts and adding $1.8 billion to the president's budget for next year.


Senate slashes tax cut to reduce deficit, increase veterans benefits
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1) Senate Republicans appear to have little chance of restoring billions of dollars that lawmakers slashed from President George W. Bush's tax cut and redirected to war costs, veterans benefits and deficit reduction.
2) A series of Senate votes left only $350 billion where the president wanted $726 billion over the next decade to inject new growth into the economy by accelerating scheduled income tax cuts and reducing dividend taxes.
3) The Senate voted 51-48 to reduce the size of the economic growth package as it weighed the cost of war and peace in Iraq.
4) ``I think all of us realize that this is a long-term commitment that we're making to bring stability to that region of the world, and it's going to cost some money,'' said Sen. George Voinovich, an Ohio Republican.
5) Republicans have prepared a stack of new amendments that could increase the size of the tax cut, but Senate Budget Committee Chairman Don Nickles of Oklahoma said he will survey the landscape Wednesday before offering them. ``I'm not going to do that unless I think I'm going to win,'' he said.
6) Republicans will get an extra vote when Democrat Zell Miller of Georgia _ a reliable Republican ally on tax cuts _ returns to the chamber for the last day of intensive voting, dubbed the vote-o-rama.
7) Final passage of the $2.2 trillion budget is expected Wednesday afternoon.
8) Moderates like Voinovich provided the winning margin of support for the amendment that passed Tuesday and made the biggest dent in the tax cut.
9) It sliced $263 billion from the economic growth plan to reduce the deficit or shore up Social Security.
10) A similar attempt failed last week. The new amendment was offered the same day that the president formally requested $74.7 billion for the war in Iraq.
11) ``It really shows the growing sense in the Senate, the growing resistance against the size of the tax cut, given Iraq,'' said Max Baucus, the top Democrat on the tax-writing Senate Finance Committee.
12) Democrats hailed the smaller tax cut as proof that they helped move the president's budget toward a more responsible balance between taxes and spending. ``I think what most senators are concerned about is the magnitude of the tax cut given the magnitude of the debt,'' said Senate Minority Leader Tom Daschle of South Dakota.
13) Some Republicans questioned the Democrats' commitment to responsible budgeting.
14) ``It's got nothing to do with the war. The people defeating it want to spend money,'' said Senate Finance Committee Chairman Charles Grassley of Iowa. ``They ain't worried about paying for the war. They ain't worried about the deficit.''
15) Without a few middle-of-the-road Republicans, Democrats could not have declared any victories. Some of those moderates stand firmly opposed to all tax cuts, including Republican Sens. John McCain of Arizona and Lincoln Chafee of Rhode Island.
16) After Senate passage, the next opportunity to increase the tax cut will come when the House and Senate meet to negotiate a common budget. The House included $726 billion for the president's economic growth plan in its version.
17) Senate moderates pledged to keep the tax cut at $350 billion throughout the legislative process. John Breaux, a Louisiana Democrat, sponsor of the amendment that diverted some tax money into debt reduction and Social Security, said he will use the same tactic during committee deliberations if needed.


Republican leaders struggle to hold budget agreement together
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1) Congressional Republican leaders labored Thursday to hold together a budget deal after new questions arose over whether the agreement would permit the higher tax cuts that many Republican lawmakers want.
2) Republican leaders said Wednesday that they had struck a budget agreement that would allow lawmakers to make final decisions over the exact size of a tax cut in legislation later this year.
3) Meanwhile, House-Senate bargainers tried putting finishing touches on a compromise $80 billion war spending package. Senate Appropriations Committee Chairman Ted Stevens was objecting to House demands that the final bill omit items the Senate had inserted, such as extra money for an animal lab in Iowa.
4) The House had planned to debate on Thursday a $2.2 trillion budget for 2004 that would let the Senate produce a subsequent tax bill costing $350 billion through 2013, while the House's would be $626 billion.
5) Before a final tax bill could be sent to President George W. Bush for his signature, the two chambers _ both controlled by the Republicans _ would have to agree to a common figure.
6) But lawmakers received a letter late Wednesday from the Senate parliamentarian casting doubt on whether a final compromise tax bill exceeding $350 billion could pass the Senate with a simple majority of 51 votes. Any amount exceeding $350 billion might need 60 Senate votes, which could make a larger tax cut unattainable.
7) Republicans huddled privately Thursday, hunting for a way to pass a fiscal blueprint before starting a two-week Easter recess on Friday.
8) By afternoon, they were seeking support for a plan limiting the Senate to an initial tax bill of $350 billion. But the later House-Senate compromise could be up to $626 billion and need only 51 Senate votes to pass.
9) In the narrowly divided Senate, that could still give the upper hand to moderates objecting to tax cuts exceeding $350 billion. Proponents of deeper reductions would get more time to win the moderates over.
10) ``No one yet is to the point of saying we're ready to A, give up or B, go home without'' a budget, said House Budget Committee Chairman Jim Nussle, a Republican.
11) Democrats prefer far smaller tax cuts or none at all, citing rampant federal deficits.


Republican leaders search for way to save budget deal
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1) Top congressional Republicans hunted for support from pivotal moderate senators for a retooled House-Senate budget deal that could pave the way for passage this year of up to $550 billion in tax cuts through 2013.
2) Republican leaders reshaped their plan Thursday, a day after the Senate parliamentarian ruled that under their initial budget, it would take 60 Senate votes _ a virtually insurmountable margin for Republicans _ for future tax cuts exceeding $350 billion.
3) President George W. Bush wants $726 billion in cuts, including eliminating individuals' taxes on corporate dividends and accelerating scheduled income tax reductions.
4) ``It's looking good,'' House Majority Leader Tom DeLay, a Republican, said about efforts among fellow party members to craft a deal that could clear Congress.
5) The search for a budget deal came as lawmakers also tried reaching a House-Senate compromise on a near $80 billion measure paying the first bills for the Iraq war and other U.S. efforts against terrorism. Republican leaders hope to push both measures through Congress by Friday, when lawmakers are scheduled to begin a two-week spring break.
6) The leaders of both Republican-controlled chambers, however, have been focused on passing a final $2.2 trillion budget for 2004. Republicans want the measure to embrace as much of Bush's tax cut as possible, arguing that his plan would give the flagging economy a jolt.
7) Congress' budget sets revenue and spending totals for the year, but can also give later tax cut bills procedural protections so they need only 51 votes to pass the 100-member Senate.
8) They otherwise could need 60 votes to prevail over opposition Democrats, who say the cuts would only deepen budget deficits beyond the record $300 billion-plus annual shortfalls now expected.
9) Despite the importance of Bush's tax plan to his agenda, Senate Republicans have only been able to muster 48 votes _ including one Democrat _ for tax cuts exceeding $350 billion.
10) Their keys to success would be winning the votes of moderate Republican Sens. George Voinovich of Ohio and Olympia Snowe of Maine, with Vice President Dick Cheney providing the tie-breaking 51st vote. By afternoon, it was unclear whether the pair would support the plan.
11) Under a new Republican proposal Thursday evening, the Senate's first tax bill would need 60 votes to exceed $350 billion. The House's could be $550 billion.
12) But the later House-Senate compromise would need only 51 votes for a price tag of up to $550 billion. That would give moderates in the narrowly divided Senate the ability to block anything they consider too big, yet also give the White House and Republican leaders many weeks to win them over.


HOLD FOR RELEASE 1506 GMT U.S. Senate is next hurdle for tax cut bill
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1) The drive to cut taxes is shifting to the Senate, where Republican leaders trying to win a $350 billion package may confront Democrats trying to make it smaller and Republican conservatives trying to make it bigger.
2) President George W. Bush used his weekly radio address Saturday to urge listeners to press their lawmakers for a larger tax cut.
3) The Senate plans to open debate Monday on the bill, which would cut taxes by $350 billion through 2013, less than half what Bush wanted. Several Republicans said they saw the legislation as only a starting point, while many Democrats prefer only $150 billion in reductions.
4) On Friday, the Republican-run House approved a $550 billion version of the bill by a nearly party-line, 222-203 vote. It would trim levies on wages, capital gains and some business investments but give Bush a smaller reduction than he wanted on corporate dividend taxes.
5) ``Our economy's foundation is crumbling,'' said Rep. Kenny Hulshof, a Republican, echoing his party's arguments that the bill would boost the wan economy. ``It is time that we repair it.''
6) Democrats countered that the bill would fuel the growth of federal deficits that are already on track to surpass $300 billion for the first time.
7) ``What Republicans did today is abandon America's families,'' Rep. Robert Menendez, a Democrat, said after the vote. ``And as they abandoned them, they left them with a huge bill.''
8) Bush, who initially proposed a $726 billion tax reduction, applauded the week's congressional action in Saturday's radio address, but called it merely ``progress'' toward achieving his tax-cutting goals.
9) He praised the House for including ``all the elements of my plan'' in a bill he said would result in more jobs. The Senate Finance Committee's version received a more tepid reaction, with Bush only saying it includes ``important aspects'' of his original proposal.
10) ``We need at least $550 billion in tax relief over the next decade, big enough to make a real difference in the paychecks of American workers, big enough to help entrepreneurs create more jobs and big enough to give our economy the boost it needs,'' he said.
11) In the Democrats' radio response, New Jersey Gov. James McGreevey said such a tax cut would do huge damage to state budgets.
12) ``Every dollar we are in the red is a dollar that we can't invest in our economy, schools that won't be built, bridges that will not be repaired and jobs that won't be created,'' he said. ``Today, 46 states face crippling budget deficits totaling $70 billion.''
13) Bush made eliminating dividend taxes for stockholders the centerpiece of his call for $726 billion in tax cuts, but the House opted instead to cut the top tax rate on dividends to 15 percent from 38.6 percent. The top tax rate on capital gains would fall to 15 percent from 20 percent.
14) To prime the economy, the bill would let small businesses write off up to $100,000 annually in new equipment investments for five years, compared with the $25,000 write-off now allowed. The Senate bill would make the first $500 in dividend income tax-free.
15) The Senate measure also includes $20 billion in new aid to states. It includes $421 billion in new tax cuts and raises taxes and fees $91 billion over the coming decade to offset the cost to the Treasury.
16) House Republicans said they would reject tax increases written in the Senate, singling out one that would affect Americans who work abroad. Beginning in 2004, those workers would no longer be able to exempt the first $80,000 of income earned abroad from U.S. taxes, though they could claim a credit for paying foreign taxes.
17) Senators said that tax increase would raise $35 billion; House Republicans said it would punish thousands of teachers and missionaries working abroad.


Tax cut debate moves from talk shows to Senate floor With BC-NA-GEN--US-Bush
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1) With debate over tax cuts moving to the Senate, Democrats took a pre-emptive swipe at President George W. Bush's stimulus plan as favoring the rich and ignoring mounting budget deficits.
2) In advance of Bush's three-state swing this week to promote his tax cut package, Treasury Secretary John Snow defended the plan Sunday as providing the right fix for ``a soggy economy.''
3) The Bush blueprint wouldn't ``trickle down'' to low- and middle-class Americans, Sen. Bob Graham of Florida, a 2004 Democratic presidential candidate, countered on CBS television's ``Face the Nation.'' ``Any economic stimulus plan has to put money in the pockets of those Americans most likely to spend it.''
4) Snow said the recovery isn't as strong or robust as it should be. ``A soggy economy is what we've got today ... that's why the president's pushing the jobs and growth plan,'' he told ABC's ``This Week.''
5) Snow's appearances on Sunday talk shows were part of the administration's effort to promote Bush's tax-cut plan. The president himself planned to meet Monday with small-business owners in Albuquerque, New Mexico, before heading to a plastics plant in Omaha, Nebraska.
6) On Tuesday, Bush will talk to senior citizens in Indianapolis and give another speech on his economic stimulus plan.
7) In Washington, meanwhile, the Senate planned to open debate Monday on a Republican-backed, $350 billion tax cut measure that is less than half of what Bush had first sought. Several Republicans see that bill as a starting point, but many Democrats support no more than $150 billion in tax relief.
8) The House on Friday approved a $550 billion version of the bill that would trim levies on wages, capital gains and some business investments. It would give the president a smaller tax reduction than he wanted on corporate dividends.
9) Any more tax cuts, or an increase in spending, would likely put the federal government deeper into debt, which is nearing $6.4 trillion, or roughly $70,000 per family. By current law, the debt cannot exceed $6.4 trillion, so Congress must vote to raise it.
10) Senate minority leader Tom Daschle said lawmakers had no choice but to do so, but hoped Congress would vote on that measure before tackling tax cuts.
11) ``So there's no doubt that deficit and debts ... are matters of fiscal policy that have to be dealt with,'' Daschle said on NBC's ``Meet the Press.'' ``This administration's ignored them from the beginning.''
12) The soaring debt was the result of years of spending increases and past tax cuts, Treasury chief Snow said.
13) He called the deficit more manageable than in previous years, however, and understandable given job losses and an economy performing ``far short of its potential.'' Meanwhile, deficits and debt rising during a good economy, such as during the mid-1990s, are more troublesome.
14) Snow said consumer spending has been ``pretty good'' and low interest rates were helpful, but business spending has been hampered by the decline of the stock market, corporate accounting scandals and the aftermath of the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks.
15) ``But most importantly, we need to get the business sector spending, and small business,'' Snow said on ``Fox News Sunday.''
16) The Senate bill includes $20 billion in aid for state and local governments, many of which are raising taxes and facing massive budget cuts. While the administration proposal does not include direct aid for the states, Snow said they would still benefit.
17) A ``real stimulus plan'' must also pump money into creating new roads and railroads and fixing up airports, said Democratic Gov. Ed Rendell of Pennsylvania. ``Those things create jobs, do good, and help American business,'' he said.


Senate finds $70 billion mistake in tax cut, works through differences with House
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1) Senate tax writers discovered they made a $70 billion error while calculating the cost of a dividend tax cut that is the centerpiece of President George W. Bush's plan to lift a stagnant economy.
2) Lawmakers found the error as the chairmen of the House and Senate tax writing committees tried to reach agreement on a compromise version of the tax legislation.
3) House Ways and Means Committee Bill Thomas said he and his counterpart, Sen. Charles Grassley, were ``near agreement'' but wanted to see a detailed analysis of the cost of the framework. ``We've made some tentative agreements,'' Thomas said.
4) Democrats said the dividend tax mistake threatened to complicate progress on the tax-cut bill. ``It shows this was done hastily and not thought through,'' said Sen. Max Baucus of Montana.
5) The error in the Senate's version of the bill will not be quickly fixed because Senate Democrats refused to give their consent, Grassley, the chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, said Tuesday. ``It would have taken 60 seconds to make this correction, but they wouldn't give 60 seconds to save $70 billion,'' Grassley said.
6) The error means that a reduction and then temporary suspension of taxes on dividends paid to shareholders, which is contained in the Senate bill passed last week, would cost $194 billion, not $124 billion as previously estimated. The bill calls for halving taxes on dividends this year and would suspend them in 2004, 2005 and 2006.
7) Analysts traced the $70 billion error to language that suspended taxes on dividends based on accumulated earnings. Lawmakers had intended to make the policy apply only to dividends based on the current year's earnings, meaning the tax cut would have been smaller.
8) The change pushed the cost of the Senate-passed tax cut to $420 billion, much more than the $350 billion limit that Republican moderates set to control the growth of deficits. Moderates in both parties hold key votes in the narrowly Republican-controlled body.
9) Spokesman for two of those Senate moderates _ Republican George Voinovich of Ohio and Democrat Evan Bayh of Indiana _ said their support may waver if the final tax package exceeds $350 billion.
10) Republican aides said they have considered counting $20 billion in state aid and $27 billion in child credits outside the $350 billion limit because the federal ledger considers both items spending, not tax cuts. That would bring the cost of the package close to $400 billion.
11) Bush had asked for a $726 billion tax cut, including a proposal to eliminate the double taxation of corporate earnings by giving shareholders a break on dividends paid out of already taxed earnings.
12) Under pressure to deliver the tax cut to the president before the Memorial Day holiday on Monday, negotiators worked late Tuesday to start narrowing the differences between the House and Senate bills.
13) The House and Senate agree on most elements in the bill, such as accelerating income tax cuts and reducing taxes for married couples and parents.
14) They treat taxes on investment income differently. The House opted to reduce taxes on dividends and capital gains to 15 percent, down from top rates of 38.6 percent and 20 percent, respectively.
15) The Senate voted narrowly to temporarily suspend taxes on dividends. House Majority Leader Tom DeLay said the Senate version was flawed and would ``open the doors to corporate America actually paying their employees salaries through dividends with no tax impact.''
16) Rep. Charles Rangel of New York, the top Democrat on the House Ways and Means Committee, came to the same conclusion and warned it could cause a significant reduction in payroll taxes paid to Social Security and Medicare by the employer and employee.
17) The proposed compromise also drops a $35 billion tax increase on Americans working abroad that caused an outcry among business leaders and many Republicans. ``I do not believe this Congress should raise taxes on some individuals and businesses in order to provide tax relief to others,'' Sen. George Allen, a Virginia Republican, wrote Monday to Grassley.


House and Senate strike deal on $350 billion tax cut
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1) House and Senate tax writers struck agreement on a $350 billion tax cut that Republicans leaders plan to pass by the end of the month and that cuts President George W. Bush's stimulus package in half.
2) Negotiators said Wednesday they had the votes to pass the bill in the House and Senate this week, much less than the $726 billion Bush originally requested. ``We do have 50 votes,'' said Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, a Republican.
3) The agreement combines roughly $330 billion in tax cuts with $20 billion in aid to states. House and Senate tax writers trimmed a $383 billion package assembled earlier in the day to $350 billion to win the crucial support of Republican George Voinovich.
4) ``If they stay within the 350, I'm fine,'' Voinovich said. ``I appreciate the fact that they've been trying to honor my concerns and make me an honest man.''
5) Voinovich, who had worked with other moderates to limit the Senate's tax cut, spent the afternoon with Vice President Dick Cheney in the private hideaway office of House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Bill Thomas, a Republican, to shrink the cost of the package.
6) The negotiators agreed to move up the expiration date of one of the bill's most expensive provisions, which cuts taxes on capital gains and dividends to 15 percent. The policy had been set to expire after 2009. It would now expire in 2007, 2008 or 2009, depending on analysis still under construction by congressional tax experts.
7) The deal includes $20 billion in state aid that other Senate moderates demanded.
8) The foundation of the bill remains similar to the versions passed in the House and Senate. It accelerates already scheduled cuts to income tax rates. Married couples would get a larger standard deduction, and parents could claim a $1,000 child tax credit until 2005, up from $600.


Bush says he'll sign $350 billion in tax cuts, new spending in bill heading through Congress
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1) President George W. Bush embraced a dramatically reduced compromise version of his tax-cut plan Thursday, calling the $350 billion package ``good for American workers, good for American families.''
2) In a rare trip to Capitol Hill, the president thanked the Republican-led Congress for passing an AIDS spending bill and promised to make Medicare reform a top issue when lawmakers return from a Memorial Day recess.
3) He claimed victory on the economic package, though the tax cuts were less than half of what he had requested. Indeed, Bush once called a $350 billion tax-cutting plan ``itty bitty.'' He said he'd sign the bill when the House and Senate finish work on it.
4) ``The principle of the bill is pretty simple _ that we believe the more money people have in their pockets, the more likely it is somebody is going to be able to find work in America,'' Bush told reporters. He fielded no questions.
5) As they have all year, Democrats criticized the plan as a giveaway to the well-off. They have offered alternative plans roughly one-third the size of the final GOP bill.
6) ``This bill misses a real opportunity to get the economy back on track and help Americans who are struggling,'' Senate Minority Leader Tom Daschle said in a statement. ``Instead, it gives away billions to those who need it least and does very little for those who need it most.''
7) ``This package will help ease economic anxiety,'' Senate Finance Committee Chairman Charles Grassley, a Republican, said in a written statement. ``It'll pump up our consumer-driven economy. It'll put more money in individuals' and families' pockets.''
8) The bill contained many of the elements of Bush's original plan, which called for $726 billion in tax reductions through 2013. But the scaled-back congressional version would cut taxes by $330 billion for stockholders, individual taxpayers, couples and businesses, while including $20 billion for financially strapped states, a provision Bush did not seek.
9) To squeeze the tax reductions into the $330 billion package, Republicans relied on budget gimmickry.
10) Many of the cuts are scheduled to expire after a few years, despite the overwhelming likelihood that lawmakers never would let that occur and be accused of raising taxes. A reduction in the taxes people pay on corporate dividends and capital gains would end in 2009; other cuts in individuals' income taxes would last only through 2004.
11) Under the legislation, the top tax rate on dividends and capital gains would fall to 15 percent this year. Low-income taxpayers would pay 5 percent, falling to zero in 2008. Barring further congressional action, today's higher rates would return the following year.
12) Other provisions aimed at individuals and families would start retroactively on Jan. 1 and expire in 2005. These included reduced taxes for married couples, expanding the lowest tax bracket and preventing more taxpayers from paying the alternative minimum tax.
13) There also would be a $1,000 tax credit for each of up to two children for the next two years, an increase from the current $600. Grassley said 25 million families would qualify.
14) Businesses won two temporary tax breaks designed to encourage immediate investments. Small companies could expense up to $100,000 in new equipment investments through 2005, and businesses could depreciate more of their assets sooner through 2004.
15) The measure also omitted $90 billion in tax and fee increases that the Senate included in its bill. They included extended customs user fees, closed corporate tax loopholes and higher taxes on Americans working overseas.
16) Negotiators dropped breaks that senators put in their version of the bill for specialty gunsmiths, bow and arrow manufacturers and others.
17) The compromise bill was expected to pass in both houses within days and would become law once Bush signed it. _ _ _
18) Eds: The bill, HR2, may be found at http://thomas.loc.gov


U.S. House passes $330 billion in tax cuts, $20 billion in state aid
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1) The House passed a $330 billion tax cut early Friday that will deliver rebate checks to parents and larger paychecks to workers this summer. It gives President George W. Bush less than half the economic stimulus package he wanted but meets his Monday deadline.
2) The House voted 231-200 along party lines for the bill, which cuts taxes $330 billion through the coming decade and sends $20 billion in aid to financially troubled states over the next two years. The Senate scheduled a vote later Friday.
3) ``Most unemployed Americans don't want another unemployment check. They want a payroll check and a job,'' said House Speaker Dennis Hastert, a Republican. ``This bill doesn't go far enough, but it is a strong start.''
4) Democrats said the cut, like two previous ones during Bush's tenure, will saddle future generations with debt.
5) ``This is no victory for people who work every day because eventually this tax giveaway to the wealthy will have to be paid for,'' said Rep. Charles Rangel, the top Democrat on the House Ways and Means Committee. ``You better believe that when the tab comes, it's the working people of this country who will be stuck with it.''
6) Even though its $330 billion in tax cuts through the next decade is less than a Senate bill that Bush dismissed last month as ``little bitty,'' Bush praised the package. ``The more money people have in their pockets, the more likely there is somebody that's going to be able to find work in America,'' he said.
7) Bush said he would sign the bill after votes are completed Friday by the House and Senate.
8) The last sticking point was how to distribute $10 billion in new Medicaid assistance. The money is half the $20 billion in new aid going to fiscally strapped state and local governments over the next two years, bringing the total cost of the package to $350 billion, the maximum that moderate Senate Republicans would allow.
9) ``Sometimes I get everything I want, sometimes I don't,'' Bush told lawmakers at a private meeting at the Capitol, according to White House spokesman Ari Fleischer.
10) The president originally sought $726 billion in tax cuts, an amount that a majority in the Senate said was too expensive when the government is expecting to run up a deficit of at least $300 billion, and possibly $400 billion, this year.
11) ``The conference agreement has more stimulative impact than either the president's original proposal or the original House or Senate bill,'' said Fleischer. In the final years of the bill's 10-year life, ``the president is getting less than he would have liked. He recognizes that. He wishes it could be more. But he is pleased nevertheless.''
12) Democrats, who were largely shut out of negotiations over the bill, said its biggest impact will be to put the government deeper into debt. ``They've done a triple back flip off the high board, and they've created a belly flop that all of us are going to feel,'' said Senate Minority Leader Tom Daschle.
13) The legislation lowers taxes on capital gains and stock dividends to 15 percent, 5 percent for low-income taxpayers through 2008. Investors currently pay as much as 38.6 percent tax on dividends and 20 percent on capital gains.
14) More than half the $330 billion tax cut will go to working individuals, married couples and families.
15) The maximum income tax rate falls from 38.6 percent to 35 percent, and other rates drop from 35 percent to 32 percent, from 30 percent to 28 percent and from 27 percent to 25 percent. Those rate cuts were to have occurred in 2006 under the tax bill Congress passed two years ago.
16) Many of the other provisions aimed at individuals will expire in 2005, a device that permits lawmakers to fit the tax cuts into a limited budget.
17) Analysts at the Center Budget and Policy Priorities said that if extended through the coming decade, the legislation would cost $810 billion.


Amid successes, Republican-led Congress leaves stubborn issues unresolved
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1) The congressional year ends with the future of President George W. Bush's vaunted energy bill uncertain and no decision on how to fix the country's crumbling highways or avoid a looming trade war with Europe.
2) With Republicans in control of the White House and both houses of Congress, it wasn't supposed to be this hard.
3) Republicans enter the 2004 election year with some real bragging rights: Congress this year gave full financial backing to the military and rebuilding effort in Iraq and passed a $330 billion tax cut that Republicans credit for rejuvenating the economy. The crowning achievement was a $395 billion Medicare bill with a new prescription drug benefit for seniors and the disabled and a new role for private insurers.
4) Democrats saw these Republican victories as a minus for the country, blaming the tax cuts and new spending for helping push the federal deficit to a record $374 billion this year. ``They inherited a surplus and turned it into huge, huge deficits,'' said Rep. Steny Hoyer, the House of Representatives' no. 2 Democrat.
5) Congress also left Washington this week without completing half the spending bills for the 2004 budget year that began Oct. 1 and with a long list of items they failed to get through during the first year of the 108th Congress.
6) At the top of the list is the president's far-reaching energy bill, which stalled in the Senate in the final days of the session. Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist says he'll try again next year on a bill that sponsors say will make the United States more energy independent and that critics decry as a giveaway to oil and natural gas producers.
7) Congress also didn't deal with a World Trade Organization ruling that a $5 billion annual tax break for U.S. exporters is an illegal subsidy. The European Union has threatened to impose up to $4 billion in sanctions beginning next year unless the tax break is eliminated. House and Senate tax-writers were unable to get together on corporate tax bills that would remedy the problem.
8) In another issue that pitted Republicans against Republicans, House Transportation Committee Chairman Don Young wanted $375 billion to fund highway projects over the next six years, more than $100 billion above what the administration was willing to spend. Young's proposal to raise the gas tax to pay for the extra projects met strong opposition from tax-allergic Republicans, and a decision on the bill had to be put off.
9) Other disputes were far more partisan. Senate Democrats held up a White House-promoted bill to encourage charitable giving with tax cuts because of their anger over being shut out of negotiations on other legislation.
10) Senate Republicans fell one vote short in their attempt to overcome a Democratic fillibuster on legislation to limit class action lawsuits. A filibuster is a technique by which a minority of senators attempts to alter or defeat a measure favored by the majority through the device of continuous talking.
11) The two sides couldn't come to terms on a proposed $108 billion asbestos liability trust fund. Democrats also stopped a bill to limit the ability of medical malpractice victims to win monetary damages.
12) Bush, in a speech in Nevada Tuesday, blamed the Senate for holding up the medical malpractice bill. ``The senators must understand that nobody in America has ever been healed by a frivolous lawsuit,'' he said.
13) Partisanship was at its worst on Bush's judicial nominations. Senate Democrats used their filibuster powers _ requiring 60 votes to defeat _ to block six appeals court nominees. Republicans launched a 40-hour marathon debate to denounce what they said was an unconstitutional assault on the nominating process; Democrats pointed to the 168 judges they had approved and said the six they were blocking were too far removed from the American mainstream.
14) Democratic priorities made little headway. There was no action on a minimum wage increase, mental health parity, hate crimes legislation, an unemployment insurance benefits extension or a larger child tax credit for some 6 million lower-income families who missed out on the increase in the tax cut package.
15) Final action on a giant bill combining the seven spending measures Congress was supposed to have passed before the new budget year was complicated by Democratic objections to add-ons such as a school voucher program in Washington, D.C., and an administration rule that would change who is eligible for overtime pay. A final vote could be put off until January.
16) Among other unfinished issues: _ The House voted to ban all human cloning. Senate action stalled over whether there should be an exception for research. _ The Senate unanimously passed a bill barring employers from using people's genetic information or family histories in hiring or firing. The House has not acted. _ The Senate this month abandoned attempts to permanently ban taxes on Internet access amid concerns that state and local governments could lose millions in taxes on phone, music and movie services on the Internet.


House Democrats want to force debate on tax breaks for manufacturers
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1) House Democratic leaders want to step up pressure on Republicans and force debate on a bill that aims to avert a trade war with Europe and give new tax breaks to American manufacturers.
2) In less than a week, the European Union can start imposing trade sanctions that eventually could total $4 billion annually. The sanctions result from a World Trade Organization ruling that declared a tax break for U.S. exporters illegal and demanded its elimination.
3) Congress must enact legislation to delete the tax break. Lawmakers have made some progress, but neither the House nor the Senate appears ready to pass a bill before the March 1 deadline.
4) ``For almost two years we have known about this deadline, and for longer than that we have seen manufacturing jobs being lost,'' said Rep. Charles Rangel, a New York Democrat.
5) Democratic leaders plan to formally start a process Wednesday that would let them gather signatures on a petition to force the House to debate a tax bill that would eliminate the offending tax break. They favor a bill that would replace it with a tax cut for U.S. manufacturers, and they argue that a Republican-drafted bill would make it easier for multinational corporations to move jobs oversees.
6) Last year the Ways and Means Committee passed the Republican-drafted bill, which lowers tax rates for manufacturers and revises tax rules that Republicans say don't reflect business operations in a global economy.
7) A Senate bill may be debated as soon as next week, but it waits in line behind several other pressing bills. In the House, Republican leaders said Tuesday that they were still working on a solution.
8) ``There's all kinds of machinations that the chairman of Ways and Means is working on,'' said House Majority Leader Tom DeLay of Texas. ``Hopefully, we can get it as soon as possible.''
9) Few lawmakers cross their party leadership and back petitions drawn up by their political opponents, but Democrats successfully used the tactic to force a debate over campaign financing.
10) Divisions among lawmakers over the planned corporate tax cut do not fall neatly along party lines. More than 70 Republicans have supported the bill the Democrats want to force to the floor.
11) More vocally, about 25 Republicans have written Republican leaders to say they cannot vote for the Republican-drafted bill unless leaders remove items they say will exacerbate the trends moving jobs overseas.
12) A spokesman for Illinois Rep. Donald Manzullo, who organized those Republicans, said they hold out hope the Republican bill can be changed and don't have immediate plans to join the Democrats.


Corporate tax cut hung up on overtime pay, international taxes
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1) Senate Republican leaders tried to sidestep a bruising debate over overtime pay as senators resumed work on a tax cut for American manufacturers.
2) The maneuver, if successful, would prevent Democrats from using a corporate tax cut to force election-year debates on such employment issues as overtime pay and the movement of American jobs overseas.
3) The tax cut carries urgently needed revisions to American tax laws aimed at ending European tariffs on some U.S. exports.
4) Efforts to move the changes through the House also face obstacles. House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Bill Thomas told a group of corporate tax executives Monday that lobbyists working against changes to international tax rules had effectively stymied the bill, a spokeswoman said.
5) A group of about 25 Republicans have withheld their votes and want tax writers to drop any tax cuts benefiting American multinational corporations.
6) ``The House is still counting heads to get to 218, and they're just not there yet,'' said Oren Penn, an international tax expert at PricewaterhouseCoopers.
7) The corporate tax cut crafted in the Senate enjoys broad support, but it could be set aside if Republicans lose their bid later this week to block unrelated Democratic amendments.
8) Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist might turn to other matters, said aides speaking on condition of anonymity. Republicans, who hold 51 seats in the Senate, need 60 votes to prevail.
9) On top of the Democrats' list of proposed changes is one that would block President George W. Bush's proposed overtime pay rules in cases where workers now eligible for overtime pay lose the benefit.
10) ``The Bush administration thought they could put these rules into effect quietly,'' said Sen. Tom Harkin, an Iowa Democrat. ``They got caught.''
11) Senate Finance Committee Chairman Charles Grassley said the Democrats' proposed changes turn an urgent bill ``into a political football.''
12) Until lawmakers eliminate a tax break for exporters, certain American exports from jewelry to agricultural goods face a 5 percent penalty tariff that ratchets up 1 percentage point each month over the next year.
13) The European Union imposed the penalty to protest a tax break for American exporters that international trade courts had deemed an unfair export subsidy.
14) If left unchanged before the November election, Grassley said the tariffs will amount to 12 percent on targeted American goods going overseas, ``in effect, a 12 percent sales tax.''


House tax writer says corporate tax bill may not be done this year
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1) A tax bill aimed at resolving an escalating trade dispute between the United States and Europe may languish until next year, the House's top tax writer said Wednesday.
2) Ways and Means Committee Chairman Bill Thomas said delays getting the tax bill into final negotiations between House and Senate lawmakers could mean it won't be completed until after the presidential election.
3) The bill seeks to eliminate a tax break for U.S. exporters that international trade courts have declared an illegal export subsidy. Some goods exported to Europe face escalating tariffs until the offending tax break is dropped.
4) The tariffs now stand at 9 percent and increase 1 percentage point each month. They would grow to 13 percent by the November election and 15 percent by January if the tax bill isn't passed.
5) Thomas said the opportunity to work on the bill this summer is almost gone, and he predicted negotiators will make little headway in the months preceding the presidential election.
6) "Anybody want to venture the success of anything in the September window?" he said. "Which means we may not get back to this issue until Congress reconvenes in the next Congress."
7) Work on the bill has been delayed while Senate Republican and Democratic leaders discuss ground rules for negotiations to reconcile different bills passed in the House and Senate.
8) Thomas, a Republican, blamed the delay on Senate Minority Leader Tom Daschle, a Democrat. "They have to be able to dictate the outcome, or they're not going to participate, and that is the absolute antithesis of what a conference is supposed to be about," he said.
9) Daschle, who has complained all year about Democrats being excluded from negotiations on major bills, wants assurances that some of their priorities will be met before agreeing to send the bill into final discussions.
10) Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, a Republican, considered moving Wednesday to force the bill into talks, even without an agreement with Daschle.
11) The Senate's top tax writer, Finance Committee Chairman Charles Grassley, a Republican, said he hasn't given up on completing a bill this year, saying, "We've got to force the issue eventually."
12) Congressman Charles Rangel, the House's top Democratic tax writer, said Republicans didn't get serious about fixing the problem until sanctions were imposed. "For more than two years, they sat on their hands without bringing a bill to the House floor until last month," he said.
13) Separate bills passed in the House and Senate this year to eliminate the tax break for exporters and replace it with new tax cuts for American manufacturers.
14) Manufacturers eager for the new tax breaks have urged Congress to pass the bill quickly, as have some industries hit with punitive tariffs.
15) The bills have also absorbed dozens of other items that include provisions on tax shelters, energy production incentives and a federal buyout for tobacco farmers.


U.S. lawmakers working against deadline on major corporate tax overhaul
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1) Prospects are looking brighter for passage of a major U.S. corporate tax bill that would replace an outlawed export subsidy program with alternative tax breaks.
2) But to win approval before Congress' expected adjournment next week, supporters must figure a way to resolve a politically explosive debate over regulation of tobacco products.
3) And that is just one of the nettlesome issues that must be settled by a House-Senate conference committee that began work Wednesday. Members are trying to iron out differences between a bill providing $170 billion in corporate tax breaks over the next decade that was passed by the Senate in May and a $155 billion bill passed by the House in June.
4) House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Bill Thomas and Senate Finance Committee Chairman Charles Grassley said they believed the conference will be able to produce a bill that can win passage in both the House and Senate before Oct. 8.
5) "Nothing has been easy with this bill, but we are, at last, at the final stages of this process," Grassley told the members of a conference committee that includes 23 senators and 18 House members.
6) Thomas, who is chairing the negotiations, offered a 98-page "discussion" document which he said included just those issues that the House and Senate agreed upon. He said lawmakers would have a day to propose suggested changes and from those amendments he would offer a draft "chairman's mark" that the committee will begin debating Monday.
7) The legislation is seen as a must-pass bill by U.S. corporations and farmers who are currently being hit with penalty tariffs imposed by the European Union. The tariffs are now at 11 percent and are rising by 1 percentage point each month that Congress does not repeal a $4 billion tax break for exporters that the World Trade Organization has ruled illegal.
8) To reach a compromise, the conference panel will have to resolve a fight over whether the Food and Drug Administration should be given the power to regulate the manufacture and sales of cigarettes.
9) Both the House and Senate versions of the bill would provide up to a $12 billion buyout to tobacco farmers to give up a federal price-support system, but the Senate version of the bill would give the FDA regulatory powers over tobacco, something House Republicans are firmly against.
10) House Majority Leader Tom Delay who is on the conference committee, called the FDA regulation proposal an effort to "ban tobacco in America."
11) But Sen. Ted Kennedy, another member of the conference committee, said that if the FDA regulation is jettisoned Senate passage of the bill would be jeopardized.
12) Sen. John Breaux suggested the bailout for tobacco farmers and the FDA regulation proposal should both be left out because of the threat they posed to winning approval of a measure he said was "critically important to an awful lot of companies."
13) One dispute between the two chambers has apparently been resolved. Thomas announced Wednesday he was committed to finding ways to replace the revenue lost from the corporate tax cuts. The Senate bill already does that.
14) House and Senate tax writers helped with changes they made last week to a $146 billion bill to extend three popular middle-class tax breaks. They included $12 billion in proposals to extend a group of expiring tax breaks for businesses that had been in the corporate tax bill.
15) The battle over the corporate tax legislation is expected to be tougher, with some Democrats charging that both the Senate and House bills contain a number of provisions that would reward companies for moving jobs overseas. Supporters of the measure dispute that charge.


House approves GOP bill on 9/11 reorganization, forcing confrontation with Senate
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1) House Republican leaders on Friday easily pushed through sweeping new law enforcement powers as part of a Sept. 11 anti-terrorism package, but the House now must negotiate a truce with the Senate on those measures to get President George W. Bush's signature before the elections.
2) The House voted 282-134 to approve the Republican leaders' bill to create a new national intelligence director and a national counterterrorism center as recommended by the 9/11 commission. But they also included new government anti-terrorism, deportation, border security and identity theft powers to the bill that the Senate had rejected.
3) The two sides will now come together to try to find a middle ground before Election Day, Nov. 2, Congress' Republican leaders said.
4) House Speaker Dennis Hastert of Illinois and Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist of Tennessee said in a joint statement that House and Senate negotiators would be appointed quickly and instructed "to begin working to reconcile the two bills expeditiously."
5) After negotiators agree on a compromise, the leaders said, "we will bring both houses back into session to vote on it and send it to the president for his signature."
6) Congress also:
7) _ Stalled on passing a $136 billion (euro110 billion) corporate tax bill when lawmakers upset about tobacco regulation, new overtime rules and combat pay employed delaying tactics to keep the measure from coming up for a vote.
8) _ Prepared to authorize $447 billion (euro360 billion) for defense programs for the fiscal 2005 budget year that began Oct. 1. The legislation was awaiting final votes by the House and Senate.
9) _ Hit a roadblock on a bill providing $11.8 billion (euro9.5 billion) in relief to hurricane victims and $2.9 billion (euro2.3 billion) for farmers hit by drought, floods and other emergencies because of an argument over a milk support program dear to dairy farmers in Upper Midwest presidential battleground states.
10) Hastert earlier assured families of Sept. 11 victims that Congress would agree to something for the White House to sign despite major differences between the House and Senate bills. "I have a simple message for them: We will get this job done. The process will work," Hastert said Friday.
11) "I think there is a huge desire to get that done before the election, if possible, and certainly before the end of the year as an outside time for that," added Rep. Thomas Davis.
12) But House leaders also say they plan to fight to save most of their bill. In addition to creating a national intelligence director and a national counterterrorism center, the House bill would expand powers to fight terrorism, illegal immigration and identity theft and tighten border security.
13) House members added a provision Friday allowing U.S. authorities to deport foreigners under the same terrorism regulations that can keep them out. They also tempered an amendment that would have made it easier to deport illegal immigrants to countries accused of torture by instead added a provision to detain them indefinitely.
14) "This is the bill that will help America stay one step ahead of the men who, if they could, would kill every last one of us, regardless of party, race, creed, or color," said House Majority Leader Tom DeLay, a Republican. "This is the bill that will help us defeat an enemy, win a war, and secure a future of freedom for our children."
15) None of those provisions are in the Senate bill, which the opponents of the Republican bill presented to the House but failed to get approved. The Senate bill more faithfully follows what the commission wanted and does not divide lawmakers down partisan lines the way the legislation crafted by House Republicans does, Democrats, and some Republicans, said.
16) "Ultimately the American people are going to win, but right now you don't get a sense of that," said Republican Rep. Christopher Shays of Connecticut.
17) These lawmakers said the law enforcement and immigration proposals were included to force Democrats into a difficult election-year vote, and the GOP bill does not fully implement the 9/11 commission's recommendations.
18) Despite knowing they would lose and saying earlier she would watch House-Senate negotiations closely, Rep. Carolyn Maloney failed in a last-ditch attempt to force House members to take the Senate bill. "We need to act now," she said. "We have this window of opportunity, and we need to take it."
19) But Democrats knew they shouldn't vote against the final bill with elections coming up, Davis said. "If you look at the final vote, that's really the vote that's more reflective of what the members are willing to go home and take a position on," he said.
20) While the White House endorsed the House Republican bill, as it did the Senate version, the Bush administration also said both provisions still need work.


Senate reaches agreement for passage of corporate tax measure and bills on disaster relief and homeland security
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1) The Senate resolved a dispute delaying passage of a sweeping corporate tax bill and two spending bills for disaster relief and homeland security, clearing the way for senators to adjourn Monday to hit the campaign trail.
2) The agreement Sunday removed parliamentary roadblocks thrown up by Sen. Mary Landrieu, a Louisiana Democrat, to express her unhappiness that the tax measure did not include pay support for members of the Reserves and National Guard, and by Sen. Tom Harkin, who was blocking passage of two spending bills.
3) The agreement, announced by Majority Leader Bill Frist, will allow the Senate to vote on Monday on a bill that will provide $136 billion (euro110.4 billion) in new tax breaks for businesses and other groups and $10.1 billion (euro8.2 billion) separately to buy out tobacco farmers' government quotas.
4) It will also allow votes on a bill helping hurricane victims and farmers suffering from drought, flood and other emergencies and a bill to fund the homeland security.
5) The centerpiece of the tax legislation is $76.5 billion (euro62.1 billion) in new tax relief for the battered manufacturing sector, which has lost 2.7 million jobs over the past four years. But manufacturing is broadly defined to include not just factories but also oil and gas producers, engineering, construction and architectural firms and large farming operations.
6) The bill was seen as must-pass legislation because it repeals a $5 billion (euro4 billion) annual subsidy for U.S. exporters that has been ruled illegal by the World Trade Organization. Because of that ruling, 1,600 American exports to Europe have been hit by penalty tariffs that now stand at 12 percent and are rising by 1 percentage point a month.
7) Landrieu was seeking to get approval for another bill that would give employers a tax credit if they made up the pay their employees lose when they are called to active duty in the Reserves or National Guard.
8) Landrieu's proposal would provide a 50 percent tax credit to employers for up to $30,000 (euro24,360) in salary payments a year and was estimated to have a $2.5 billion (euro2 billion) cost over 10 years.
9) Under the agreement, the Senate will take up and approve on a voice vote Monday her proposal on active duty pay, sending it to the House where Republican leaders are opposed to the measure.
10) In an agreement reached with Harkin, both of the spending bills are scheduled to be approved on voice vote Monday afternoon and he will get a vote on a motion to instruct Senate conferees to seek to restore cuts in an agriculture conservation program that had triggered his weekend filibuster.
11) The hurricane and farm disaster package includes $14.5 billion (euro11.8 billion) in spending while Congress is seeking to spend $33 billion (euro26.8 billion) to finance the Department of Homeland Security.
12) Senate Minority Leader Tom Daschle, who helped engineer the deal, said that Democrats understood "this has been a very difficult and trying time for the entire Senate" but he said it was important to deal with the issues that had been raised.
13) Earlier, tempers had grown short during the Senate's rare Sunday session. Republicans fumed about the delay that was forcing the Senate into overtime when they had hoped to adjourn on Friday to go home and campaign. The House wrapped up business on Saturday.
14) Sen. Rick Santorum, a Pennsylvania Republican, complained that "what is going on in the United States Senate is political demagoguery at the highest levels."
15) Both sides predicted lopsided approval of the bill in the Senate, which will send the measure to President George W. Bush for his signature. The package, the most sweeping overhaul of corporate tax law since 1986, provides a wide range of tax benefits for native Alaskan whalers, importers of Chinese ceiling fans and NASCAR race track owners.
16) As part of the overall agreement, the Senate approved on voice vote Sunday night a measure that would give the FDA power to regulate tobacco, sending that proposal back to the House. That proposal has little chance in the House,where Republican leaders oppose FDA regulation.
17) In addition to the $76.5 billion (euro62.1 billion) in tax relief for manufacturing, the measure would also provide $42.6 billion (euro34.6 billion) in tax relief to multinational companies.
18) Supporters argued that the tax relief for multinational corporations would boost the competitiveness of U.S. companies, but opponents argued that it would simply provide more tax benefits to support the movement of U.S. jobs overseas.
19) To pay for the $136 billion (euro110.4 billion) total of new tax relief over the next decade, the legislation would rely on the savings from repealing the export subsidy and would close corporate loopholes and tax shelters _ thereby raising an estimated $82 billion (euro66.6 billion) over the next decade.


Democrats need to gain seven seats for outright Senate majority
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1) Only in Washington: Republicans need 50 seats to retain control of the Senate in Tuesday's elections, but Democrats must have 51 to take it away.
2) The Constitution, the calendar, the presidential election and a political power play in Massachusetts combine to make it so, a curiosity that gives Republicans a margin for election error that Democrats lack.
3) "If President Bush and Vice President Cheney are re-elected, if the Senate is 50-50, the Republicans would maintain control" by virtue of (Vice President Dick) Cheney's ability to break a tie," said Betty Koed, assistant Senate historian.
4) Even if Kerry wins the White House, she said in a recent interview, "The Republican vice president would be breaking the tie" from Jan. 3, when the Senate convenes, until 17 days later, when the White House shifted hands with the swearing-in of the next president.
5) By then, Koed said, Kerry would have to resign his Senate seat to take the oath of office as president. Once again, Democrats would be shut out of the majority in the Senate, left with 49 seats to 50 for the Republicans.
6) Barring the unexpected _ Democrats finally prevailing on Republican Sen. Lincoln Chafee of Rhode Island to switch parties, for example _ it would stay that way until spring or summer. That is when Massachusetts voters would elect a replacement for Kerry under a law approved by the Democratic-dominated Legislature. State lawmakers acted to block Republican Gov. Mitt Romney from naming a fellow party member to the seat.
7) The current Senate has 51 Republicans and 48 Democrats. The 100th senator, Jim Jeffords, is an independent from Vermont who sides with the Democrats for organizational purposes.
8) "We've got huge momentum. You can feel it in all of our Senate races," Majority Leader Bill Frist, a Republican, said on ABC's This Week. "We'll pick up Senate seats.
9) In all, there are 34 Senate races on the ballot on Tuesday, only nine of them viewed as competitive by strategists in the two parties. Democrats must win six to move into a 50-50 tie, and seven to win an outright majority. Senators serve for six years.
10) Most incumbents in both parties are coasting to new terms after campaigns in which they drew little-known and poorly funded rivals.
11) Idaho Sen. Mike Crapo, a Republican, arguably has the easiest time. His only opponent is a write-in, Democrat Scott McClure.
12) Sen. Judd Gregg, a New Hampshire Republican, is nearly as blessed, politically speaking. His opponent is Doris (Granny D) Haddock, 94, who once drew nationwide fame for her crosscountry walk in support of legislation to reduce the influence of big money in political campaigns. Her most recent report on campaign funding showed less than $10,000 (euro7,850) in the bank.
13) Sen. Harry Reid of Nevada, second-ranking Democrat in the Senate, is coasting, as well, six years after surviving a re-election scare by only 428 votes. Republicans tried to recruit a better known challenger, but failed _ as they did in North Dakota, where Democratic Sen. Byron Dorgan is expected to win easily.
14) By general agreement of strategists in the two parties, two seats appear virtually certain to change hands.
15) In Georgia, Republican Johnny Isakson is running to succeed Zell Miller, a Democrat. In Illinois, Barack Obama is favored by far to replace Republican Sen. Peter Fitzgerald and become the only black member of the Senate.


Republicans push tax cut agenda through House, Senate panels
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1) Republicans started advancing their tax cut plans, pushing an extension for capital gains and dividend tax cuts through a House panel but failing to muster enough Republican support for them in a Senate panel.
2) The Senate Finance Committee voted 14-6 Tuesday to endorse a package that would cut taxes by $60 billion (euro51.4 billion) over five years but would omit a Republican priority of preserving reduced tax rates for investment income. Sen. Olympia Snowe of Maine, a moderate Republican holding a pivotal vote on the committee, rejected the extension.
3) "The reality is, this is a very different world than where we were even six months ago," Snowe, said, pointing to budget deficits, rebuilding efforts along the hurricane-ravaged Gulf Coast, operations in Iraq and rising energy costs.
4) Other Republicans reluctantly voted for the bill, bemoaning the need to abandon the extension but pledging to reinstate it before the legislation hits President George W. Bush's desk.
5) "It's in many respects the centerpiece of this legislation," said Sen. Jon Kyl, an Arizona Republican. "We ought not to be doing the bill without that key element."
6) The House Ways and Means Committee, by 24-15, approved a bill that would keep the 15 percent maximum rate on capital gains and dividend income in place through 2010. Republicans said gains in the stock market and economy would be lost without its extension.
7) "Contrary to what you might read on the editorial pages, this is not new tax relief for the so-called wealthy," said Ways and Means Chairman Bill Thomas, a California Republican. "Rather, it is largely an extension of current law."
8) Rep. Charles Rangel of New York, the top Democrat on the Ways and Means Committee, said Republican budget and tax policy amount to a "reversal of Robin Hood." "We're actually taking from the poor in order to give some comfort to the blessed and the most wealthy," Rangel said.
9) The two tax measures debated in the House and Senate tax-writing committees represent different versions of a tax cut outlined in the budget Republicans passed this winter. The Republicans pledged to use the bill to keep in place one of Bush's priorities, the reduced rates on capital gains and dividend income, as long as possible.
10) Without a change, the maximum tax rate on capital gains will increase to 20 percent and dividends will be subject to income tax rates in 2009.
11) Although the Senate's tax bill would not extend the capital gains and dividend tax breaks, it would extend a host of other soon-to-expire tax breaks. The list includes investment incentives for small businesses, a tuition deduction, a business research and development credit and a deduction for teachers who buy their own classroom supplies.
12) Senate Finance Committee Chairman Charles Grassley of Iowa also made sure the alternative minimum tax _ a levy intended to prevent the wealthy from avoiding all taxation _ doesn't hit millions of less well-off taxpayers next year. The effects of inflation bring the alternative minimum tax closer to such taxpayers each year.
13) The tax breaks include roughly $7 billion (euro6 billion) for individuals and businesses hit by hurricanes, filling in the details of the president's proposed Gulf Opportunity Zone and increasing education tax breaks for students from the Gulf Coast. Home buyers would get a new tax deduction for private mortgage insurance premiums.
14) Oil companies would be hit with a change that would cost them nearly $5 billion (euro4.29 billion). That sparked complaints by some Republicans who said the companies shouldn't be punished while lawmakers want them to increase production. Oil companies with gross receipts exceeding $1 billion (euro860 million) would lose some of the advantage of a specific accounting method. Large oil companies also would lose a recently passed tax break for oil and gas exploration expenses.


Proposed oil company tax increases threaten to derail Senate bill extending tax cuts for millions of families
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1) A $60 billion (euro51 billion) bill the Senate passed to continue expiring tax cuts and shelter 14 million families from higher taxes faces a White House veto threat because it also lincludes a hefty tax increase for oil companies.
2) The legislation passed by senators early Friday would spare millions of families from paying increased taxes through the alternative minimum tax. Much of the bill, passed 64-33, preserves tax cuts approved in previous years that are set to expire unless lawmakers keep them alive.
3) But unlike a bill assembled by the House tax writing committee, it does not preserve lower tax rates for capital gains and dividends scheduled to disappear at the end of 2008. Congress lowered the maximum tax rate on that investment income to 15 percent in 2003, and many Republicans want to act this year to keep those rates in place in 2009 and 2010.
4) It was doubtful whether the House would vote on its bill before leaving for the Thanksgiving holiday.
5) Most Democrats oppose the tax cuts for investment income. Senate leaders dropped an extension from their bill because a key moderate Republican balked at its inclusion.
6) Republican leaders vow it will reappear before the final tax bill reaches President Bush's desk.
7) The White House wants to see another change in the Senate bill: elimination of a $4.3 billion (euro3.7 billion) tax increase on oil companies, who have recently coming under fire after posting huge profits at a time when Americans were grappling with spiking gasoline prices in the aftermath of hurricanes Katrina and Rita.
8) "This provision would result in a retroactive tax increase by changing a long-accepted accounting practice," the White House said in a statement warning that senior advisers would recommend that President George W. Bush veto the legislation if it's not removed.
9) The House omitted a major provision in the Senate bill, a change preventing a tax hit on millions of families caused by the alternative minimum tax. Originally intended as a levy to prevent the wealthy from avoiding taxation, the alternative minimum tax must be tweaked every year to keep it from applying to additional millions more families.
10) The House and Senate bills reduce taxes roughly $60 billion (euro51 billion) over five years. Both preserve tax breaks scheduled to expire, including a business research and development credit, a low-income saver's credit, investment incentives for small businesses and a deduction for state and local sales taxes.
11) Both are versions of a $70 billion (euro59.9 billion) tax cut outlined in a budget drafted earlier this year.
12) The Senate's bill would offer $7 billion (euro6 billion) in assistance to businesses and individuals hit by Hurricane Katrina and other storms, filling in details of President Bush's proposed Gulf Opportunity Zone. Taxpayers also would get new incentives to make charitable contributions at the same time that tax-writers put new curbs on charitable deductions deemed excessive.
13) A last minute change to the Senate tax bill would require corporate executives to count as income the value of personal use of corporate aircraft.


Immigration overhaul hits potentially fatal roadblock in U.S. Congress
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1) Landmark legislation that offered eventual citizenship to millions of illegal immigrants suffered a potentially fatal blow in the Senate, the latest in a series of election-year setbacks for President George W. Bush and the Republicans who control Congress.
2) "Politics got ahead of policy on this," lamented Democratic Sen. Edward M. Kennedy, an evenhanded assessment that belied the partisan recriminations from all sides.
3) Praised as a bipartisan breakthrough less than 24 hours earlier, the bill fell victim to internal disputes in both parties as well as to bewildering political maneuvering. On the crucial vote, only 38 senators, all Democrats, lined up in support. That was 22 short of the 60 needed, and left the legislation in limbo as lawmakers left the Capitol for a two-week break.
4) The gridlock capped an exceptionally trying week for Republicans, who face unexpectedly stiff challenges from Democrats for control of both the House of Representatives and Senate in November's elections.
5) House Republican leaders abruptly put off plans Thursday to vote on a budget for the coming year when leaders concluded they lacked a majority. House and Senate leaders also gave up hopes of clearing a tax cut before the April 17 tax filing deadline.
6) An Associated Press-Ipsos poll showed Bush's public support at new lows for his handling of Iraq, his campaign against international terror and overall job performance.
7) And former House Majority Leader Tom DeLay, under indictment in Texas and linked to disgraced lobbyist Jack Abramoff, announced plans to resign and then blasted his own party's performance. "We don't have an agreed agenda _ breaking up our leadership has taken its toll," he told one group of reporters.
8) Supporters of the immigration measure expressed hope for its resurrection, particularly with large public demonstrations planned over the coming days. "We have an agreement. It's not going away," said Sen. John McCain, who earlier had estimated that more than 60 senators favor the measure. Sen. Arlen Specter, another Republican who chairs the Senate Judiciary Committee, pledged to have legislation ready for debate in the Senate within two weeks of the lawmakers' return.
9) Majority Leader Bill Frist, his party plagued by division, stopped short of a commitment to bring another immigration bill to the floor by year's end. "I intend to," the Tennessee Republican said, but added it would depend on the schedule, already crowded with other legislation.
10) The bill would have provided for stronger border security, regulated the future entry of foreign workers and created a complex new set of regulations for the estimated 11 million immigrants now in the country illegally. Officials said an estimated 9 million of them, those who could show they had been in the United States for more than two years, eventually would become eligible for citizenship under the proposal.
11) Frist accused Harry Reid of Nevada, the Democratic leader, of "putting a stranglehold" on the Senate by refusing to permit votes on more than three Republican amendments.
12) "It's not gone forward because there's a political advantage for Democrats not to have an immigration bill," asserted Specter.
13) Reid and others swiftly rebutted the claim. Kennedy, who had seemed all week more eager than Reid to find a compromise, declined several chances to offer a strong defense of his party's leader.
14) "I respect Bill Frist but his position on this matter simply defies logic. ... He needed the courage to move forward," said Reid.
15) And Sen. Dick Durbin of Illinois, the second-ranking Democrat, said late Thursday night it would be "game, set, match over" if Republicans failed to put up enough votes to advance the bill their leader supported.
16) Republicans, including those who favored the immigration bill, decided in advance they would cast protest votes to emphasize their opposition to Reid's tactics. The Democratic leader has prevented votes on all but a few uncontroversial amendments since debate began on the bill more than a week ago. Sen. John Cornyn of Texas and other opponents expressed frustration that they were unable to gain votes on proposals to toughen enforcement or to leave immigration policy unchanged until the border with Mexico had been made secure.
17) All week, internal party divisions were on unusual public display.
18) Frist, a potential presidential contender for 2008, initially advanced a bill largely limited to border security. He then accepted Bush's concept of a broader measure that would include provisions relating to illegal immigrants. But in doing so, he left behind his party's conservatives. Sens. Jon Kyl of Arizona and Kay Bailey Hutchison of Texas, both of whom rank as party leaders, openly opposed the bill. Mitch McConnell of Kentucky and Rick Santorum of Pennsylvania, numbers two and three in the party's leadership group, played modest roles in the public debate.
19) Democrats had their own divisions, principally between Kennedy and others who favored negotiating a compromise and those who were more reluctant.


U.S. Senate approves $70 billion tax-cut bill, clearing it for Bush's signature
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1) The Senate has given final approval to a $70 billion (euro55 billion) election-year package of tax cuts that will extend lower rates for investors and save billions for American families with above-average incomes.
2) Republicans promised the bill will produce economic gains for the United States _ and hoped it would give a much-needed boost to President George W. Bush and the Republican-controlled Congress as they both experience their lowest approval ratings in polls since his election in 2000.
3) The bill passed the Senate by a 54-44 vote Thursday, and Bush is expected to sign it next week.
4) Bush said in a statement that the bill "prevents an enormous tax hike that the American people do not want and would not welcome."
5) The legislation provides a two-year extension of the reduced 15 percent tax rate for capital gains and dividends, currently set to expire at the end of 2008.
6) It also will extend for one year recent changes to the alternative minimum tax to prevent it from hitting more upper middle-income families.
7) The AMT was designed to hit the very wealthy, but it is now common for taxpayers, especially those with families in high-tax states, to pay the AMT on incomes of $100,000 (euro78,000) and more.
8) The debate followed partisan lines, with Republicans eagerly crediting the tax cuts, first enacted in 2003, with a surging economy, millions of new jobs and booming tax revenues. Democrats overwhelmingly opposed the bill, saying its tax cuts on capital gains and dividends will flow mostly to wealthy.
9) Passage of the bill is the first step of a two-track strategy for advancing the Republicans' election-year tax cut agenda. Finance Chairman Charles Grassley, a Republican, said Thursday that another bill containing widely backed tax cuts favored by Democrats would advance soon as part of a follow-up bill.


Republicans working to reduce estate taxes
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1) Republicans are scrambling for a new strategy on cutting estate taxes before lawmakers leave for summer campaigning and politicking overtakes policymaking.
2) The current idea pairs an estate tax cut with popular tax breaks that expired last year. Those breaks include a research and development credit for businesses, and deductions for college tuition and state sales taxes.
3) House Speaker Dennis Hastert, an Illinois Republican, said Wednesday that the House could vote on such a combination this week.
4) It is the latest approach that Republicans have tried to steer an estate tax around Democrats. They are reluctant to cooperate in advancing a Republican priority months before an election to determine control of Congress _ and possibly the fate of an estate tax reduction.
5) "There's a general fear that if Democrats pick up seats in the House or Senate, then at least in the next few years the prospects will get worse, not better," Michael Graetz, a professor at Yale Law School and co-author of a book about the campaign to repeal the tax.
6) President George W. Bush's first tax cut shrank the estate tax through this decade and eliminated it in 2010. That law, however, is temporary and the estate tax reappears at older and higher rates in 2011.
7) The House last year passed a bill abolishing the tax, extending a yearlong repeal already in place for 2010. The Senate, however, must gather 60 votes in favor of any estate tax change to overcome the obstacles thrown up by Democrats.
8) Republican efforts to negotiate with Democrats to reduce, but not eliminate, the tax did not bear fruit. The House made a compromise offer that did not attract enough votes to pass the Senate.
9) Senate Republican leaders decided to add an estate tax cut to a pension and retirement bill that also would revive the popular and expired tax breaks.
10) Pension negotiators balked, worried that the estate tax could undermine their carefully crafted pension bill. Republican leaders responded by proposing they remove the estate tax and the tax extensions from the pension bill and combine them in separate legislation. That upset Senate tax writers and businesses.
11) The R&D Credit Coalition, a group of businesses that used the now-expired research tax incentive, said it was "extremely troubling" that the credit could be pulled from a pension bill very close to completion.
12) "As it languishes, American companies endure a tax increase as their costs of doing critical research and development in the United States rise," the group said.
13) The chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, Sen. Charles Grassley, said he is not sure the idea will work. He told reporters he has not seen evidence that Republicans have lined up enough Democrats to get 60 votes and pass an estate tax cut, potentially putting the expired tax cuts at risk.
14) "Republicans are going to end up getting blamed for putting all this stuff in one package, thinking you could cram it down the throats of everybody," he said.
15) Grassley, said Republicans can blame Senate Democratic leader Harry Reid of Nevada for blocking the legislation "but Republicans are in the majority."
16) Sen. Max Baucus of Montana, the top Democrat on the Senate Finance Committee, said adding the tax breaks to the estate tax bill will not automatically make tax cuts for heirs more acceptable.
17) "We will look at their estate tax reform on its merits only and will not at all be influenced by what other legislation it may or may not be attached to," he said. In addition, he said, many of the pension negotiators are concerned about pulling out the tax breaks from the bill.
18) Reid accused Republicans of "holding hostage needed tax relief for working Americans, businesses, and students in an effort to pass fiscally irresponsible estate tax breaks."


Republicans move to seal Bush plan for terror trials
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1) Congress is on track to approve a White House plan for detaining and interrogating terrorism suspects -- legislation Republicans likely will use on the campaign trail to assert that Democrats want to coddle terrorists.
2) Barring any last-minute hiccups, a Senate vote Thursday would send the legislation to the president's desk by week's end. The House approved a nearly identical measure Wednesday on a 253-168 vote.
3) Senate Republicans agreed on the measure with the exception of whether to allow terrorists the right to protest their detentions in court. Republican Sen. Arlen Specter, chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, contends the ability to file a "habeas corpus" petition is considered a fundamental legal right and necessary to uncover abuse.
4) Other Republicans contend that providing terror suspects the right to unlimited appeals would weigh down the federal court system.
5) Four Democrats and Specter were being given opportunities to offer amendments Thursday, but all were expected to be rejected along party lines.
6) Senate Republican Majority Leader Bill Frist told CBS' "The Early Show" that he expected the bill would be approved Thursday to ensure continued interrogation of high-level terrorism suspects -- "maybe the most important program we have" -- and avoid the risk of classified information being divulged at terrorism trials.
7) Democrats have said the legislation would give the president too much latitude when deciding whether aggressive interrogations cross the line and violate international standards of prisoner treatment.
8) The legislation would establish a military court system to prosecute terror suspects, a response to the Supreme Court ruling in June that Congress' blessing was necessary. While the bill would grant defendants more legal rights than they had under the administration's old system, it nevertheless would not include rights usually granted in civilian and military courts.
9) The measure also provides extensive definitions of war crimes such as torture, rape and biological experiments, but gives the president broad authority to decide which other techniques U.S. interrogators may use legally. The provisions are intended to protect CIA interrogators from being prosecuted for war crimes.
10) For nearly two weeks the White House and rebellious Republican senators have fought publicly over whether President George W. Bush's plan would give a president too much authority. But they struck a compromise last Thursday, and Republicans are hoping approval will bolster their effort to cast themselves as strong on national security, a marquee issue this election year.
11) Democrats' opposition to the bill likely will fuel political attack ads from their Republican challengers as lawmakers go into the Nov. 7 elections.
12) After Wednesday's mostly party-line vote in the Republican-run House, House Speaker Dennis Hastert, a Republican, said in a statement that Democrats who voted against the measure "voted today in favor of more rights for terrorists."
13) He added, "So the same terrorists who plan to harm innocent Americans and their freedom worldwide would be coddled, if we followed the Democrat plan."
14) In response, House Democratic Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi said Democrats feared the House-passed measure could endanger U.S. soldiers by encouraging other countries to limit the rights of captured American troops, and be vulnerable to being overturned by the Supreme Court.
15) "Speaker Hastert's false and inflammatory rhetoric is yet another desperate attempt to mislead the American people and provoke fear," she said, adding that Democrats "have an unshakable commitment to catching, convicting and punishing terrorists who attack Americans."
16) Pelosi and other Democrats said the bill would give the president too much power to decide whether interrogation standards go too far.
17) Democratic Rep. Dennis Kucinich said, "This bill is everything we don't believe in."
18) Overall in the House, 219 Republicans and 34 Democrats voted for the legislation, while 160 Democrats, seven Republicans and one independent voted against it.
19) Bush, who planned to meet with Republican senators Thursday morning, has urged the Senate to approve the measure and in a statement issued after the vote congratulated the House for its "commitment to strengthening our national security."
20) Sen. Jay Rockefeller of West Virginia, the top Democrat on the Senate Intelligence Committee, wanted to add language to improve congressional oversight of the CIA program, while Democratic Sen. Robert Byrd wanted the bill to expire after a limited time so Congress could revisit the matter.
21) Democratic Sen. Edward Kennedy offered an amendment to add to the list of forbidden interrogation techniques and warn other nations that the United States would not tolerate abusive treatment of its citizens living abroad. Kennedy's says the Republican bill opens the door to retaliation from other nations.
22) "The bill that has reached the floor would diminish the security and safety of Americans everywhere," he said.


Democrats would bear burden of performance if they win control of US Senate
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1) It's been only four years since Democrats last savored the taste of majority rule in the U.S. Senate. That was an 18-month fling with power that bore little resemblance to what Democrats would confront should they win control of the Senate in elections Nov. 7.
2) "There would be a lot of pressure on the Democrats in the Senate to produce, as there should be pressure," said Senator Ben Nelson, a Nebraska Democrat seeking re-election.
3) No one would feel that pressure more than Senate Democratic leader Harry Reid and the dozen new Democratic chairmen who would take over the crucial oversight, legislative and spending committees of the Senate.
4) Producing legislation has not been a recent Democratic priority. Instead, Democrats have worked mostly to block President George W. Bush and his Republican allies in Congress, even during their short-lived Senate majority in 2001-2002.
5) Back then, there was no war in Iraq, the Republicans ran the House of Representatives, and Bush was at the height of his popularity. What is more, the Democrats did not win their majority in the voting booth; they seized it when Senator Jim Jeffords of Vermont decided to leave the Republicans and become an independent.
6) Today, death tolls mount in Iraq, both American and Iraqi; public approval ratings for Congress and the president are plunging; and voters are telling pollsters they want Democrats in charge.
7) In that environment, Democrats say they are ready to trade in their opposition tactics for compromise. As a starting point, Democrats are promoting a "Six for '06" agenda of domestic initiatives designed to attract some Republican support: increasing the minimum wage, overhauling the new prescription drug benefit in the government's Medicare health care program; expanding federally backed stem cell research.
8) Late last month, Reid called assistant Republican leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky with a proposal to work in a more bipartisan fashion. The conversation was brief, and both agreed to meet again after the elections, aides to the leaders said. It was significant, however, because McConnell, in line to become Republican leader of the Senate next year, and Reid are both skilled infighters, well-schooled in the obstructionist tricks of the Senate.
9) For Democrats, the offer recognizes that no matter the outcome of the election, Bush would be in the final two years of his presidency and Republicans might be more amenable to cutting legislative deals with Democrats.
10) "The president is a lame duck. That is a fact," Reid spokesman Jim Manley said, using the expression for a president who is finishing up his term. "One question is how Republicans on the Hill are going to deal with that." The Hill is Washington-speak for the Capitol Hill, the high ground where the legislative building sits.
11) Bush said Wednesday he still intends to achieve his presidential goals of changing immigration laws, the government's Social Security pension plan and the tax code and was optimistic Republicans would retain control of both chambers of Congress.
12) Win or lose, the Democrats' compromising tone recognizes a fact of life in the 100-member Senate: Because 41 senators can block a vote with a filibuster, any substantive bill needs 60 votes to pass.
13) Those in charge of seeking such compromises -- the would-be chairmen of the Senate's top committees -- are long-serving Democratic lawmakers. Senator Robert Byrd of West Virginia, elected in 1958 before four of his Senate colleagues were born, would be in line to take over the powerful Appropriations Committee. Sen. Daniel Inouye of Hawaii, elected four years later, could be chairman of the Commerce Committee.
14) A few harbor presidential ambitions -- Senator Joe Biden of Delaware would chair the Foreign Relations Committee; Sen. Christopher Dodd of Connecticut could be in line to take over the Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee, and Sen. John Kerry of Massachusetts probably would chair the Small Business and Entrepreneurship Committee.
15) Many of these Democrats say they will confront the Bush administration with aggressive investigations.
16) "The institution has not functioned in its historical role of oversight," Kennedy said. "That's going to be very important. That's just a given."
17) Leahy probably would lead hearings into the administration's use of military tribunals, warrantless eavesdropping and the constitutional power of the president.
18) "I don't want to go to the other extreme when (Republicans) had 50 hearings an hour with the Clinton administration," he said, but added: "You're going to see real follow-through."
19) After the elections, the Senate also could be less ideological. If Democrats take control, winners could include such moderates as Robert Casey in Pennsylvania, Jon Tester in Montana, Harold Ford in Tennessee, Claire McCaskill in Missouri and Jim Webb in Virginia.
20) "Ideologically, there will be more friends coming," said Nelson, one of the more conservative Senate Democrats. "The center will have a great deal of influence."
21) The war in Iraq is not on Democrats' "Six for '06" agenda, but it will be a dominant issue in the new Congress. Democrats, whose election-year strategy has been to criticize Bush's war policy, will seek to shift the war strategy to emphasize getting the troops out.
22) "If the administration listens to the American public and they listen to their general officers in the field, they will change," said Senator Jack Reed of Rhode Island, a graduate of the West Point military academy who joins Levin and Biden as the leading military and foreign policy voices among Senate Democrats. "They will be looking for a bipartisan, cooperative approach to deal with a very serious issue."


Democrats claim momentum, Republicans hope to mobilize base as Nov. 7 vote nears
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1) Republicans said a major voter turnout effort would help them stay in power after the Nov. 7 congressional elections, while Democrats claimed momentum as they seek to tap into voter unhappiness over Iraq.
2) Both sides agreed Sunday that the war in Iraq was a leading, if not central, issue in the contests to decide control of the House and Senate.
3) "This election is becoming more and more a referendum on George Bush, his failed policies both overseas and at home with a rubber stamp Congress," said Senator Charles Schumer, head of the Senate Democratic campaign committee.
4) His Republican counterpart, Senator Elizabeth Dole, said Iraq and the broader fight against terrorism were important issues, but "President Bush's name is not on the ballot." Democrats, she said, were trying "to make it a national referendum."
5) Schumer and Dole were among the politicians and party leaders who sparred on the Sunday talk shows just nine days before the elections.
6) Democrats need a gain of 15 seats to win control of the 435-member House and six seats to claim the 100-member Senate. All the House seats are up for election this year, and 33 of the Senate seats are.
7) With approval slumping for both the war and President George W. Bush, recent polls show Democrats have their best chance to reclaim the House since the Republicans swept them from power in 1994, and a shot at capturing the Senate as well.
8) As the candidates entered their final full week of campaigning, House Democrats worked to emphasize the Republicans' role in the Iraq war. The party's campaign committee said it would air television commercials criticizing Republicans for supporting the war in about a dozen competitive races in the coming days.
9) "Despite a war gone wrong and no plan for victory, politicians like (Congressman) Rob Simmons keep voting to stay the course again and again," says one commercial, airing in Connecticut.
10) Democrats have increased the number of races where they are advertising in recent days, a sign of confidence as the election approaches. In addition to new offensives in Kansas, Kentucky and New Hampshire, officials disclosed plans to run commercials against Republican Rep. Jim Walsh this week in the area around Syracuse, New York.
11) House Majority Leader John Boehner, a Republican, said polls showing a Democratic advantage, especially in the House, "don't mean anything, because what we have are 435 individual races all around the country, local candidates running on local issues."
12) "If we mobilize all our voters, we'll do well on Election Day," Boehner said.
13) Ken Mehlman, chairman of the Republican National Committee, sounded a common Republican theme -- that a Democratic-led Congress would mean higher taxes. Democrats accused him of scare tactics.
14) Mehlman suggested "across-the-board tax increases affecting millions of Americans" if Democratic Congressman Charles Rangel became chairman of the tax-writing House Ways and Means Committee. The New York lawmaker is now the panel's senior Democrat.
15) Last week, Vice President Dick Cheney contended Rangel wanted to undo popular tax cuts enacted during Bush's first term. Cheney's claim was based in part on Rangel's own remark that he could not think of one of Bush's tax cuts that merited renewal.
16) "Once again the vice president hasn't the slightest clue about what he's talking about. He's never talked with me and neither has anyone in the administration about taxes," Rangel said Sunday. Rangel said his own remarks referred to broad-based tax overhaul efforts.
17) "What I did say was that, if they want to have tax reform, if they want simplification, everything has to be on the table," Rangel said.
18) Democratic party chief Howard Dean said Democrats "have no intention of raising taxes except on the people who have got enormous tax breaks -- like the oil companies -- from the Republicans."
19) In Senate races, both national parties were focusing on a dwindling number of states, notably Tennessee, Missouri, New Jersey and Virginia. Democrats had strong leads against Republican incumbents in Rhode Island, Montana, Pennsylvania and Ohio.
20) "The momentum here is outstanding on our side," said Democratic Congressman Harold Ford of Tennessee, vying for the seat now held by retiring Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist.


Republicans hope to keep control of Senate, though several Republican incumbents imperiled
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1) Democrats mounted an aggressive bid Tuesday to wrest control of the Senate away from Republicans as they appealed to voter weariness with the Iraq war and the Republican White House.
2) Voters filled 33 of the Senate's 100 seats, and the Republicans had some leeway. Democrats needed a net gain of six to recapture the majority that they last briefly exercised in 2001-2002.
3) On the ballots were 17 seats now held by Democrats and 15 seats now filled by Republicans, including the Tennessee post of retiring Majority Leader Bill Frist.
4) The race for Frist's seat, one of four "open" seats this year, became a major contest with heavy national attention. Democratic Rep. Harold Ford battled Republican Bob Corker, a former mayor of Chattanooga, in hopes of becoming the first black Southerner elected to the Senate in more than a century.
5) Political independent Bernie Sanders won the Vermont seat now held by another independent, retiring Sen. James Jeffords, guaranteeing that the next Senate will have at least one independent.
6) In Indiana, Republican Sen. Dick Lugar, the influential chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, coasted to a sixth term. Re-elected in West Virginia to a ninth term was Democratic Sen. Robert C. Byrd, who at 88, is the oldest and longest serving senator in the nation's history, 48 years.
7) The Senate will have two independents if Connecticut Sen. Joe Lieberman wins his race. The 2000 Democratic vice presidential candidate, who has supported the Iraq war, ran as an independent after losing the Democratic primary in his state.
8) Both Sanders, an eight-term congressman who calls himself a socialist, and Lieberman have said they would vote with Democrats for organizational purposes.
9) Many Senate incumbents of both parties seemed headed toward re-election.
10) Democrats did not field a candidate against Lugar and he took a 7-to-1 lead early returns against Libertarian candidate Steve Osborn.
11) Besides Tennessee and Vermont, other seats without incumbents seeking re-election were in Maryland and Minnesota, both now in Democratic hands.
12) Exit polls showed that almost six in ten voters disapproved of the war in Iraq, and an equal percentage said they disapproved of how President George W. Bush was handling his job.
13) Along with Tennessee, some of the most fiercely fought races were in Virginia, where Republican incumbent George Allen faced Republican-turned Democrat James Webb, a former Navy secretary; Missouri, where Republican Sen. Jim Talent faced a strong challenge from Democrat Claire McCaskill, the state auditor, and Rhode Island, where anti-war Republican Sen. Lincoln Chafee was challenged by former state Attorney General Sheldon Whitehouse.
14) In an unexpectedly hard-fought contest in the heavily Republican Rocky Mountain region, Republican Sen. Conrad Burns of Montana, tarnished by his dealings with disgraced Republican lobbyist Jack Abramoff, was challenged by Democrat Jon Tester, a farmer and president of the state Senate.
15) Both parties poured millions of dollars into these contests.
16) Voting machine problems delayed the count in some states, including in Indiana, Ohio and Pennsylvania. Both Ohio and Pennsylvania had hard-fought Senate races.
17) Ahead of the election, strategists in both parties expected Democratic pickups in Ohio, where Sen. Mike DeWine faced Democratic Rep. Sherrod Brown, and in Pennsylvania, where incumbent Rick Santorum, a conservative and third-ranking member of the Senate Republican leadership, faced state Treasurer Bob Casey, son of a popular former governor.
18) Democratic Sen. Bob Menendez of New Jersey faced a stiff challenge from Republican Tom Kean Jr., namesake of the former governor. Menendez appeared to be the most challenged of any Democratic incumbent on the ballot.
19) Among other closely watched races, Democrats hoped for an upset victory in Arizona over Republican Sen. Jon Kyl, challenged by wealthy businessman Jim Pederson.
20) Democrats and Republicans fought to three possible outcomes: that Republicans would retain their majority, if by a narrower margin; that Democrats would regain control, or that the Senate would divide 50-50 between the two parties.
21) That has happened only once before in U.S. history, for six months in 2001 before Jeffords switched from Republican to independent, effectively giving Democrats the majority until after the 2002 elections in which Republicans gained two seats.
22) Republicans now control 55 seats.
23) When the Senate was 50-50, both parties worked out a power-sharing arrangement under which Republicans maintained control, a nod to the fact that Vice President Dick Cheney could vote to break ties. In exchange, Democrats were given an equal number of seats on all committees and an equal share of funds to hire staff.


Democrats seize control of Congress as Rumsfeld resigns and Bush assumes responsibility for Republican losses
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1) Democrats snatched control of Capitol Hill from Republicans for the first in 12 years with a narrow win in the Virginia Senate race, capping an election that saw embattled Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld resigning and had President George W. Bush shouldering "a large part of the responsibility" for Republican losses.
2) Jim Webb's victory over Sen. George Allen in Virginia assured Democrats of 51 seats when the Senate convenes in January. That marked a gain of six Senate seats in national elections in which the war in Iraq and Bush were major issues. The win toppled Republicans at all levels of government in a searing rebuke of the status quo.
3) "The days of the do-nothing Congress are over," declared Nevada Democratic Sen. Harry Reid, in line to become majority leader. Americans spoke "clearly and decisively in favor of Democrats leading this country in a new direction," he added.
4) After 12 years in the minority, Democrats wrestled control of the House of Representatives away from Republicans, and Webb's win gave Democrats the coveted majority in the 100-seat Senate while voiding worries about an equally divided Senate in which Vice President Dick Cheney would cast the deciding votes.
5) "It was a thumpin,'" conceded Bush, on the receiving end. "It's clear the Democrat Party had a good night."
6) Bush, who spoke of spending his political capital after his successful re-election two years ago, acknowledged, "As the head of the Republican Party, I share a large part of the responsibility."
7) With power on Capitol Hill tilted, Bush faced the reality that Congress would be in the opposition's hands for the final two years of his presidency. He announced that Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld, would step down as Democrats have demanded.
8) The war in Iraq, scandals in Congress and declining support for Bush and Republicans on Capitol Hill defined the battle for House and Senate control, with the public embracing the Democrats' call for change to end a decade of one-party rule in Washington.
9) "This new Democratic majority has heard the voices of the American people," said Rep. Nancy Pelosi, the liberal California Democrat all but certain to become the U.S.'s first female speaker -- or leader of the House -- adding that Americans placed their trust in Democrats. "We will honor that trust. We will not disappoint."
10) But Pelosi, who just weeks earlier had railed against Bush, struck a conciliatory tone -- one that Bush echoed -- and offered assurances that any effort to impeach Bush "is off the table."
11) The Senate had teetered at 50 Democrats, 49 Republicans for most of Wednesday, with Virginia hanging in the balance, with less than 7,500 votes separating the two candidates.
12) Allen, who had earlier refused to concede defeat, was waiting until state election officials had finished canvassing precincts to verify votes before announcing his decision, said an Allen adviser who spoke on condition of anonymity because his boss had not formally decided to end the campaign.
13) But the adviser also said that Allen was disinclined to request a recount if the final vote spread was similar to that of election night.
14) The Associated Press contacted election officials in all 134 localities where voting occurred, obtaining updated numbers Wednesday. About half the localities said they had completed their postelection canvassing and nearly all had counted outstanding absentees. Most were expected to be finished by Friday. The new AP count showed Webb with 1,172,538 votes and Allen with 1,165,302, a difference of 7,236.
15) Moving swiftly to establish himself as the winner, Webb began assembling a transition team hours after he proclaimed victory around 1:30 a.m Wednesday.
16) "The vote's been counted and Jim won," said campaign spokeswoman Kristian Denny Todd. Some absentee ballots remained to be counted, she said, but Webb considers it "a formality more than anything else."
17) It had been clear for weeks leading up to the election that Democrats were strongly positioned to challenge Republicans for House control. But even Reid, the party leader, had mused aloud at one point that it might take a miracle to capture Senate control.
18) Earlier, Republican Sen. Mitch McConnell, in line to become the next minority leader, said: "In the Senate, the minority is never irrelevant unless it falls down into the very small numbers. I don't think, as a practical matter, it's going to make a whole lot of difference in the Senate, being at 49."
19) In the House, Democrats won 229 seats and were leading in three, putting them on track for a 30-seat gain if trends held in remaining unsettled races. Party standings in that event would be 232-203.
20) Without losing any seats of their own, Democrats captured 28 Republican-held seats. The party won in every region of the country and hoped to strengthen their majority by besting Republican incumbents in eight races that were too close to call.
21) With the Republicans booted from power in both chambers of Congress, departing Speaker Dennis Hastert announced he will not run for his party's leadership in the House, instead saying he intends to devote his time to representing his Illinois constituents.
22) Senate Democrats cheered the defeat of Republican senators in six states -- Ohio, Missouri, Rhode Island, Pennsylvania, Montana and Virginia.
23) "This, of course, has been a very exciting time for us," said Senate Democratic Leader Harry Reid of Nevada.
24) Sen. Chuck Schumer of New York, who led the Senate Democrats' campaign effort, said that Bush should urge Allen to "forego this futile recount and contestation policy which will simply delay the inevitable."
25) Then, Schumer said of Democrats: "We could roll up our sleeves and get to work."
26) Republicans lost ground with swing voters such as Catholics, independents, Hispanics and suburbanites, according to exit polls conducted for The Associated Press and the networks. The Republican Party held its conservative base, but Democrats made inroads with moderates.
27) "We came to Washington to change government and government changed us," lamented Republican Sen. John McCain, his eye on the next election in 2008. "We departed rather tragically from our conservative principles."
28) Giving Democrats another in on Wednesday, Republican Pennsylvania Rep. Mike Fitzpatrick, lost his re-election bid to Democrat Patrick Murphy, a decorated Iraq war veteran, by about 1,500 votes.
29) In Ohio, Rep. Deborah Pryce, the No. 4-ranking Republican in the House, struggled to fend off a fierce challenge from Democrat Mary Jo Kilroy in Columbus, and Republican Rep. Jean Schmidt, who famously suggested that a decorated Marine veteran of Vietnam named John Murtha was a coward, faced the possibility of defeat in her southern Ohio district. Both were leading but the final tallies were complicated by provisional and absentee ballots.
30) Republican incumbents also were slightly ahead in four other states but those margins were too tight to declare a winner.
31) Aside from gains in Congress, Democrats took 20 of 36 governors' races to give them a majority of top state jobs -- 28 -- for the first time in a dozen years. New York, Ohio, Massachusetts, Colorado, Maryland and Arkansas went into the Democratic column.
32) In down-ballot races, Democrats gained a decisive edge in state legislatures, taking control of a number of bodies and solidifying their hold on others. With the wins, Democrats will be in a better position to shape state policy agendas and will play a key role in drawing Congressional districts.


Senate makes ethics and lobbying overhaul its first legislative act
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1) Senate Democrats, on the heels of their House colleagues, are addressing the ethical lapses of lawmakers and the ties with lobbyists that helped bring the downfall of Republicans in the November elections.
2) The Senate will take up ethics and lobbying overhaul Monday as its first legislative act under the Democratic-controlled Congress and expects to spend up to two weeks debating amendments, Democrats said Friday.
3) The House, under new leader Nancy Pelosi, also devoted its first two days to changing House rules to bar members from accepting gifts and travel from lobbyists, prohibit the use of corporate jets and require greater disclosure of special projects, or earmarks, tucked into larger bills.
4) Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid in his opening address to the Senate on Thursday, said the scandals involving former lobbyist Jack Abramoff and the criminal cases against several lawmakers "shocked the very core of this nation."
5) Americans, he said, "deserve better. That is why as our first order of business we will seek to give Americans the open and accountable government they deserve."
6) The bill to be introduced on the Senate floor Monday, co-sponsored by Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell and other Republican leaders, is identical to legislation that the Senate passed last March by a 90-8 margin.
7) That bill died because of differences with the Republican-led House, which insisted on a provision to limit contributions to independent political groups known as 527s for the tax code that covers them that in the past have tended to favor Democrats.
8) The Senate bill to be taken up Monday does not touch on campaign or election changes, which Democratic aides said would come up separately after going through committee hearings.
9) Unlike the House rules changes this week, which do not need Senate approval, the Senate bill changes lobbying law and thus will require House action. The House is expected to take up similar legislation in February.


U.S. Senate poised to pass minimum wage rise; talks with House ahead
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1) As the U.S. Senate moved toward passage of the first increase in the minimum wage in 10 years, Democrats in the House of Representatives and the Senate tried to reconcile differences between their two bills.
2) After more than a week of debate, senators planned to vote Thursday on raising the federal wage floor from $5.15 to $7.25 an hour over two years. The legislation also contains $8.3 billion in short-term tax benefits for small businesses.
3) The House bill, which passed swiftly last month, contained no tax breaks, complicating its chances of getting the signature of President George W. Bush.
4) House Democrats have argued that the minimum wage should pass with no strings attached and point out that constitutional precedents require tax legislation to originate in the House.
5) But Senate Democrats insist that without tax breaks and other incentives for small business, they would not win enough Republican support to get the bill to a final vote and on to the White House.
6) Representative George Miller, a Democrat and a close ally of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, said he has talked to key Democrats in the House and Senate to make sure the differences in the bills do not derail the effort to raise the minimum wage.
7) "We just have to sort it out," Miller said. "I think it can be done. Just don't ask me how."
8) The legislation poses a test for Democrats, with their new majority in Congress -- particularly for Pelosi. The speaker must find common ground between the political realities in the Senate and the insistence by Democratic Representative Charles Rangel, the chairman of the tax-writing House Ways and Means Committee, that the Senate cannot take the lead on taxes.
9) Senate Democrats have said that once the Senate version passes, the bill will be set aside while both sides negotiate a solution.
10) Democrats have tried to blame Republicans for the potential impasse, arguing that without their demand for small business tax breaks the legislation would become law easily. But combining minimum wage rises with tax breaks is not unusual. The last increase, passed in 1997, also contained tax breaks.
11) The current Senate bill would cost $8.3 billion in lost revenue over 10 years, but that amount is paid for in part by closing some tax loopholes and by capping deferred-compensation for top executives.


Senate leaders signal flexibility of need for business breaks in minimum wage bill
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1) Senate Democratic Leader Harry Reid raised the possibility Thursday that a minimum wage increase could get through Congress without carrying a full package of small business tax breaks.
2) The Senate on Thursday was scheduled to pass its version of minimum wage legislation, which contains $8.3 billion (euro6.3 billion) in tax advantages for business. A House version passed last month contains no business incentives, and House Democrats have insisted that the Senate tax package be stripped from the final bill.
3) Asked if the Senate could pass a stripped down bill after the two versions are reconciled in a House-Senate conference committee, Reid said "yes."
4) "The minimum wage will be increased," Reid said. "The question is do we need all these business pieces of sugar or not. We will see."
5) Reid's comments signaled some negotiating flexibility in the Senate leadership, which had argued that the short-term business breaks were essential to win Republican support for the bill.
6) Both the House and Senate bills call for increasing the wage floor from $5.15 (euro3.96) to $7.25 (euro5.57) an hour over two years. The Senate bill also extends existing tax credits for business and extends tax deductions for business expenses.
7) An effort last week by the Senate to end debate on the House version of the bill failed when Democrats were unable to get the 60 votes needed. House Democrats and several in the Senate, however, believe that enough Republicans would ultimately vote for the bill without the tax package.
8) "If we go through the process and go through a conference and the message comes back: 'You can have the minimum wage stripped down or not at all,' then we'll face another vote," said Sen. Richard Durbin, the assistant Democratic majority leader. "We need Republicans to pass it, if they continue to oppose it then it will not pass."
9) After the House passed its bill on Jan. 10, the White House issued a statement insisting that final legislation to be sent to President George W. Bush's desk include small business tax breaks. The White House message stopped short of issuing a veto threat. It subsequently issued a statement supporting the Senate version.


Senate Democrats rewrite budget plan to embrace tax cuts
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1) Senate Democrats are striving to stay united during debate on a $2.9 trillion (euro2.18 trillion) budget outline for 2008 that already has tested their fragile majority.
2) Moderate Democrats favoring tax cuts have forced a rewrite of the plan, pushing through an amendment Wednesday that would pave the way to extend a variety of popular tax cuts that are to expire at the end of the decade.
3) Across the Capitol, House Budget Committee Democrats held ranks in resisting a Republican-led drive to keep alive tax cuts enacted during President George W. Bush's first term but scheduled to expire in 2010. The Democratic-led budget panel worked into the night and approved the budget after midnight on a 22-17 vote. Debate by the full House next week promised to be a sterner test.
4) Both House and Senate Democrats acknowledged that it was likely many of the tax cuts would be extended -- particularly those aimed at the middle class.
5) In the Senate, the changes to the Democrats' $2.9 trillion (euro2.18 trillion) budget outline would cover close to half the cost of extending the expiring tax cuts and were aimed at sealing support from moderates for the nonbinding but symbolically significant blueprint.
6) The plan, however, also would erase a $132 billion (euro99.3 billion) surplus predicted to appear in five years.
7) The Senate tax cut amendment, approved 97-1, won the support of every Republican. Democrat Russ Feingold of Wisconsin was the only senator voting against it.
8) The vote came on a plan by Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus, D-Mont., to devote $180 billion (euro135.41 billion) in 2011-12 to preserve tax cuts aimed at the middle class. That included relief for married couples, people with children and people inheriting large estates.
9) After Baucus' plan passed, Democrats united to kill a bid by Republican Sen. Jon Kyl to extend further cuts on taxes on estates as well as cuts on capital gains and dividend income that Republicans credit for jump-starting the economy when the cuts were passed in 2003.
10) In any event, the Democratic-controlled Congress, like its Republican predecessors, is not expected this year to follow up with binding legislation that would extend the expiring tax cuts.
11) It is commonly assumed that lawmakers will re-examine the tax cuts after the 2008 presidential election, with the outcome depending on the balance of power in Washington and on the fiscal outlook at that time.
12) Like the Senate measure, the companion House Democratic plan would award big spending increases to domestic programs, including homeland security, veterans' health care and aid to local schools.
13) It assumes Bush's tax cuts indeed disappear and, as a result, would produce a $153 billion (euro115.1 billion) surplus in five years through more money coming into the treasury.
14) Republicans condemned the Democratic budget plan for its spending increases and its assumption that the lower taxes on income, married couples, inheritances and investments would expire.
15) "The best way to balance the budget is to control spending, not raise taxes," said the House committee's top Republican, Rep. Paul Ryan of Wisconsin.
16) Despite much debate over taxes, the immediate impact of the House and Senate budget blueprints for next year is to award increases above inflation to domestic agencies for the portion of their budgets passed each year by Congress.
17) The Senate's plan would give nondefense programs an $18 billion (euro13.54 billion) increase, about 4 percent. The House measure proposes a $25 billion (euro18.81 billion) increase, almost 6 percent.
18) Even so, Democrats are eager to pass a budget, regarding it as an important test of their ability to govern. Republicans failed to pass a budget last year and action on critical spending bills stalled.
19) At the same time, the budget plans would cement promises by Democrats to require legislation cutting taxes or increasing spending on Medicare or a children's health insurance program to be "paid for" with new taxes or spending cuts elsewhere to avoid adding to the deficit.


Senate ' s Iraq vote likely to come down to the wire
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1) An upcoming Senate vote on the Iraq war could come down to just one or two votes, testing Democratic unity on a proposal to begin bringing U.S. combat troops home.
2) Democratic Sens. Mark Pryor and Ben Nelson are expected to deliver the critical votes this week, when members decide whether to uphold legislation that orders some troops home right away, with the goal of ending combat missions by March 31, 2008.
3) The provision is attached to a $122 billion (euro92 billion) bill that would fund the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
4) "The United States Senate will ensure they have everything they need to continue this fight as we have done," said Majority Leader Harry Reid, a Democrat. But, he added, "we must also ensure that our soldiers have a strategy for success."
5) The bill is similar to one the House passed last week, but with a tougher deadline. While the Senate identifies March 2008 as a goal -- giving the president leeway to ignore the deadline -- the House voted 218-212 to require all combat troops out as of Aug. 31, 2008.
6) The withdrawal proposals have drawn veto threats from President George W. Bush and rallied Republicans.
7) Republican Sen. Thad Cochran has proposed striking the withdrawal provision, which Republicans say would broadcast America's war plans to the enemy and tie the hands of military commanders.
8) "It's a bad message all the way around," said Sen. Jon Kyl.
9) Whether Republicans have enough votes to beat the narrow Democratic majority depends upon their ability to entice Democratic defections.
10) Senate Democrats hold a slim 51-49 majority. And with Sen. Joseph Lieberman, an independent Democrat, supportive of the president's Iraq policy and Democratic Sen. Tim Johnson recuperating from a brain hemorrhage, Democrats this year have been unable to push through legislation critical of the war.
11) On March 15, the Senate rejected by a 50-48 vote a resolution calling for troops to leave by March 2008. Republican Sen. Gordon Smith sided with Democrats in support of the measure, but Nelson and Pryor opposed announcing a timetable for withdrawal.
12) Since then, Reid and others have altered the legislation in hopes of persuading the two Democrats. The changes include a series of suggested goals for the Iraqi government to meet to provide for its own security, enhance democracy and distribute its oil wealth fairly.
13) Nelson has since swung behind the bill, contending the benchmarks are necessary to measure progress.
14) But Republicans hope they can still attract his support because their amendment would eliminate the withdrawal date but retain the same benchmarks Nelson wanted.
15) Also critical to the upcoming vote is Pryor, who says he would only support a timetable in Iraq if it were classified.
16) "I think if the public timetable remains, Senator Pryor would likely oppose" the Democratic proposal, said spokesman Michael Teague.
17) Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell predicted Monday he had the votes to strike the withdrawal language. But even if he fails to keep it out of a final bill -- after it is negotiated with the House -- McConnell said Republicans will not block final passage because he knows the president will veto it.
18) Unable to override Bush's veto, Democrats would have to redraft the bill without a "surrender deadline," McConnell said.
19) "We're not interested in letting the political posturing get in the way" of providing resources to the troops, he said.
20) The legislation also provides about $20 billion (euro15 billion) in domestic spending and increasingly looks like a magnet for far-flung issues such as a proposed increase in the minimum wage.
21) Republicans have demanded tax cuts as a condition for their support of a higher minimum wage, and officials said key senators were drafting a provision for debate that would include both those issues. It calls for tax cuts at least as high as the $8.3 billion (euro6.26 billion) package the Senate passed earlier, if not larger. House Democrats have labeled that amount excessive.


Senate Democrats pledge to push withdrawal if Bush vetoes bill
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1) Senate Democratic leaders said Sunday they will keep pushing for a withdrawal of U.S. forces from Iraq even if President George W. Bush vetoes legislation calling for a pullout.
2) Meanwhile, the Senate's top Republican leader dismissed as unacceptable any legislation that sets deadlines for a troop withdrawal. He called on Democrats to cut short their Easter recess so lawmakers can quickly send a final version to Bush for a veto.
3) "This bill is not salvageable," said Republican Sen. Mitch McConnell.
4) The comments were the latest in a war of words over funding and the future course in Iraq as Congress lurched closer to an epic veto confrontation with the president.
5) "The president as well as his staff are more than willing to sit down and talk to congressional leaders," White House counselor Dan Bartlett said Sunday. "But what we haven't seen from this Democratic leadership is a willingness to drop this very restrictive language that basically substitutes the judgment of politicians here in Washington with the judgment of our commanders on the ground."
6) The Democratic-controlled House and Senate passed measures last month that would provide more than $90 billion (euro67.6 billion) to sustain military efforts in Iraq and Afghanistan, while setting conditions for an eventual withdrawal of troops.
7) The Senate bill would require the beginning of a troop exit within 120 days, with a nonbinding goal of March 31, 2008 for its completion. The House version is more sweeping, mandating that nearly all combat troops pull out by Sept. 1, 2008.
8) Bush has said he would veto any funding legislation with timelines, saying imposition of a "specific and random date of withdrawal would be disastrous" for U.S. troops in Iraq. Before Bush can act, House and Senate negotiators must put together a compromise bill.
9) The Senate is in recess for one week, but the House does not return until April 16. Even if a tentative deal is reached by then, getting it through the House and Senate and to the president would take at least a week.
10) Last week, Defense Secretary Robert Gates testified that the Army "will be forced to consider" altering training schedules for reserves and units, as well as delays in repairing equipment and renovating barracks if a funding bill is not passed quickly.
11) On Sunday, Sen. Dick Durbin, the No. 2 Democratic leader in the Senate, and Democratic Sen. Joseph Biden, chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, did not say whether House Democrats should come back early.
12) But they said lawmakers had some time to maneuver with either a compromise bill or a new measure that sets "target dates" for withdrawal, citing a nonpartisan Congressional Research Service report which indicates the Army has enough bookkeeping flexibility to pay for war operations until July.
13) Lawmakers and Capitol Hill staff aides view mid- to late May as the deadline for completing the war spending bill to avoid hardships.
14) "I think we'll end up doing what the Senate did, not what the House did, set a target date," said Biden. "You've got to change the mission to get a political solution. That's what we're saying."
15) "The memo is not to the enemy. The memo is to the president: Mr. President, get straight on this war," he said. "Get us out of the middle of a civil war."
16) Durbin insisted Democrats in the House and Senate will work out a compromise despite differences in the proposals about calling U.S. troops home. The final legislation, he said, will start winding the war down.
17) "If you follow this escalation of the war by President Bush, you can understand that there is no end in sight," Durbin said.
18) Democratic Sen. Barack Obama predicted that if Bush vetoes the withdrawal legislation, Congress will quickly approve funding for the war because it won't "play chicken with the troops."
19) He suggested that Congress' only recourse is to mount public pressure in hopes of building a two-thirds majority that could override a presidential veto.
20) Biden and McConnell appeared on "Fox News Sunday," and Durbin and Bartlett spoke on ABC's "This Week."


US congressional Democrats say it is a matter of time before they get their way on Iraq
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1) Democrats know they might lose this month's showdown with President George W. Bush on legislation to pull troops out of Iraq. But with the 2008 elections in mind, majority Democrats says it is only a matter of time before they will get their way.
2) Senior Democrats are calculating that if they keep the pressure on, eventually more Republicans will jump ship and challenge the president -- or lose their seats to Democratic contenders.
3) "It's at least my belief that they are going to have to break because they're going to look extinction, some of them, in the eye," said Democratic Sen. Chuck Schumer of his Republican colleagues.
4) Added Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, a Democrat: "We're going to pick up Senate seats as a result of this war."
5) The U.S. also will choose a new president in the November 2008 elections.
6) The House and Senate are expected to negotiate war spending legislation this week. The Democratic proposal would approve $96 billion (euro71 billion) in military money, mostly for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, and set a timetable for troop withdrawal.
7) The House wants to end combat operations before September 2008; senators voted to set a nonbinding goal of ending combat by March 31, 2008.
8) As the final bill is negotiated, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Reid plan to meet with Bush at the White House on Wednesday. They are expected to talk past each other, with Bush refusing to negotiate a timetable and Democrats insisting on one.
9) "I look forward to hearing how members of Congress plan to meet their responsibilities and provide our troops with the funding they need," Bush said Saturday in his weekly radio address.
10) Vice President Dick Cheney said in a television interview taped later Saturday that he believes Democrats eventually will drop insistence on a withdrawal date in the legislation now being negotiated.
11) "I don't think the majority of the Democrats in the Congress want to leave America's fighting forces in harm's way without the resources they need to defend themselves," Cheney said in an excerpt, broadcast Saturday evening, from a CBS "Face the Nation" appearance Sunday.
12) Bush has pledged to veto the legislation if it sets a timetable on the war or includes extraneous spending, including the $74 million (euro55 million) proposed by House lawmakers for peanut producers.
13) Republicans have promised to back the president, leaving Democrats short of the two-thirds majority needed to override the veto.
14) Democrats are looking at the long term because aides privately acknowledge the votes are not there right now to overcome a veto.
15) "It's not going to prevail on one vote or two, but it will after five, six, seven," Schumer said.
16) As evidence, Democrats point to past votes on Iraq. On March 15, all but one Senate Republican -- Gordon Smith -- voted against a measure calling for troops to leave by March 31, 2008. Two weeks later, when the same proposal was added to the war spending bill, Democrats picked up support from Republican Sen. Chuck Hagel.
17) "It has been a way that we have moved forward," Reid said. "Not with a large number of Republicans, but with Republicans. We have many other Republicans who are extremely nervous."
18) Six in 10 people in the U.S. said they favor a timetable to remove all troops within six months, and the number grows to 71 percent if all troops are removed within two years, according to recent AP-Ipsos polling.
19) Republicans say they think they have time to see if Bush's new strategy works before there is a significant political fallout. Bush is sending some 30,000 additional troops to Iraq to stabilize Baghdad and provide enough security for reconstruction projects.
20) "As the situation improves there, and I believe it will, then we can move on to other issues and be confident the American people will realize we did the right thing," said Republican Sen. Trent Lott.
21) But the recent bombing inside the heavily fortified Green Zone and other violent attacks, despite the added security, are likely to test the patience of many in Washington.
22) In any event, both Democrats and Republicans say time is running short.
23) "This is the last chance the Iraqis have to get it right," said Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell.


Democrats strike up talks with Republicans on a new Iraq bill while Bush invites meeting
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1) Democratic leaders are turning to Republicans to help them pass a new Iraq war spending bill that President George W. Bush will not veto -- unlike the one Congress will send him next week with a timetable for withdrawing U.S. troops.
2) Bush repeated his promise Friday to veto the war spending bill and any such measure with a pullout date, even as Democrats renewed their calls for the president to sign the $124.2 billion (euro91 billion) bill.
3) "If the Congress wants to test my will as to whether or not I'll accept the timetable for withdrawal, I won't accept one," Bush declared.
4) At the same time, both sides were laying the groundwork for a high-stakes, post-veto negotiation. The president invited Democrats and Republicans to the White House next Wednesday to talk about it, and leaders in both parties said they would attend.
5) Democrats were already looking for ways to draw Republican support for a new spending measure, knowing they would need Republican votes to pass any bill that Bush would sign. However, a move to water down the withdrawal language is virtually certain to cost them the votes of liberal Democrats who have been uneasy about supporting any war funding.
6) Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid has talked to Sen. Mitch McConnell, a Republican who is the minority leader, about how to move forward. Senior House leadership aides have held "very preliminary" discussions with White House staffers about post-veto negotiations, although House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has not yet reached out to Republican leaders on the issue, one official said, speaking on condition of anonymity because the talks were not public.
7) Still, as they hunted for the votes to pass their Iraq bill earlier this week, Democratic leaders were quietly reaching out to some moderate Republicans on a backup plan. They would need GOP votes to pass a new war funding measure once Bush executed his veto, Democrats told the Republicans, and they wanted to start assembling a bipartisan group that could write one.
8) "There's been talking behind the scenes about how to do this, because they know if they make substantial changes to the bill they will lose a series of Democrats," said Republican Rep. Michael Castle, a leading moderate. "They understand that they're going to need a solution that goes beyond their own membership and there are a number of Republicans who want to get this behind them, too."
9) Republican leaders say they would consider including benchmarks for the Iraqi government as part of the war funding measure, although they have not said how they would be enforced.
10) Rep. Adam Putnam, the No. 3 Republican, said he is open to the idea of blocking further reconstruction or other aid funding to Iraq -- though not military spending -- if the government does not meet such requirements.
11) Democrats are "going to have to pull out the surrender dates -- clearly those are the most unacceptable items -- as well as the strings on our troops," Putnam said in an interview. "Democrats and Republicans alike would like to see accountability, particularly on the Iraq government, and that can come in the form of benchmarks."
12) "There could be some kind of bipartisan agreement" on benchmarks, McConnell said, but he declined to say what the consequences would be, if any, for failing to meet them.
13) "Consequences are a little more divisive," he said.
14) Republican Sen. Olympia Snowe, a prominent moderate, is proposing ending the surge within four months if the Iraqi government cannot live up to key political benchmarks. She was working Friday to garner Democratic support for her measure.
15) Including benchmarks could allow both sides to claim some measure of victory. Democrats could say they had fulfilled their promise not to give Bush a "blank check" to continue a war that has lost popular support and cost more than 3,200 American lives.
16) Bush and Republican lawmakers could signal they don't support an open-ended U.S. commitment in Iraq without embracing efforts to end the conflict.
17) Senior Democratic aides say there may be little point now in pressing their confrontation with Bush on the Iraq spending bill, and suggest it is more likely they will try to use future measures -- such as a defense authorization bill or other spending bills -- to challenge the president.
18) "It's like a mystery story in which we've all read the last chapter," said Stephen Hess, a Brookings Institution congressional expert. "We all know that the president is going to get his money -- the only question is when and how."


Immigration deal in peril as U.S. Democrats and Republicans stake out divergent positions
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1) Efforts to reach an immigration compromise faltered as Democrats and Republicans staked out divergent positions and prepared to blame each other for scuttling the best chance for a broad overhaul this year.
2) Talks continued on a possible deal that would tie residency for millions of illegal immigrants to tougher border security and a crackdown on employing undocumented workers. At the same time, however, Republicans and Democrats set the stage for a partisan battle next week that could squash any agreement.
3) Democrats plan to force a debate starting Tuesday on last year's Senate-passed immigration measure. Most Democrats supported that plan, which a majority of Republican senators opposed.
4) The move is designed to pressure Republicans to cut a deal or risk being blamed for undermining one.
5) President George W. Bush is "going to have to tell his Republicans, 'I want a bill,'" Senate Democratic Majority Leader Harry Reid said Thursday. "If we lose this opportunity to do immigration reform, (Bush) can't go around the country saying, 'I believe in comprehensive immigration reform.'"
6) Republican senators are promising to block the move, saying the series of secretive talks attended by the White House and a few Democrats needed more time to yield a compromise.
7) "It would be a shame if that arbitrary deadline resulted in the process coming to a halt," said Sen. Jon Kyl, the No. 3 Republican leader.
8) The developing impasse could prevent the Senate from even opening debate next week on reshaping immigration laws.
9) The issue is fraught with political risks and rewards for both parties and is a priority for Bush. Absent a bipartisan deal, Democrats would almost certainly be unable to get the 60 votes they would need to overcome Republican opposition and bring up the bill, which was to be considered over the next two weeks.
10) For some lawmakers, their appetite for a bargain is waning.
11) The Republican position has "moved far to the right" since last year, said Democratic Sen. Robert Menendez, who has attended the talks.
12) "We have serious concerns about the workability and fairness of certain elements of the White House plan," Menendez added. He said the Republican proposal was "a huge step backward" from the 2006 measure, which 23 Republicans supported.
13) Talks have bogged down in a tangle of details. That has led officials in both parties to play down the chances for a breakthrough.
14) Publicly, Republicans remained sunny about the prospects of a compromise, reluctant to be seen as obstacles to achieving an item that polls show has broad support.
15) "I think it's pretty clear that the vast majority of Republicans want an immigration bill," said Republican Minority Leader Mitch McConnell.
16) Democratic Sen. Richard Durbin, said Democrats are concerned the emerging bipartisan measure is going too far to placate Republican conservatives at the risk of alienating Democrats.
17) "Our frustration is, we look around the table of the negotiators, and they are trying to please Republican senators who were totally opposed to comprehensive immigration reform," said Durbin, the second-ranking Senate Democrat. "As a consequence, they are leaving behind a lot of mainstream Democrats and Republicans."
18) Republicans, many of whom considered last year's measure unduly lenient toward illegal immigrants, said they were bent on supporting the new approach under discussion in the bipartisan talks.
19) Modeled after a White House draft circulated in late March, it would impose large fines, long waits and trips home on illegal immigrants seeking to gain legal status. It would shift the immigration system toward one based more heavily on skills and employment criteria, eliminating or curtailing opportunities for immigrants to bring their families to the U.S.
20) "Republicans need to stand firm for this framework," said Republican Sen. Jeff Sessions. "The danger for Republicans would be that somehow they felt weak and defensive, and accepted so many compromises on this framework that it really is not true to the ideals it proposes."
21) The negotiations have been extraordinarily sensitive for both sides. Democrats are wary of committing to anything stricter than last year's bill. Republicans are concerned about embracing anything that gives illegal immigrants a chance at citizenship -- decried by conservatives as "amnesty."


U.S. Senate vote opens way for next round of negotiations with House on war funding bill
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1) Senate leaders met with President George W. Bush's chief of staff on Thursday in search of a compromise bill to fund the Iraq war, eager to avoid a second veto showdown.
2) "We'll work through something we can all live with," the president told reporters at the White House.
3) Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said that was his goal, adding that Democrats would not give the White House "a blank check." Bush "has to deal with us," he said.
4) Bush vetoed an earlier measure, objecting to a proposed timetable for a troop withdrawal as well as several billion dollars Democrats inserted for their favored domestic programs.
5) House of Representatives Democrats failed to override his veto, then countered with a replacement bill to finance the war in two 60-day installments. Bush vowed to veto that bill, as well.
6) The Senate sidetracked the House's confrontational approach, passing legislation that merely pledges to provide the troops the resources they need -- an action designed to pave the way for Bolten's mid-morning visit to Congress for renewed talks with Reid and Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky.
7) The vote was 94-1.
8) Democratic Sen. Russ Feingold cast the lone dissenting vote. He favors cutting off money to end the war.
9) A day earlier, Reid staged a series of test votes on the war that revealed an overwhelming majority of Republicans were willing to restrict foreign aid if Baghdad failed to meet certain benchmarks. Another vote showed a slim majority of Democrats -- 28 out of 47 voting Wednesday -- support cutting off money for combat in 2008.
10) McConnell said between Republicans and Democrats there is "general agreement that we must hold the Iraqi government accountable to a political process that allows for reconciliation."
11) But "the Senate will not cut funds for troops in the field," said McConnell, a Republican. "And we will finish this process by Memorial Day."
12) Negotiations on the bill are expected to continue for days.
13) "To be successful, we must end the finger-pointing and instead roll up our sleeves and work together. I believe that we can -- and we will," said Demcoratic Sen. Robert Byrd.
14) In a separate development Thursday, the House voted 397-27 to pass legislation authorizing $646 billion (euro477.95 billion) in defense spending for the 2008 budget year, which begins Oct. 1. The bill includes $142 billion (euro105.06 billion) in combat operations in Iraq and Afghanistan.
15) While the policy bill requires reports on progress made in Iraq, it does not require troop withdrawals or place restrictions on the war.


Immigration compromise suffers crushing blow in US Senate, could be dead for the year
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1) A broad immigration bill to legalize millions of people who are in the U.S. unlawfully suffered a stunning setback in the Senate, costing President George W. Bush perhaps his best opportunity to win a top domestic priority.
2) The bipartisan compromise championed by the president failed a crucial test Thursday when it could not attract even a simple majority for an effort to speed its passage.
3) Intense public concern over immigration across the country conspired with high political stakes to produce a roiling debate on the issue. Ultimately, those forces overwhelmed a painstakingly forged liberal-to-conservative alliance that sought to insulate their compromise from partisanship.
4) Supporters could muster only 45 votes to limit debate and speed the bill to final passage, 15 short of what was needed on the procedural maneuver. Fifty senators voted against cutting off debate.
5) Most Republicans voted to block Democrats' efforts to advance the measure.
6) Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, a Democrat who had made no secret of his distaste for parts of the bill, quickly pulled it from the floor and moved on to other business, leaving its future uncertain.
7) He insisted that the bill was not dead, but a crowded Senate calendar complicates its prospects.
8) "I, even though disappointed, look forward to passing this bill," Reid said. "I have every desire to complete this legislation, and we all have to work -- the president included -- to figure out a way to get this bill passed."
9) The measure's chances are even murkier in the House of Representatives, where Democratic leaders do not plan to act on the divisive issue until the Senate has finished work on it.
10) Republican Sen. Mitch McConnell, the minority leader, said Democrats tried to rush the bill.
11) "I think we're giving up on this bill too soon," McConnell said.
12) The legislation would tighten borders and institute a new system to prevent employers from hiring undocumented workers, in addition to giving up to 12 million illegal immigrants a pathway to legal status.
13) Conceived by an improbable coalition that nicknamed the deal a "grand bargain," the measure exposes deep rifts within both parties and is loathed by most Republican conservatives.
14) All but seven Republicans voted against ending debate, with many arguing they needed more time to make the bill tougher with tighter border security measures and a more arduous legalization process for unlawful immigrants. Thirty-eight Republicans and Sen. Bernard Sanders, an independent, opposed the procedural tactic.
15) All but 11 Democrats supported the move, but they, too, were holding their noses at provisions of the bill. Many of them argued it makes second-class citizens of a new crop of temporary workers and rips apart families by prioritizing employability over blood ties in future immigration.
16) Thirty-seven Democrats and Sen. Joseph Lieberman, an independent, voted to advance the measure.
17) Proponents had argued that the bill, on balance, was worth advancing.
18) "We can all find different aspects of this legislation that we differ with," said Sen. Edward M. Kennedy, the leading Democratic architect of the bill.
19) He held out hope after the vote that the measure would survive. "Doing nothing is not an alternative," Kennedy said. "This issue isn't going away."
20) "I believe that we will yet succeed," said Republican Sen. Arlen Specter, a framer of the bill who was one of few in his party who backed the procedural move.
21) The defeat for the compromise was the culmination of a week of ups and downs for the contentious immigration measure, which mirrored the tumultuous process that went into crafting it.
22) Kennedy partnered with Republican Sen. Jon Kyl and several centrists to craft a bill that melded conservative themes of tougher border security and limiting immigration with the liberal goal of legalizing those who are in the U.S. unlawfully and welcoming future arrivals.
23) In the end, however, Kyl broke from the bipartisan clique that hatched the agreement, siding with Republicans who said they hadn't gotten enough chances to toughen the bill.
24) "It's time to scrap this mess of a bill," said Republican Sen. Jim DeMint, a conservative who had failed in several attempts to make the measure more punitive toward illegal immigrants.
25) Liberal groups, which had pressed hard for the measure's passage despite their many complaints about its elements, were dismayed at Thursday's result.
26) Frank Sharry, the executive director of the National Immigration Forum, called the vote "a huge disappointment to immigrant communities and those seeking a solution to the dysfunctional immigration system in America."
27) "We fear the result was a matter of politicians -- particularly Republicans -- not wanting to confront obstinate members of their own parties in order to let the majority's will -- and the people's will -- prevail.
28) The raucous congressional debate over immigration reflected the cloudy public sentiment about the issue demonstrated in recent polls.
29) A survey conducted May 30-June 3 by the nonpartisan Pew Research Center for the People and the Press found overwhelming support -- among two-thirds of the American public -- for giving illegal immigrants citizenship if they have jobs, pass background checks and pay fines.
30) But people were fairly ill-informed about the complex Senate measure, which less than one-third said they had heard a lot about.
31) Those who had heard at least a little about it were split on the Senate measure, which melds conservative themes of tougher border security and limiting immigration with the liberal goal of legalizing those who are in the U.S. unlawfully and welcoming future arrivals.
32) Of that group, 33 percent favor the bill, 41 percent oppose and 26 percent gave no response or said they didn't know. Republicans opposed it by 43 to 36 percent, Democrats by 37 to 33 percent, and independents by 46 to 31 percent.


Bush heads to Congress hoping to overcome Republican resistance to immigration bill
(APW_ENG_20070612.0765)
1) President George W. Bush, wading deeper into an issue that bitterly divides his party, hopes a personal appeal can help persuade skeptical Republicans to resurrect and pass his immigration bill.
2) Over lunch Tuesday with lawmakers, Bush planned an effort to change enough minds among Republican senators to salvage one of his top domestic priorities. The measure, which legalizes up to 12 million unlawful immigrants and tightens border security, stalled last week in the face of broad Republican opposition.
3) "I think one of the things that we have to do is answer the skeptics, answer the doubters," White House press secretary Tony Snow said Tuesday.
4) "We not only have a good sound bill, but it's also one that a lot of conservatives, when they get a chance to look at it, will say OK," he said on NBC's "Today" show.
5) Scott Stanzel, another White House spokesman, said Bush "will talk about the fact that immigration reform is too important to let this opportunity pass, and this is the best opportunity that we have had in decades to reform the broken immigration system."
6) Republican Sen. Jeff Sessions told CNN Tuesday that Bush "needs to help us write a better bill and not push a bill that so many of us cannot support."
7) It is Bush's latest and most overt attempt to sell Congress on the immigration overhaul, which was shaped by his views and drafted by an unlikely liberal-to-conservative coalition in close consultation with two Cabinet secretaries.
8) "I'll see you at the bill signing," Bush predicted Monday.
9) The measure exposes deep divisions among both parties, but it was Republicans who stood in its way last week when all but seven of them blocked a Democratic effort to put it on a fast track to passage.
10) Senate Democratic leaders have written Bush saying it is up to him to lean on Republicans to back the measure.
11) "It will take stronger leadership by you to ensure the opponents of the bill do not block its path forward," the letter said. "Simply put, we need many more than seven Republicans" to support the bill.
12) Democratic Majority Leader Harry Reid said he will bring up the measure again if Democrats can be assured of more Republican backing.
13) It is unclear, though, how much influence Bush has among Republicans on immigration, given that it has sparked a backlash among some of the party's core supporters, who see it as amnesty for people who sneaked into the country.
14) Appearing Tuesday on CBS's "The Early Show," Snow said, "I think what you're going to find is that Senate Republicans are going to put together a package of amendments and present them to Democrats and say, 'This what we want to debate.' "
15) "We seem to be getting some signals out of the majority leader that he'll go ahead and make that debate possible, and therefore we feel pretty confident we're going to get passage," Snow said.
16) Said Republican Sen. John Kyl, a key sponsor of the bill: "I think the president understands that really is our last best hope. We have a system that cannot identify whether they (immigrants) are legally employed or not."
17) "Unfortunately, neither the previous administraton nor this administration nor the Congress has done a good job of enforcing the border," Kyl told CNN Tuesday. "The key is employee verification ... and the system today we have is broken. It's a joke. It cannot be enforced."
18) Proponents of the bill gathered Monday evening to plot strategy for bringing it back. They were working to agree on a limited list of Republican-sought changes that could be considered before a final vote on the measure.
19) Republican Sen. Mitch McConnell, the minority leader, has said such a deal could allow the bill to go forward.
20) "There are a substantial number of Republican senators who believe that this bill would be an improvement over the current situation, over the status quo," McConnell said.


Senate Republicans block bill making it easier to form U.S. labor unions
(APW_ENG_20070626.1026)
1) Senate Republicans on Tuesday blocked a bill that would allow U.S. labor unions to organize workplaces without a secret ballot election.
2) Democrats were unable to get the 60 votes needed to force consideration of the Employee Free Choice Act, ending organized labor's chance to win its top legislative priority from Congress.
3) The final vote was 51-48.
4) The outcome was not a surprise, with Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, a Republican, saying for months that he would stop the legislation in the Senate. The White House also made clear that if the bill passed Congress it would be vetoed.
5) The House of Representatives passed the bill in March. Democrats and labor unions pressed for a vote in the Senate in hopes of rallying their voters in the 2008 elections, where they hope to win the White House and increase their majorities in the House and Senate.
6) "We will keep coming back year after year after year," said Sen. Sherrod Brown, a Democrat.
7) The Republicans also plan to use the vote for election-year campaigning, with corporations and businesses being the top opponents to the legislation. The National Republican Senatorial Committee sent out a fundraising video last week asking people to contribute in order to help stop the Employee Free Choice Act.
8) "Republicans will remind our constituents about the fact that Democrats proposed to strip workers of their voting rights," McConnell said.


Democrats won US Congress on anti-war pledge, now unable to pass bills ordering troops home
(APW_ENG_20071117.0046)
1) Nearly a year after anti-war voters put them in power, congressional Democrats remain unable to pass legislation ordering troops home from Iraq.
2) Frustrated by Republican roadblocks, Democrats now plan to sit on President George W. Bush's $196 billion (euro133.8 billion) request for war spending until next year, which will deepen their conflict with the White House on the war and probably push the Pentagon toward an accounting nightmare.
3) "We're going to continue to do the right thing for the American people by having limited accountability for the president and not a blank check," said Majority Leader Harry Reid, the Senate's top Democrat.
4) Senate Republicans blocked a $50 billion (euro34.1 billion) bill by Democrats on Friday that would have paid for several months of combat but also would have ordered troop withdrawals from Iraq to begin within 30 days. The measure, narrowly passed this week by the House, would have set a goal of ending combat in December 2008.
5) The 53-45 Senate vote was seven votes short of the 60 needed to advance. It came minutes after the Senate rejected a Republican proposal to pay for the Iraq war with no strings attached.
6) Now, Democratic leaders say they will not send Bush a war spending bill this year. They calculate the military has enough money to run through mid-February.
7) The delay will satisfy a Democratic support base that is fiercely anti-war. But it also will give Republicans and the White House ample time to hammer Democrats for leaving for the holidays without sending money to the troops.
8) "We ought to get the troops the funding they need to finish the mission without restrictions and without a surrender date," said Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell.
9) At the White House on Friday, deputy press secretary Tony Fratto said the spending gap is unjustified.
10) "We'd rather see the Department of Defense, the military planners and our troops focusing on military maneuvers rather than accounting maneuvers as they carry out their mission in the field," Fratto said.
11) Since taking the reins of Congress in January, Democrats have struggled to pass any significant anti-war legislation. Measures that passed along party lines in the House repeatedly sank in the Senate, where Democrats hold a much narrower majority and 60 votes are routinely needed to overcome procedural hurdles.
12) In May, Republicans agreed not to stand in the way of a $95 billion (euro64.8 billion) bill that would have set a timetable for troop withdrawals. Bush rejected the measure and Democrats lacked the two-thirds majority needed to override the veto, as Republicans had anticipated.
13) Democrats eventually stripped the timetable from the bill and sent Bush the money without restrictions on force levels. The move was unpopular with many Democratic voters who say Congress should stop providing money for the war.
14) As the year progressed, Democrats hoped for Republican defections, but a drop in violence this fall in Iraq helped to shore up support for the war among Republicans.
15) On Friday, only four Republicans joined Democrats in voting for the Iraq measure: Sens. Gordon Smith, Olympia Snowe, Susan Collins and Chuck Hagel.
16) Sen. Christopher Dodd, a presidential candidate, was the lone Democrat opposing it because he said it did not go far enough to end the war. Other Democrats, including Sen. Russ Feingold, said they too opposed the bill as too soft but they supported advancing debate.
17) "The only way to end the war is with a firm deadline that is enforceable through funding," Dodd said.
18) Democrats acknowledge recent progress made by the military in Iraq but contend the security will be short-lived unless the Iraqi government reaches a political settlement.
19) "We need to do more than say to the Iraqis that our patience has run out and that they need to seize the opportunity that has been given them," said Sen. Carl Levin, a Democrat. "Their dawdling will only end when they have no choice."
20) Republicans tried to counter with an alternative proposal Friday that would have paid $70 billion (euro47.8 billion) toward the war without restrictions. That measure failed by a vote of 45-53, falling 15 short of the 60 needed to advance.
21) Republicans said they were appalled by Democratic Sen. Chuck Schumer's comment, reported by The Associated Press on Thursday, that the Bush administration wouldn't get a "free lunch" on the war.
22) Schumer had told reporters that unless Bush accepted the restrictions, the Defense Department would have to eat into its core budget.
23) "The days of a free lunch are over," he said.
24) Republican National Committee Chairman Mike Duncan said Schumer's comments were "unbelievable," and Rep. Heather Wilson said the senator should apologize to the troops.
25) "Sen. Schumer only wants to fund pay, body armor and chow for the troops if he can put conditions on the money so that they cannot do the mission they have been ordered to do," said Wilson.
26) The Pentagon confirms the military will not run out of money until mid-February, after which all Army bases would cease operations.
27) But Defense Secretary Robert Gates said this week that without the money now, drastic steps would have to be taken in anticipation of the shutdown, including plans to freeze contracts and to furlough about 100,000 government employees.
28) Notices to some union employees would start going out in mid-December, he said.


Democrats frustrated and unable to overcome Republican resistance on taxes, spending, Iraq
(APW_ENG_20071207.1107)
1) Cracks are emerging in congressional Democrats' solidarity, as frustrated lawmakers concede their majority status is not enough to overcome Republican resistance on taxes, spending, Iraq and a host of other issues.
2) The fissures, which became obvious this week, are undermining Democrats' hopes for several key achievements this year.
3) On the Iraq war, congressional Democrats on Thursday sent their strongest signal yet that they are resigned to providing additional funds without forcing President George W. Bush to alter his policies. The plan is virtually certain to divide House Democrats, and may require significant Republican support to pass.
4) Democrats also point to a bruising 2008 election in which they will accuse Republicans of blocking prudent tax and spending plans to score political points on immigration and other hot-button issues.
5) Republicans say they simply want to prevent higher taxes of any kind, even if the targets are not-so-sympathetic groups such as oil companies and hedge fund managers.
6) After 11 months of insisting that all major programs be paid for with tax increases or spending cuts elsewhere, Senate Democratic leaders acknowledged Thursday they cannot persuade enough Republicans to join them. Democratic Majority Leader Harry Reid reluctantly allowed a vote on a long-debated middle-class tax cut that would add billions of dollars to the deficit because it is not offset elsewhere.
7) The measure, which the Senate approved 88-5, would prevent the alternative minimum tax from hitting about 25 million more taxpayers, at a cost of about $50 billion (euro34.35 billion) to the U.S. treasury next year. Reid's decision puts the Senate at odds with the House with two weeks left before the holiday recess.
8) House Democratic leaders still insist on a pay-as-you-go policy, or "pay-go," which they made a centerpiece of their governing principles in January.
9) Reid told reporters Thursday that Senate Republicans have used their filibuster powers to block Democratic efforts to change Iraq policy, move a farm bill and pay for the proposed one-year "fix" to the alternative minimum tax. He especially complained about Republican demands to offer farm bill amendments dealing with state drivers licenses for illegal immigrants.
10) "We've tried everything we can to address these issues," Reid said, citing 57 Republican filibuster threats this year. A filibuster is a parliamentary tactic that keeps legislation off the floor unless three-fifths of the 100 senators -- 60 members -- vote to bring it back.
11) Congressional Democrats also said they face an uphill battle in trying to overcome Senate Republicans' objections to an energy bill that passed in the House. Republicans particularly oppose the proposed rollback of $13.5 billion (euro9.28 billion) in tax breaks for major oil companies.
12) "You can't tax your way to energy independence," Republican House Minority Leader John Boehner told reporters.
13) If the Senate cannot overcome the Republican-led resistance, Democratic senators said they may have to jettison provisions important to many House Democrats: the tax provisions and requirements for greater use of renewable energy such as wind, solar and biofuels.
14) Democrats, who sometimes seem incredulous at their inability to budge the Republicans on tax, spending and war issues, say Republicans will pay dearly at the polls. "There is a sense they are digging their own grave," said Democratic Sen. Charles Schumer.
15) Some Republicans agree there is a risk in repeatedly blocking Democratic-crafted bills, especially if the chief beneficiaries appear to be big oil companies or wealthy investors.
16) "The strategy is to lay low and then blame them for not getting anything done," Republican Rep. Ray LaHood said in an interview. "The truth is, we all lose."
17) "We trash each other and end up making the institution look bad," LaHood said. "That's why Congress' approval ratings are so low."


After weeks of tough talk, Democrats to back down on Iraq war money
(APW_ENG_20071208.0527)
1) After weeks of tough talk, Democrats appear resigned to back down again on providing money for the Iraq war.
2) What happened?
3) "Republicans, Republicans, Republicans," said Jim Manley, spokesman for U.S. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid. "The real problem here is the president and his Republican backers" who have "staked out an increasingly hard-line position."
4) Indeed, with Democrats holding a razor-thin majority in the Senate and with 60 votes needed to overcome procedural hurdles, Senate Republicans were in a good negotiating spot this month.
5) Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell insisted that if Democrats want legislation paying for government operations this year, they will have to include money for the Iraq war.
6) "Do Republicans have a tough stance on funding the troops in the field? Yes," said McConnell's spokesman, Don Stewart. "Because we made a commitment to the troops overseas to give them the training and equipment and support that they need."
7) Democrats now are expected to allow Senate Republicans to attach tens of billions of dollars for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan to a $500 billion (euro341 billion)-plus government-wide spending bill. That move would be in exchange for Republican support on the huge spending measure.
8) The war money would not be tied to troop withdrawals, as Democrats want. But it would let Democrats finish their long-unfinished budget work and go on vacation before Christmas. It also would spare them from criticism during the holiday recess by President George W. Bush for leaving work without providing money for the troops.
9) Without the money, the Defense Department said it would start delivering layoff notices to thousands of contractors this month.
10) The plan ends a disappointing year for Democrats on Iraq. The party had taken control of Congress for the first time since 1994, seizing on the public's frustration with the war. Even with their election victory, the slim margins in the Senate have rendered Democrats powerless in trying to bring troops home.
11) "We've tried maybe a dozen times" to bring troops home, said Senator Carl Levin, chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee. "And when we do try and we don't succeed, we still provide funding for the troops."
12) Such talk runs contrary to the rhetoric just three weeks ago by other Democratic leaders.
13) Senate Republicans were blocking a $50 billion (euro34 billion) bill that would have paid for combat operations and set a goal of bringing troops home by December 2008. House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi told reporters the House would not respond by sending Bush the bill he wanted, without conditions on withdrawal.
14) If efforts fail in the Senate, "we're not going to be taking it up anymore over here," she said at a Nov. 15 news conference.
15) The measure fell by a 53-45 vote in the Senate, seven short of the 60 needed. Afterward, Reid said the House "has made their position clear" and suggested the Senate would not revisit the issue.
16) "We're going to continue to do the right thing for the American people by having limited accountability for the president and not a blank check," he said. Because the Army has enough money through mid-February, he said, "everyone should rest with a good conscience."
17) Other Democrats stuck to that line.
18) Representative David Obey, chairman of the House Appropriations Committee, said: "If the president wants that $50 billion released, all he has to do is to call the Senate Republican leader, Mitch McConnell, and ask him to stop blocking it."
19) But facing an uphill battle, the House is now expected to vote as early as Tuesday on the catchall spending measure and an estimated $30 billion (euro20 billion) for Afghanistan and some domestic military requirements. The bill would not initially include money for Iraq, until it makes its way to the Senate and faces the threat of a Republican filibuster. That is when Reid is expected to allow a vote on a Republican amendment to add the Iraq money.
20) The House is expected to accept the deal.
21) "Certainly the Senate remains an obstacle," said Pelosi spokesman Nadeam Elshami. "We hope the Senate takes up and passes the bill as approved by the House."


US Democratic senator says Republicans need to stop blocking legislation
(APW_ENG_20071208.0598)
1) The Senate's second-ranking Democrat said Saturday it is time for Republicans to stop stonewalling and engage in "compromise and cooperation" to get the nation's business done.
2) "Sadly, Republicans in Washington are determined to make this a 'no-can-do' Congress," Sen. Dick Durbin said in the Democrats' weekly radio address.
3) Durbin said Republican lawmakers are acting as if it is to their party's benefit to block progress on issues that are important to the American people.
4) "They think the less a Democratic-led Congress achieves, the better it's going to be for Republicans in next year's elections," he said. "But those elections are 11 months away! And America needs help now."
5) The Senate's Republican leader, Mitch McConnell, challenged Durbin, saying the Democratic-controlled Congress "has been particularly inept. The reason it has such low approval ratings after only a year in the majority is they haven't been able to accomplish anything. And the way you accomplish something in the Senate is on a bipartisan basis. They have to meet us in the middle."
6) Durbin -- the Senate Democrats' vote-counter -- argued that with bipartisan cooperation Congress could move to help some of the 47 million Americans in need of health insurance.
7) "Democrats are committed to overriding President Bush's veto and providing health care for 10 million American children -- kids not poor enough to qualify for Medicaid and not lucky enough to have parents with health insurance," he said.
8) Durbin also called for a new national energy policy, a responsible conclusion to the war in Iraq and measures to help families facing mortgage foreclosures.
9) Although he blamed the Republicans for stalling progress, he said Democrats still have been able to make a "good start" on some issues that they campaigned on in 2006 and that enabled them to regain control of the Senate.
10) Among the accomplishments he cited: lower taxes for working people, a higher minimum wage, tougher ethics laws and adoption of the Sept. 11 commission's recommendations.


Senate Republicans block US energy bill, opposing taxes on oil companies
(APW_ENG_20071213.0110)
1) Senate Republicans blocked a broad U.S. energy bill Thursday because it included billions of dollars in new taxes on the biggest oil companies.
2) Democratic leaders fell one vote short, 59-40, in getting the 60 votes needed to overcome a Republican delaying tactic and get the bill to the floor for debate. Democrats said they would strip the taxes from the legislation to move the bill forward.
3) Democratic Majority Leader Harry Reid said he hoped to get the revised energy package approved later in the day, including the first increase in automobile fuel efficiency in three decades and massive increases in the use of ethanol as a motor fuel.
4) He said we will "eliminate the tax title."
5) Republican leader Mitch McConnell predicted the revised bill would be approved with wide support from lawmakers of both parties.
6) The legislation, if passed by the Senate, would have to be voted on by the House of Representatives, which a week ago approved legislation that included the $21 billion (euro14.3 billion) tax increases for the oil companies with revenues marked for promoting renewable fuels and energy efficiency.
7) But Senate Republicans stood firm on opposing the tax increases, which they said would guarantee a veto by President George W. Bush.
8) McConnell chided Democrats for pushing a "massive tax increase" that he said "they knew would never be signed into law" because of the president's opposition.
9) Reid countered that the Senate should not back away from the needed tax measures "just because the president doesn't like it."
10) "We must begin to break our country's addiction to oil," Reid said.


Democrats looking at tax rebates, benefit boosts and public works to stimulate economy
(APW_ENG_20080111.0266)
1) Democrats controlling Congress are looking at tax rebates, extended unemployment benefits and more food stamps to stimulate the sagging economy.
2) But even as momentum builds behind those ideas -- with President George W. Bush increasingly open to proposing a stimulus package later this month -- the effort is fraught with election-year risks for both Democrats and Republicans.
3) Any politician who promises action on the economy had better deliver. Failure to enact those or other pump-priming measures, which is possible, will register with voters increasingly alarmed about their own well-being.
4) On the other hand, not trying is a losing strategy too. Democrats see little choice but to make the effort.
5) "There's a risk in doing nothing and a risk in doing something," said Illinois Rep. Rahm Emmanuel, who heads the House Democrats' campaign organization. "I'll take the risk of doing something for middle-class families versus the risk of doing nothing."
6) Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Rodham Clinton, campaigning in Nevada, the state with the highest mortgage default rate in the U.S., said Congress should take action to revive the economy and contain a mortgage crisis that she called an epidemic. The New York senator planned to reveal details of her economic stimulus plan in a speech Friday in Los Angeles.
7) "I'm going to do everything I can to promote what I think would be the best way to stimulate the economy," said Clinton, who previously has called for a 90-day freeze on foreclosures. "I'm going now to talk about the mortgage crisis in very real and personal terms. ... This is an epidemic. It's contagious."
8) The White House also is examining broad-based tax rebates comparable to the $300-$600 checks sent to taxpayers in 2001, as well as bigger tax breaks for businesses that invest in new equipment.
9) But Bush's advisers and Republicans are skeptical of new spending initiatives like extended jobless benefits and higher food stamp payments; or accelerating highway, bridge and other public infrastructure projects to address rising unemployment among construction workers.
10) Complicating the debate is the fact that Democrats and Bush also have a poor track record of working together.
11) Both sides insist that work on competing stimulus plans is just beginning and that no decisions have been made about what might be included. The White House says it is not a sure thing Bush will even propose a plan if upcoming economic data do not suggest a deepening downturn of the economy.
12) Expectations are growing, however, that some action on an economic stimulus bill is inevitable.
13) The mantra among Democrats and many economists is that any stimulus bill should be timely, temporary and targeted toward people most likely to funnel the money right back into the economy. As such, some Democrats are suggesting limiting tax rebates to lower-income and middle-class families and people with children.
14) "Our initiative will assist hard-hit families by promoting consumer confidence, economic growth and job creation," House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said in a statement Tuesday. Pelosi promised help for the unemployed, people hurt by higher health care and spiraling energy prices, as well as those hit by the subprime mortgage crisis.
15) Democrats also are eyeing extending unemployment benefits beyond the 26-week limit and a temporary increase in food stamp benefits, Pelosi's spokesman, Brendan Daly, said. He cautioned that any decisions would be made only after lawmakers return to Washington next week.
16) Liberal economists say boosting food stamps is one of the most efficient ways of pumping money into the economy, an idea surprisingly embraced by Republican economist Martin Feldstein at a Brookings Institution forum on Thursday.
17) Still, the White House and Democrats are probably on a collision course. Bush is likely to resist social spending initiatives or efforts to restrict tax rebates to a relatively narrow segment of the public. He is sure to press to extend his 2001 and 2003 tax cuts -- something Democrats promise to reject.
18) There is naturally a temptation to use the debate to score political points in this election year. Democrats, for instance, could provoke a veto clash. That is the course they took in last year's debate over expanding a popular health insurance plan for children.
19) But with an economy that may be teetering on the edge of a recession, Democrats see a need to deliver results rather than be seen as seeking political advantage. That means limiting the wish list of liberal Democrats if they are to get an agreement with Bush.
20) Senate Democrats have taken fewer steps toward fashioning a stimulus package. Their deliberations are made more complicated by Senate rules that effectively require Republican support for almost any bill. Many Senate Republicans are looking for an opportunity to extend Bush's 2001 and 2003 tax cuts beyond their scheduled expiration at the end of 2010.
21) Leaders in both parties also will have to deal with the deficit hawks in each. The idea behind the stimulus effort is to pump money into the economy, not to pump some in and suction out the same amount elsewhere in order to not add to the budget deficit.
22) Many Democrats have generally promised to live by "pay as you go" rule against deficit-financed legislation. Some of them are still steaming over a decision to waive that rule last month when passing a one-year, $50 billion (euro34.1 billion) "fix" of the alternative minimum tax, and they're already resisting the idea of waiving it again for any stimulus package.


Democrats and Republicans promise speedy work on economic stimulus legislation
(APW_ENG_20080117.0060)
1) Under pressure to act quickly on the sagging election-year economy, Democratic and Republican Congressional leaders held talks Wednesday amid increasing optimism that the warring factions might actually agree soon on an economic stimulus bill.
2) House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, a Democrat, and Republican leader John Boehner emerged from a rare meeting promising to develop legislation that would both provide a boost to the economy and pass with little controversy.
3) "There is an agreement that we will work together to try to put together a package that truly is stimulative, that will happen quickly, and those conversations are going to continue in coming days," Boehner said.
4) President Bush, returning from the Middle East Wednesday night, has on his schedule Thursday an afternoon conference call with congressional leaders in both parties to discuss a possible short-term stimulus package.
5) The promises of cooperation stood in sharp contrast to the poisonous relations between the competing parties last year, especially on the Iraq war and a children's health measure. Now, both sides believe it is imperative to address the economy, and they have no chance of success unless they work together.
6) Pelosi agreed the session with Boehner, Republican Minority Leader Roy Blunt, and her top Democratic lieutenants was "constructive." She also held meetings with rank-and-file Democrats in which she spent considerable time tamping down expectations about what might make its way into the legislation.
7) "This package is not going to be all things to all people," Pelosi told reporters.
8) Federal Reserve Board Chairman Ben Bernanke is Thursday slated to give closely watched testimony on the economy before the House Budget Committee. Lawmakers expect him to support swift action by Congress on a stimulus bill if its tax cuts and spending measures are targeted and temporary.
9) Joint Economic Committee Chairman Charles Schumer, a Democrat, said he had spoken with Bernanke on Monday and that the Fed chairman was "generally supportive" of lawmakers and Bush passing a stimulus bill.
10) "He said that while he wasn't going to endorse a specific plan, if an economic stimulus package was properly designed and enacted so that it enters the economy quickly, it could have a very positive effect on the economy," Schumer said.
11) There is no shortage of ideas on how to kick-start the ailing economy, and neither side is willing to state with confidence what a final stimulus measure will look like.
12) There is widespread agreement, however, that tax rebates along the lines of the $300 (euro203) to $600 (euro406) checks awarded in 2001 are likely to be part of the measure.
13) Democrats are coalescing around ideas such as extending unemployment benefits, boosting food stamp payments and doling out aid to ailing state governments.
14) Republicans are promoting business tax breaks such as incentives for investments in new plants and equipment and lowering the corporate income tax rate.
15) They also say extending tax cuts slated to expire at the end of 2010 would give small businesses greater confidence to make investments now.
16) Democrats say extending the expiring Bush tax cuts -- including breaks on investments and for married couples and people with children -- is a nonstarter. Republicans have signaled, however, that they will not insist on extending expiring tax cuts as a condition for Republican support for the stimulus measure.
17) House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Charles Rangel, a Democrat, whose panel writes tax legislation, said that in the spirit of producing a bipartisan bill, he is resigned to providing some tax breaks favored by business, despite personal reservations about their effectiveness.
18) Meanwhile, a House-Senate panel on Wednesday held the first of a spate of hearings on the economy, where former Treasury Secretary Lawrence Summers told lawmakers that the economy has worsened to the point that Congress should pass an economic stimulus bill of up to $150 billion (euro101.41 billion).
19) Summers, treasury secretary in the later years of the Clinton administration, former president of Harvard University and now an economics professor there, had previously said $50 billion (euro33.8 billion) to $75 billion (euro50.7 billion) in tax cuts and pump-priming government spending is needed to boost the sagging economy.
20) Now, his recommendation is to roughly double that -- though perhaps employing a "trigger" that would release the money only if the economy worsens further.
21) Summers said the advantage of employing a trigger to release a second stage of fiscal stimulus that could take effect without the need for new legislation is to avoid delays that could deliver an economic boost too late.
22) "The risks here of too little, too late are far, far, far greater than the risk of too much, too soon," Summers said.


Bush, congressional leaders to meet Tuesday on stimulus proposals for sagging economy
(APW_ENG_20080122.0322)
1) President George W. Bush and top congressional leaders are looking for quick agreement on how to pump as much as $150 billion (euro103.6 billion) in tax cuts and government spending into the ailing economy to head off a recession.
2) House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and leaders in both parties are scheduled to meet with Bush on Tuesday to discuss a stimulus bill providing tax rebates, business tax cuts and funding for a Democratic-led call for additional food stamp and employment aid.
3) Both sides already have displayed flexibility not witnessed last year in battles over spending, taxes and children's health insurance. Lawmakers appearing on weekend televisions talk shows promised bipartisanship.
4) "There's a real spirit of compromise in Washington right now, a spirit of, 'Let's get together, put away the bipartisan differences, because the economy is in poor shape,'" Sen. Charles Schumer, a New York Democrat, said on "Fox News Sunday." "There are many Democrats, frankly, who would rather not have business tax cuts. But again, no one's drawing a line in the sand."
5) Bush on Friday called for an economic growth package of about $145 billion (euro100.1 billion), centered on tax cuts for business and rebates for individual taxpayers. He did not announce details, but administration officials are focusing on rebates of $800 (euro552) to $1,600 (euro1,104) for individuals and couples and so-called bonus depreciation to allow companies to deduct 50 percent of business investments made this year. He also supports help for small businesses with more generous writeoffs on equipment purchases.
6) Democrats want the rebates to reach millions of lower-income families who pay only Social Security and Medicare payroll taxes or who may not file tax returns at all.
7) On Capitol Hill, talks between Pelosi and the Republican House Minority Leader John Boehner have focused on smaller tax rebates of perhaps $500 (euro345) for individuals, bonus depreciation and small business expensing, as well as Democrats' call for boosts in unemployment benefits, food stamp payments and the Medicaid health care program for the poor and disabled.
8) It's a rare display of bipartisanship that was not taken as a given when Washington buzz about a possible stimulus measure reached a tipping point two weeks ago.
9) Then, the White House adopted a cautious stance, saying that Bush had not decided whether the economy was sour enough to require a fiscal jolt. Aides to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid initially fretted that any stimulus plan might get loaded up with a lot of unrelated junk and that Republican partisans would force politically difficult votes as the measure moved through that chamber.
10) But Pelosi stepped out first, insisting Congress would go forward. Bush and his Republican allies in Congress saw little choice but to go along.
11) But both sides have negotiated in good faith. Republicans and Bush declined to insist on extending Bush's 2001 and 2003 tax cuts that expire in three years, while Democrats offered up tax breaks for business and limited their roster of spending proposals. Democrats also agreed to waive budget rules requiring tax increases to finance the measure.
12) The rush to produce an economic stimulus bill comes as recent data on the economy is increasingly negative and as the issue has become a top priority with voters.
13) The major players appear motivated chiefly by a desire to help people who are hurting as the economy sags. But the political benefits of looking responsive to demands by voters to do something about the economy are not lost on lawmakers and the White House at a time when approval ratings for both are in the gutter.
14) "We'd all like to have a better record. I don't think any of us are particularly proud of the session of Congress just completed and we'd like to start things out on a better footing," said Rep. Earl Pomeroy, a North Dakota Democrat. "But I really do think it's more like, 'We've got to do something about the economy.' This is a no-games deal."


Lawmakers negotiate with Treasury secretary to come up with quick US economic stimulus bill
(APW_ENG_20080123.1085)
1) Top House leaders and Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson Wednesday tallied the cost of measures to jolt the U.S. economy out of its slump as the three sought a swift bipartisan deal on a recovery package that could move through Congress within weeks.
2) The leader of the House of Representatives, Speaker Nancy Pelosi, a Democrat, and Minority Leader John Boehner, a Republican, are taking the lead in congressional negotiations, with the centerpiece of the measure expected to be a tax rebate similar to, but bigger than, the $300-$600 (euro206-euro412) checks sent out in the summer of 2001. The two huddled for a lengthy meeting with Paulson, President George W. Bush's point man on the package, and planned another gathering this afternoon.
3) "We looked at a lot of different options," Boehner told reporters, adding that the threesome reached "no conclusions or agreements." He said it would "require a great leap of faith" from both parties to find common ground.
4) Senior lawmakers in both parties met on Tuesday with Bush, who has proposed a stimulus plan worth about $150 billion (euro103 billion). Combined with Iraq war costs and decreasing corporate tax revenues because of the economic slump, a package that size would more than double last year's deficit spending of $163 billion (euro112 billion), according to new congressional budget estimates.
5) Bush expressed optimism that his administration can reach quick agreement with Congress.
6) "I believe we can find common ground to get something done that's big enough, effective enough so that an economy that is inherently strong gets a boost -- to make sure that this uncertainty doesn't translate into more economic woes for our workers and small business people," Bush said Tuesday.
7) Pelosi, Boehner and Paulson are working on hammering out details. Senate leaders Harry Reid, a Democrat, and Mitch McConnell, a Republican, have agreed to stand back and let the House take the lead in the talks with the administration.
8) In the Senate, Reid said in an interview, "There are too many cooks in the kitchen. Send something over to us and we'll try to move it as quickly as we can."
9) Perhaps the most important obstacle to overcome is differences of opinion over who should receive rebate checks. Democrats want to deliver help to low-income workers who may not pay income taxes because they make too little or benefit from tax credits such as the child tax credit.
10) Thus far, talks have focused on setting the parameters of a bill combining rebates with Republican-sought tax breaks for businesses, as well as Democratic-backed help for the unemployed and those on food stamps.
11) Talks continued as the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office, citing the weakening economy, estimated that the budget deficit for the current year will jump to about $250 billion (euro171.5 billion). That figure does not reflect at least $100 billion (euro68.6 billion) in likely additional red ink from the deficit-financed economic stimulus measure.
12) Senate Budget Committee Chairman Kent Conrad, a Democrat, said the 2008 deficit would reach more than $350 billion (euro240 billion) once the costs of the impending stimulus bill are factored in.
13) Both sides have seemed to negotiate in good faith. Republicans and Bush declined to insist on extending Bush's 2001 and 2003 tax cuts that expire in three years, while Democrats offered up tax breaks for business and limited their roster of spending proposals. Democrats also agreed to waive budget rules requiring tax increases to finance the measure.
14) Noting the aura of bipartisanship surrounding the talks, Rep. Eric Cantor, a Republican, said Democrats "are seeing the same polls as we are."


House passes US economic recovery package
(APW_ENG_20080129.1324)
1) The House, seizing a rare moment of bipartisanship to respond to the U.S. economy's slump, overwhelmingly passed a $146 billion (euro99 billion) aid package Tuesday that would speed rebates of $600-$1,200 (euro406-euro812) to most taxpayers.
2) The plan, approved 385-35 after little debate, would send at least some rebate to anyone with at least $3,000 (euro2,000) in income, with more going to families with children and less going to wealthier taxpayers.
3) The United States is facing economic uncertainty that some fear could lead to the sharpest downturn in decades, brought on by a steady drumbeat of bad news. The market for risky housing mortgages collapsed creating a credit crisis with banks reluctant to lend. Unemployment jumped from 4.7 to 5 percent and retailers reported a lackluster holiday shopping season.
4) In an election year Republican and Democratic lawmakers felt they had to act as voters told them the economy had replaced the Iraq war as their major concern.
5) The plan passed by the House faced a murky future in the Senate, though, where Democrats and some Republicans backed a larger package that adds billions of dollars for senior citizens and the unemployed, and shrinks the rebate to $500 (euro338) for individuals and $1,000 (euro677) for couples. That plan, written by Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus, would deliver checks even to the richest taxpayers, who are disqualified under the House-passed measure.
6) Both versions would provide tax breaks to businesses to spur equipment and other purchases.
7) President George W. Bush and House leaders urged the Senate to take the bipartisan agreement and pass it quickly, even as Baucus, a Democrat, planned a Wednesday vote in his committee on a larger package that could face a slower path.
8) "We need to get this bill out of the Senate and on my desk," Bush said at the White House.
9) Congressional leaders are aiming to send the measure to Bush by Feb. 15. But the divergent plans -- and bids by Senate Democrats and Republicans to swell the package with more add-ons -- could drag out that schedule.
10) House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, a Democrat, said she hoped the Senate would "take this bill and run with it."
11) Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, a Democrat, said that was unlikely in the freewheeling Senate, where members have elaborate wish-lists for adding to the bill, including food welfare, medical aid and heating assistance for low-income people and spending on infrastructure projects, among other things.
12) "I think that there's 51 Democratic senators without exception who believe this package can be made better," Reid said, adding that he also expected to have enough Republican support to change it.
13) Sen. Mitch McConnell, the Republican minority leader, said reopening the deal would be inappropriate.
14) "This is not a time to get into some kind of testing of wills between the two congressional bodies. This is a time to show we can rise above partisanship, do something important, and do it quickly," McConnell said.
15) The House plan brought together Democrats and Republicans, both of whom surrendered cherished proposals to reach a deal.
16) Pelosi cautioned against adding items that could hinder an economic recovery or scuttle the bipartisan agreement.
17) "It's important that this bill not get overloaded. I have a full agenda of things I would like to have in the package, but we have to contain the price," Pelosi said. "We made a decision, because that's where we could find our common ground."
18) Republican leaders, too, described the measure as an imperfect compromise that would provide a needed jolt to the economy.
19) Americans "expect us to find ways to work together, not reasons to fight with each other," said Rep. John A. Boehner, a Republican, who forged the agreement with Pelosi in consultation with Treasury Secretary Henry M. Paulson.
20) "The sooner we get this relief in the hands of the American people, the sooner they can begin to do their job of being good consumers," Boehner said.
21) The measure would send rebates to some 111 million people, including roughly 35 million families who don't make enough to pay income taxes. Individuals with adjusted gross income of $75,000 (euro50,765) and couples making $150,000 (euro101,535) would get rebates equal to the taxes they paid, up to $600 for individuals and $1,200 for couples. Those making more than that would see their rebate go down by 5 percent of every dollar of income over the limits.
22) Taxpayers would get at least $300 (euro203), even if they paid less than that in taxes -- or $600 (euro406) for couples. That is also the case for those who do not pay income taxes but earn at least $3,000 (euro2,000).
23) In the Senate, Baucus' proposal removes the income caps and would send rebates to some 20 million senior citizens not covered by the House plan because they do not have have income.
24) Both packages include roughly $50 billion (euro34 billion) worth of tax incentives for businesses to invest in new plants and equipment.


US Senate plan lets higher income earners share rebates
(APW_ENG_20080130.1472)
1) An effort to let more high-income families share in a broad tax rebate while still excluding the richest of the rich gained support Wednesday in the U.S. Senate.
2) A senior Senate Republican swung behind a plan to make individuals with annual incomes of up to$150,000 (euro101,300) and couples with incomes up to $300,000 (euro202,600) eligible for rebates of $500 (euro337) and $1,000 (euro675). Qualifying families would get $300 (euro202) more for each child.
3) The proposed eligibility ceilings in a new bill put forth by Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus compare with income caps of $75,000 (euro50,640) for individuals and $150,000 (euro101,300) for couples in an economic stimulus bill passed Wednesday by the House of Representatives.
4) The United States is facing economic uncertainty that some fear could lead to the sharpest downturn in decades, brought on by a steady drumbeat of bad news. The market for risky housing mortgages collapsed creating a credit crisis with banks reluctant to lend, and the stock market is down sharply. Unemployment jumped from 4.7 to 5 percent and retailers reported a lackluster holiday shopping season.
5) In an election year Republican and Democratic lawmakers felt they had to act to stimulate the economy as voters told them it had replaced the Iraq war as their major concern.
6) In addition to expanding eligibility ceilings, the measure by Baucus, a Democrat, also would expand eligibility to 20 million senior citizens on government pension checks and extend unemployment benefits.
7) Sen. Charles Grassley of Iowa, the senior Republican on the Finance Committee, said Wednesday he will support Baucus' bill to pump $196 billion (euro132.34 billion) into the economy over the next two years. The committee was to vote on the bill later Wednesday and the measure was expected to reach the Senate floor promptly.
8) "It's going to be presented as a bipartisan (bill)," Grassley said.
9) Whatever measure passes, it will have to be reconciled with the House version through negotiations. Lawmakers are aiming to have the legislation on President George W. Bush's desk by Feb. 15.
10) Baucus originally wanted to let even the richest taxpayers share in the rebates, saying that would attract Republican support for his measure. Grassley said earlier Wednesday that including them in the rebates was a key reason he was backing Baucus' bill.
11) But the House excluded people with high incomes from the rebates in its bill and Senate Democrats also had balked at the idea of wealthy people getting rebate checks.
12) Baucus is pushing a proposal to add $35 billion (euro23.6 billion) to the House-passed bill to let senior citizens in on the rebates and extend unemployment benefits. It would shrink the rebate to $500 (euro337) for individuals and $1,000 (euro675) for couples.
13) In backing the bill, Grassley broke with Bush and Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell. Both have said the Senate should simply pass the House-passed stimulus measure.
14) The bipartisan Senate package faced challenges from the left and right. Democrats and some Republicans said Wednesday they would move to add money for food welfare and heating aid to the poor.
15) White House deputy press secretary Tony Fratto, traveling on Air Force One with Bush Wednesday, said the disappointing fourth quarter economic growth rate should give the Senate greater urgency to pass the bill.
16) "We'd like to see some leadership that will encourage members to put away some of their pet ideas and think about the bigger picture," Fratto said.
17) Both packages include roughly $50 billion (euro33.7 billion) worth of tax incentives for businesses to invest in new plants and equipment.


Showdown vote looms on US Senate economic aid plan
(APW_ENG_20080206.1380)
1) The Senate moved toward a partisan clash Wednesday over Democrats' efforts to add more than $40 billion (euro27.3 billion) in checks for the elderly, disabled veterans and the unemployed, and heating aid for the poor to a House-passed U.S. economic aid plan.
2) Democrats were struggling to find enough Republican support to advance the package over the objections of Republican leaders, who have called for a much narrower package. The White House urged the Senate this week to approve a more limited, $161 billion (euro110.12 billion) House-passed measure "without delay."
3) "We started out united behind a proposal to help struggling taxpayers and stimulate the economy. Now some are insisting on a plan that might not even be signed into law," said Sen. Mitch McConnell, the Republican leader.
4) The House plan would send rebates of $600-$1,200(euro410-euro821.74) to about 111 million Americans who receive paychecks of $3,000 (euro2,050) or more, plus an additional $300 (euro205) per child, with less available to individuals with income in excess of $75,000 (euro51,295) and couples making more than $150,000 (euro102,600). The Senate version has checks of $500-$1,000 (euro342-euro684) for a broader group that includes 20 million seniors and 250,000 disabled veterans and taxpayers making up to $150,000 (euro102,600)for singles -- or $300,000 (euro205,200) for couples.
5) The Senate package also includes a $14.5 billion (euro9.9 billion) unemployment extension for those whose benefits have run out, $1 billion (euro680 million ) in heating aid for the poor -- a program that enjoys broad bipartisan support -- and a tax break that allows businesses suffering losses to reclaim previously paid taxes. It includes $10 billion (euro6.8 billion) in mortgage bonds to help homeowners refinance their loans and several tax breaks for renewable energy.
6) "The House plan was a start, but it was only a start," said Majority Leader Harry Reid, a Democrat.
7) McConnell said Republicans favor simply adding rebates for seniors and disabled veterans to the House-passed bill, as well as including language -- also part of Senate Democrats' measure -- designed to ensure that illegal immigrants cannot get rebates.
8) That Republican proposal has support from the White House, McConnell said, "so we can expect that it would be signed into law."
9) Democrats need 60 votes to advance their more costly package, and they were lobbying intensely to convert wavering Republicans, including several facing tough re-election fights. Their efforts were getting a boost from outside groups leaning on senators to back the package, including home builders, manufacturers and the powerful seniors' lobby.
10) Republican leaders, working to stem defections, were assuring Republicans that they would have another chance to support adding senior citizens and disabled veterans to the aid plan even if they opposed the Democrats' bill.
11) Reid has rejected that idea, saying Republicans should not get to choose which elements of his party's package they support.
12) He said he's not willing to "throw seniors under the bus."
13) Reid would not say what he would do if Democrats failed to overcome Republicans' objections and get an up-or-down vote on the proposal. That leaves the fate of the House measure uncertain.
14) Asked Tuesday whether the administration would accept adding rebates for the elderly and disabled veterans to the stimulus measure, Treasury Secretary Henry M. Paulson declined to say definitively, but he told the Finance Committee, "I'm sure we'll be able to work something out and get something quickly done that's broad-based."
15) The dispute has slowed down the stimulus measure, but there's no indication that it will delay rebate checks, which are expected to begin arriving in May. The rebates will be calculated based on 2007 tax returns, which aren't due until April 15.


Senate Republicans block Democrats ' attempt to add more than $40B to economic stimulus bill
(APW_ENG_20080207.0123)
1) The fate of $600-$1,200 (euro410-euro820) rebate checks for more than 100 million Americans is uncertain after Senate Republicans blocked a bid by Democrats to add $44 billion (euro30.1 billion) in help for the elderly, disabled veterans, the unemployed and businesses to the aid package already passed by the House of Representatives.
2) Republican senators banded together Wednesday to thwart the $205 billion (euro140.2 billion) plan, leaving Democrats with a difficult choice either to accept quickly a House bill they have said is inadequate or to risk being blamed for delaying a measure designed as a swift shot in the arm for the lagging U.S. economy.
3) The tally was 58-41 to end debate on the Senate measure, just short of the 60 votes Democrats would have needed to scale procedural hurdles and move the bill to a final vote. In a suspenseful showdown vote that capped days of partisan infighting and procedural jockeying, eight Republicans joined the Democrats to back the plan, bucking their party's leaders and President George W. Bush, who objected to the costly add-ons.
4) The eight Republicans who crossed the aisle included four who are standing for re-election this year.
5) Democrats choreographed the vote for maximum political advantage, presenting their aid proposal as a take-it-or-leave-it proposition for Republicans and calling back their presidential candidates to make a show of party unity behind their stimulus plan. They calculated that Republicans would pay a steep price for opposing rebates for older Americans and disabled veterans, as well as heating aid for the poor, unemployment benefits and a much larger collection of business tax breaks than the House approved.
6) Even after the effort fell short Wednesday, Democrats seemed determined to keep the pressure on Republicans to accept the measure, threatening to hold more votes on it in the coming days.
7) Majority Leader Harry Reid is "going to give Republicans a chance to reconsider their vote against efforts to strengthen the economy by helping those who need it most," his spokesman, Jim Manley, said Wednesday night.
8) Republicans said they were ready to accept rebates for older Americans and disabled veterans and accused Democrats of delaying the stimulus plan for political gain and loading it down with special-interest extras.
9) "Our constituents will look at us as the folks that slowed it down (and) added a bunch of spending to it," said Sen. Jon Kyl of Arizona, the Senate's second-ranking Republican, who called the measure "a Christmas tree package."
10) The White House, which has carefully avoided issuing threats about the package despite Bush's opposition to the add-ons, urged the Senate to move fast to approve a stimulus plan.
11) "To be effective, this economic growth package must be timely, so it is crucial that the Senate now move quickly to pass a bill that will deliver relief to our economy," press secretary Dana Perino said in a statement after the vote.
12) Democratic presidential candidates Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama flew to Washington for the vote. Republican front-runner John McCain did not vote.
13) Supporters had 59 votes in favor of the Democratic proposal, but Reid switched his vote to `no' at the last moment, a parliamentary move that will allow him to bring the measure up for a revote.
14) Republican leaders objected to add-ons such as a $14.5 billion (euro9.9 billion) unemployment extension for those whose benefits have run out, $1 billion (euro680 million) in heating aid for the poor and tax breaks for renewable energy producers and coal companies.
15) The measure builds upon a $161 billion (euro110.1 billion) House-passed bill providing $600-$1,200 (euro410-euro820) checks to most taxpayers and tax breaks to businesses investing in new plants and equipment.
16) The Senate version would provide checks of $500-$1,000 (euro342-euro684) to a broader group that includes 20 million elderly people, 250,000 disabled veterans and taxpayers making up to $150,000 (euro102,590) for singles or $300,000 (euro205,184) for couples.
17) It would extend unemployment benefits for an additional 13 weeks for those whose benefits have run out, with 13 more weeks available in states with the highest jobless rates. The bill also includes $10 billion (euro6.8 billion) in tax-free mortgage revenue bonds to help homeowners refinance subprime loans.
18) Reid denied Republicans an opportunity to change the measure, provoking the stalling tactic that the Democrats lacked the 60 votes to defeat. The calculus was that enough Republicans would relent in the face of political pressure to support unemployment insurance and heating aid to join Democrats and force the measure through.
19) The climactic vote came after an intense lobbying effort by Democrats to convert wavering Republicans, including those facing tough re-election fights. Their efforts got a boost from outside groups leaning on senators to back the package, including home builders, manufacturers and the powerful older people's lobby.
20) Republicans were under enormous pressure from their own leaders not to support the Democrats' plan. Working to stem defections, party leaders assured their rank and file that they would have another chance to support adding senior citizens and disabled veterans to the aid plan even if they opposed the Democrats' bill.


US Senate approves economic aid plan with rebates for older people, disabled veterans
(APW_ENG_20080207.1541)
1) The Senate passed a $167 billion (euro114.6 billion) rescue plan Thursday designed to put money in the hands of U.S. consumers to spend in an attempt to revive a flagging U.S. economy.
2) The 81-16 vote capped more than a week of political maneuvering that ended only when majority Democrats dropped their demand that the proposal offer jobless benefits, heating aid for the poor and tax breaks for certain industries.
3) Most Republican senators blocked those ideas, but agreed to add the rebates for older people and disabled veterans to a $161 billion measure the House of Representatives it passed last month.
4) Leaders of the House of Representatives said they would act as early as Thursday night to send the measure to President George W. Bush for signature.
5) The remarkable speed in which the package was approved reflected both the growing concerns about the economy and the political pressures ahead of congressional and presidential elections in November. Americans fear a recession may be looming, given a fall in housing prices, a tightening of credit and a sharp drop in stock prices. The economy has surpassed the war in Iraq as the main concern of U.S. voters.
6) The Senate plan would rush rebates -- $600 (euro412) for individuals, $1,200 (euro824) for couples -- to most taxpayers and cut business taxes in hopes of reviving the economy. Individuals making up to $75,000 (euro51,500) a year and couples earning up to $150,000 (euro103,000) would get rebates.
7) People who paid no income taxes but earned at least $3,000 (euro2,050) -- including through government pensions or veterans' disability benefits -- would get a $300 (euro206) rebate.
8) The bill had stalled for more than a week in the Senate. The turnaround came after Democrats fell just one vote short Wednesday of overcoming Republican delaying tactics and pressing ahead with their $205 billion (euro140.7 billion) plan.
9) Democrats decided on Thursday against insisting on their package. Instead, they agreed to speed the bipartisan measure, costing about $167 billion (euro114.63 billion), to Bush.
10) "It's our responsibility to pass the strongest bill that we can, and so I think it's tremendous what we'll be able to accomplish," said Majority Leader Harry Reid, a Democrat. "We had to finish this quickly."
11) The retreat came after the Democratic leader of the House of Representatives, Speaker Nancy Pelosi, sided with Republicans, including Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell. Pelosi urged the Senate to stop its infighting and pass the bill.
12) "There's no reason for any more delay on this," Pelosi said.
13) Reid defended his decision to try to pressure Republicans on the larger proposal by offering it as a take-it-or-leave-it proposition along with the rebates for older people and veterans. "I feel very strongly that we did the right thing," Reid said.
14) Democrats said Republicans would pay a political price for their opposition. The more expensive proposal would have extended unemployment for 13 weeks for people whose benefits had run out; added $1 billion (euro690 million) in heating aid for the poor; and provided tax breaks for the home-building, renewable energy and coal industries.
15) "If today (Republicans) are squirming because they voted 'no,' that's what democracy is all about," said Sen. Charles Schumer, the head of the Senate Democratic campaign committee. "The political chips will fall where they may."
16) But Democratic Sen. Max Baucus, chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, said: "Discretion is the better part of valor. The best thing for us to do is declare a big victory that we've achieved, namely getting the rebate checks to 20 million seniors and 250,000 disabled veterans."
17) The measure moved through Congress with remarkable speed amid a series of deflating economic reports. Some Republicans, however, expressed reservations that the rebate checks would help much. Other lawmakers worried about expanding the budget deficit.
18) "We have to remember that every dollar being spent on the stimulus package is being borrowed from our children. And our children's children," said Sen. Judd Gregg, a Republican.


Election-year pressures spelled quick trip through Congress for economic rescue package
(APW_ENG_20080208.0344)
1) The twin pressures of a looming recession and an election year combined to speed a $168 billion (euro115 billion) economic rescue plan through Congress, sweeping aside lawmakers' political differences in favor of rushing tax rebate checks to their constituents.
2) The overwhelming House and Senate votes Thursday to approve the measure and send it to President George W. Bush reflected lawmakers' eagerness to show they could act quickly to address economic concerns, which have replaced the Iraq war as the public's top worry.
3) The package was the product of a rare spate of bipartisan cooperation in Congress, where Democrats and Republicans teamed with the White House on a bill that fell far short of both parties' priorities but could win quick enactment.
4) House Speaker Nancy Pelosi signaled early last month her determination to move ahead with a fiscal stimulus bill. As reports about the economy worsened, the White House and congressional Republicans embraced the effort, even as some other congressional Republicans worried that the economic bailout would do more to bolster Democrats' sagging approval ratings than it would to help the economy.
5) The result was a plan that will deliver tax rebate checks, most ranging from $600 to $1,200 (euro400-euro800), starting in May. The bill includes tax breaks for businesses investing in new plants and equipment, and steps to boost the ailing housing market.
6) The White House said Bush would sign it sometime next week, and lawmakers in both parties were quick to claim credit for the deal.
7) Pelosi trumpeted Democrats' efforts to include rebates for low-income people who make too little to owe taxes, while Republicans were pleased that the centerpiece of the measure was in essence a tax cut.
8) Pelosi, a Democrat who forged an early agreement on a $161 billion (euro110.5 billion) plan with Republican Minority Leader John Boehner and Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson, later prodded the Senate to break its stalemate and complete the bill.
9) Partisan politics played a bigger role in the Senate, where Democrats were determined to use the stimulus package as a chance to highlight their party's priorities -- including extending unemployment benefits and providing food vouchers and heating aid for the poor -- and wanted Republicans to cast tough election-year votes on those items.
10) They paired those add-ons with rebates for 20 million seniors and 250,000 disabled veterans left out of the House plan, and threatened that Republican senators would have to accept them or risk being blamed for leaving those politically powerful groups out of the stimulus effort.
11) Republicans blocked the $205 billion (euro140.7 billion) package, and when it became clear that he was just short of the 60 votes he would have needed to advance it, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, a Democrat, said it was time to declare victory and move on.
12) "I could have played around with this and tried to pick up that 60th vote, but I made a commitment to get this bill done before (Feb. 15), and we did that," Reid said.
13) Senate Democrats' campaign committee issued news releases bashing vulnerable Republican senators, like Sen. John Sununu of New Hampshire, for opposing the larger package.
14) Republican strategists, however, said they were confident that voters would forget that their senators had briefly blocked the stimulus measure once their checks arrived this spring.
15) "At the end of the day Republicans gave a little, Democrats gave a little, the House gave a little and the Senate gave a little, and I think that is what the American people expect of us," Boehner said.
16) Mostly absent in the stampede to complete the aid package was any mention of the deficit, which will swell to accommodate the stimulus measure. Some Republicans, though, did express concern that the plan was crafted with an eye toward what would be best for lawmakers facing re-election in November instead of what was best for the economy.
17) "It might be political stimulus," said Republican Rep. John Campbell, "but it is the wrong economic stimulus."


Senate approves federal budget that would torpedo Bush tax cuts
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1) The Senate rejected calls from both parties' presidential candidates to take an election-year break from pork-barrel spending as a Democratic-run Congress passed budget plans that would torpedo hundreds of billions of dollars in tax cuts won by President George W. Bush.
2) John McCain, the Republican nominee-to-be, couldn't attract even a majority of Senate Republicans to vote with him Thursday night behind the earmark moratorium touted by party conservatives as a way to restore credibility with voters.
3) It failed on a 71-29 vote. Only three Democrats joined with Hillary Rodham Clinton and Barack Obama in voting for it.
4) The underlying House and Senate Democratic federal budget plans for 2009, though nonbinding, drew blasts from Republicans for allowing some or all of Bush's tax cuts to die in about three years.
5) The House passed its $3 trillion (euro1.93 trillion) budget plan by a 212-207 vote. It would provide generous increases to domestic programs but bring the government's ledger back into the black, but only by letting all of Bush's tax cuts expire at the end of 2010 as scheduled.
6) The Senate passed a companion plan by a 51-44 vote. It endorsed extending $340 billion (euro218.27 billion) of Bush's tax cuts but balked at continuing all of them. The competing versions head to talks in which the House is all but certain to accept the Senate's position endorsing tax cuts for the working poor, married couples, people with children and for those inheriting large estates.
7) All three major presidential candidates interrupted their campaigns for a Senate vote-o-rama that began before noon and included more than 40 roll calls.
8) Budget plans are nonbinding, but they highlight the difficult choices on taxes and spending facing the next president and Congress. Binding votes on the expiring Bush tax cuts will be left to his successor and the Congress that's elected in November.
9) The practice of inserting "earmarked" spending into legislation is seen by lawmakers in both parties a birthright power of the purse awarded to Congress by the Founding Fathers.
10) Earmarks have exploded in number and cost in recent years, accompanied by charges of abuse and public outrage over egregious examples like the proposed "bridge to nowhere" in Alaska, which would have cost more than $200 million (euro128.39 million) to serve an island with a population of about 50.
11) McCain, who has battled with members of both parties over them for years, blamed pork barrel spending for the Republicans losing control of Congress in the 2006 elections.
12) "This may be the last bastion in America where they don't get it," he told reporters after Thursday night's vote. "Americans are sick and tired of the way we do business in Washington. As president, I promise the American people ... the first earmarked, pork-barrel bill that comes across my desk, I'll veto it."
13) However, on taxes, McCain voted to extend the full roster of Bush's tax cuts, which he opposed seven years ago as being tilted in favor of the wealthy.
14) Democratic rivals Clinton and Obama both voted to extend only some of Bush's tax cuts while allowing cuts in income tax rates and investments expire. They joined other Democrats in a 52-47 vote against extending $376 billion (euro241.38 billion) of them.
15) Republicans hope to use the votes as fodder for the heated presidential campaign and for congressional races. "Democrats are quietly but very assuredly paving the way for a massive, economy-choking, tax increase," said Rep. Jim McCrery.
16) Democrats said the plans would reverse years of deficits that have piled up during Bush's tenure. They said he squandered trillions of dollars in projected surpluses that he inherited in 2001.
17) "The Democratic budget continues to move our nation in a new direction and to clean up the fiscal train wreck caused by failed Republican economic policies over the last seven years," said House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer.
18) Democrats argued that when the time comes, they will renew tax cuts aimed at the middle class by closing billions of dollars worth of corporate and other tax loopholes. They also say billions more can be raised by cracking down on tax cheats.
19) In the House, Democrats defeated a Republican plan that would have extended Bush's reductions. The Republican plan also would have eliminated the alternative minimum tax, which was originally designed years ago to make sure rich people pay at least some tax but now threatens more than 20 million additional taxpayers with increases averaging $2,000 (euro1,284).


US Senate climate bill heading to almost certain defeat amid partisan bickering
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1) An ambitious plan to reduce the risks of global warming appears headed for defeat in the Senate on Friday after a week in which bipartisan bickering and political posturing seemed to drown out the environmental debate.
2) Supporters of a bill that would require greenhouse gases to be cut markedly and nudge U.S. energy priorities away from fossil fuels acknowledged privately Thursday that they don't have the votes to overcome strong opposition to the measure, mostly among Republicans.
3) Even some Democrats shied away from supporting the legislation when it became clear that because of maneuvering by both sides they would not be able to get changes in the bill that they viewed as critical to their support.
4) President George W. Bush has said he viewed the bill as a tax on Americans and he would veto it should it ever reach his desk.
5) In fact, it became increasingly clear as the week wore on that the climate bill -- viewed by many environmentalists as historic and essential -- was unlikely to survive the Senate, much less make it to the White House.
6) Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid scheduled an early morning Friday vote to try to overcome delaying tactics by Republicans, accommodating senators eager to depart Washington for the weekend. Some of the bill's supporters privately worried they might not get 50 votes, much less the 60 needed to keep the measure alive.
7) Leading sponsors of the bill already began looking toward next year with a new Congress and, more importantly, a new president, either Democrat Barack Obama or Republican John McCain, both of whom favor mandatory steps to counter climate change.
8) "It's a road map for them," Democratic Sen. Barbara Boxer, one of the bill's three primary sponsors, told reporters, acknowledging Thursday that the needed 60 votes to move the bill forward had not materialized.
9) The bill marked the Senate's first attempt to address global warming head on since widespread consensus has emerged in recent years among lawmakers -- both Democratic and Republican -- that man-made pollution is adversely changing the Earth's climate and must be addressed.
10) But critics of the bill said it threatened economic growth and would raise people's energy bills.
11) The measure would require power plants, refineries and factories to reduce their carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases by 19 percent by 2020 and by 71 percent by 2050. Along with capping emissions, it would allow companies to buy pollution allowances to meet the cap and ease the transition from fossil fuel.
12) The legislation was in trouble from the start.
13) A threat of delays from Republican senators prevented Democrats from moving quickly at the beginning of the week to consider amendments. At midweek, Republican leader Mitch McConnell stunned Democrats by forcing the reading of all 492 pages of the bill into the record -- an almost unheard of move that took 8 1/2 hours.
14) McConnell said he did so because of a dispute over judicial nominations, but Reid saw it as obstruction aimed at stonewalling the bill. Reid responded by essentially blocking any Republican amendments and set an end-of-the-week deadline for a vote.


In US Congress, gas prices trump global warming
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1) The U.S. Congress retreated Friday from the world's biggest environmental concern -- global warming -- in a fresh demonstration of what happens when nature and business collide, especially in an election year.
2) It was no contest.
3) A bill the Senate was debating would put a price on carbon emissions, targeting "greenhouse gases" that contribute to the warming that many scientists say could dramatically change the Earth.
4) Opponents wanted to talk about higher gasoline prices. And higher taxes.
5) That kind of talk spooks Washington.
6) Senate Democratic leaders couldn't overcome Republican opponents who managed to block the most serious effort in Congress to date to address the warming of the planet. The legislation called for cutting greenhouse gases by 71 percent from power plants, refineries and factories over the next 40 years.
7) The opponents first delayed the bill, requiring supporters to get 60 votes, and at the same time attacked it on a gut issue making daily headlines: gasoline prices that have surged past $4 a gallon (euro0.64 a liter) in many parts of the U.S.
8) "At the beginning of the summer driving season (you) offer a bill that would send gas prices up another 53 cents a gallon for goodness sake," Republican leader Mitch McConnell needled the Democratic majority.
9) "This is a massive tax increase on the American people," proclaimed Sen. James Inhofe, a Republican, who is among Congress' dwindling skeptics when it comes to global warming, having once called it all a hoax.
10) Sen. Barbara Boxer, a Democrat and one of three chief sponsors of the bill, disputed both assertions, saying the bill would provide tens of billions of dollars a year in tax breaks for people facing high energy costs and for other measures to ease the transition from oil, coal and other fossil fuels, which are the cause of impending changing climate.
11) She argued that people actually may end up paying less to fuel their cars because a price on carbon emissions would accelerate the push for more fuel efficient vehicles and alternative fuels.
12) While McConnell, Inhofe and other senators from states heavily dependent on coal and other fossil energy made no secret of wanting to kill the bill, they pressed for a longer debate, believing they had an issue that would resonate with voters worried about higher energy prices.
13) "We want this debated," insisted McConnell.
14) Seeing events unfold in the Senate, Republican leaders in the House sensed a useful issue as well. Republican Minority Leader John Boehner called on House Democrats to bring up climate legislation now. "It would be a great time to have that debate," declared Rep. Roy Blunt, the No. 3 Republican, citing gas prices.
15) The leader of the House, Speaker Nancy Pelosi, a Democrat, said she did not think climate legislation would be taken up this year, and suggested it would fare better next year anyway with a new president.
16) Democratic Sen. Barack Obama and his Republican presidential rival, Sen. John McCain, both favor mandatory reductions in greenhouse gases. President George W. Bush had promised to veto the Senate bill if it ever got to his desk.
17) Boxer dismissed the political weight of the gasoline price arguments waged by Republicans as a "phony" debate. "They've got it exactly backward," she told reporters.
18) But economics clearly drove senators -- both Republicans and some Democrats -- away from legislation that would price carbon dioxide and in the process dramatically change future energy use.
19) "This bill is built on quicksand," worried Sen. George Voinovich, a Republican, who said he foresees skyrocketing natural gas prices -- an issue particularly important to his state of Ohio -- as utilities and industries shift away from coal to gas.
20) Sen. Byron Dorgan said that the concern about global warming is real but that he voted against the bill -- one of four Democrats to do so -- because it would not move quickly enough to jump-start development of carbon capture from coal plants and other research aimed at reducing the economic cost.
21) The bill's sponsors said those were concerns that could be addressed.
22) Three years ago when the Senate voted on cutting greenhouse gases, it got 38 votes. Two years before that it got 43. Democrats said this time they had little illusion of getting the 60 need to break a Republican hold on debate but had hoped for 50 or 51 votes, according to Boxer.
23) They got 48, including seven Republicans.
24) Still, Democrats saw Friday's vote as an opening for action on climate change next year when they believe a more accommodating president will be in the White House. A clear majority, 54 senators, expressed support for the bill counting letters of support received by absent senators, they emphasized.


Forces align against Republicans in Senate races
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1) Even the top Republican in charge of the party's Senate campaigns concedes that the Republicans will lose seats this year -- the only question is how many.
2) With President George W. Bush's ratings at rock-bottom, fewer Republicans signing up to vote, and voters nationally gravitating toward Democrats in public polls, the party is bracing for defeats in November that will expand Democrats' now razor-thin 51-49 majority in the Senate.
3) Democrats have solid chances of winning five seats, according to strategists in both parties and public polls, and realistic shots at picking off another three to five Republican senators. Republicans have only one good opportunity for replacing a Democrat, in Louisiana.
4) A quirk of the political calendar -- Republicans are defending 23 seats this year to Democrats' 12 -- put the Republican Party at a disadvantage from the start. Worse still, those include five Republican retirements -- which typically make it harder to keep a seat -- compared to none among Democrats.
5) The scent of defeat threatens to become a self-fulfilling prophecy: Republican donors are sitting on their hands, giving Democrats a nearly 2-to-1 advantage in fundraising that limits the party's ability to defend key seats.
6) Democrats are pouring cash into TV advertising and on-the-ground voter mobilization. They're competing aggressively in 11 states, including such Republican strongholds as Alaska, North Carolina and Virginia, which they hope to convert by translating Barack Obama's appeal to African-American and young voters into wins for Democratic Senate candidates.
7) "It shapes up to be a very good Democratic year. This could be one of those change elections -- I call them tectonic," said Sen. Charles E. Schumer, the head of the Democratic Party's Senate campaign arm, which has $46.2 million in the bank.
8) Sen. John Ensign, the Republican Party Senate campaign chief, says he'll be lucky if his party can hold its losses to two seats. A few weeks ago he said the best-case scenario would be four losses.
9) "I'm getting a little bit more optimistic," said Ensign. "There's no question the challenges have been huge."
10) His top goal now is meeting a low bar -- retaining sufficient numbers to deny Democrats the 60 votes they would need to break filibusters. Today, the Republican Senate campaign arm has $24.6 million and has yet to run an ad.
11) Most strategists see a nine-seat gain for Democrats as next to impossible. Schumer said there would have to be "a huge hurricane." To get there, everything would have to go Democrats' way.
12) They would have to sweep competitive contests in Alaska, Colorado, Mississippi, New Hampshire and Oregon while closing the deal in two states they are now favored to win: New Mexico and Virginia. Both those races are open with the retirements of longtime Republican Sens. Pete Domenici in New Mexico and John Warner in Virginia.
13) Then Democrats would have to beat at least two more Republican incumbents in tougher challenges to Sens. Susan Collins in Maine, Norm Coleman in Minnesota and Elizabeth Dole in North Carolina. Emboldened by money and the poor climate for Republicans, they're also eyeing even longer-odds GOP bastions like Georgia and Kentucky, home to Minority Leader Mitch McConnell.
14) The only real challenge for a seat now held by a Democrat is in Louisiana, where Sen. Mary L. Landrieu has never drawn more than 52 percent of the vote and is up against Republican State Treasurer John Kennedy. Strategists in both parties have long expected that race to be close.
15) They also agree that Democrats are very likely to win seats to replace retiring Republicans in New Mexico -- where Democratic Rep. Tom Udall is running well ahead of Republican Rep. Steve Pearce -- and in Virginia -- where former Gov. Mark Warner is favored to beat former Gov. Jim Gilmore.
16) Democrats are also running strong in a handful of states that previously seemed out of reach.
17) In Alaska, their quest to defeat Sen. Ted Stevens, the longest-serving Republican senator, got a boost with his recent indictment on felony charges of hiding a quarter-million dollars' worth of gifts from an oil company. Democrats have groomed Anchorage Mayor Mark Begich, who's well-known in the state because his late father was a legislator and congressman, to challenge Stevens.
18) If Stevens wins his six-way primary Aug. 26, the outcome of the November race could turn in large part on the verdict in his case, which goes to trial less than six weeks before Election Day.
19) In Colorado, public polls show Democratic Rep. Mark Udall in a dead heat in his race against former Republican Rep. Bob Schaffer to succeed retiring Republican Sen. Wayne Allard. Schaffer has been dogged by accusations he was tied to convicted lobbyist Jack Abramoff, but he has gained traction recently by attacking Udall for his opposition to more oil drilling at a time of rising gas prices.
20) Another tight race is in New Hampshire, where incumbent Republican Sen. John E. Sununu is in a rematch against former Democratic Gov. Jeanne Shaheen. The state is famously independent and unpredictable, but it's turned more Democratic since Sununu eked out a 4-point win over Shaheen in 2002, and the sour public mood toward Republicans is helping Shaheen.
21) A tough environment for Republicans also has put Oregon into play. Democrat Jeff Merkley, the statehouse speaker, is challenging Sen. Gordon Smith, a two-term moderate Republican so eager to distance himself from his party that he ran an ad boasting of his ties to Obama. National Democrats are countering with ads of their own that call Smith a friend of Big Oil.
22) Democrats are also advertising in strongly Republican Mississippi, where they hope Obama will spark turnout among African-American voters high enough to help knock out Sen. Roger Wicker. Wicker faces former Gov. Ronnie Musgrove in a special election to serve out the remaining four years of retired Sen. Trent Lott's term.
23) A similar dynamic could play out in North Carolina, where the potential for high black voter turnout is causing unexpected worries for Dole. For now, she leads Democratic state Sen. Kay Hagan in both polls and fundraising in North Carolina's first-ever all-woman Senate contest.
24) Democrats have uphill battles in a couple of states where they had hoped to be well ahead of Republicans.
25) In Minnesota, Coleman is holding his own in a race against comedian-turned-candidate Al Franken, who has been battered with criticism for a satirical column he wrote for Playboy magazine in 2000 called "Porn-O-Rama!" and for tax-filing irregularities.
26) And in Maine, Collins is relying on her reputation for reaching across party lines to counter Democratic Rep. Tom Allen's attempts to tie her to Bush.
27) Reaching even further to into Republicans' comfort zone, Democrats also hold out hopes -- if everything goes their way -- of ousting McConnell, a master of Senate rules who has been a constant thorn in their side, or Sen. Saxby Chambliss in Georgia.


Returning lawmakers make Capitol a campaign stage
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1) The House and Senate reconvene Monday after back-to-back political conventions, both parties eager to use the three-week session to show voters why their candidates are the ones to fix the economy and lower energy prices.
2) The only matter of business that must be accomplished is passing a bill to keep the government running from Oct. 1 through the Nov. 4 election and until Congress returns. Even that might not be easy. Republicans are threatening to block the spending bill if Democrats do not give them a vote on ending a quarter-century freeze on new offshore drilling.
3) Some lawmakers hold out hopes that an energy bill that has eluded them all year might come together. With 179,000 U.S. troops in Iraq and Afghanistan, Democratic leaders would like to pass a Pentagon spending bill so they can tell voters that the military's basic needs are covered until October 2009.
4) House Speaker Nancy Pelosi on Friday blamed President George W. Bush and Republicans for the latest dismal unemployment statistics and said Democrats would respond with the second economic aid plan of the year. "With the unemployment rate at a five-year high, it is clear that we must take immediate action to strengthen our economy," said Pelosi.
5) Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama said Sunday in an ABC News television interview that the economy is "weak right now" and he supported a second economic stimulus package to "get more money into the pockets of ordinary Americans."
6) But the odds are not good that Congress will act on energy or the economy.
7) Republicans have made the Democrats' reluctance to open up more offshore areas to oil drilling the major theme in their effort to minimize the anticipated loss of Republican House and Senate seats in November.
8) Feeling they have Democrats on the defensive, there is not much talk of compromise.
9) "We'll produce more energy at home," Republican presidential candidate John McCain said during his acceptance speech at the Republican convention Thursday. "We will drill new wells offshore and we'll drill them now."
10) Republicans and the White House also object to the cost of Democratic proposals for a second economic relief measure, which could include public works investment, disaster aid and heating subsidies to low-income families. Rebates for taxpayers, the centerpiece of the $168 billion plan that Bush signed in February, are less likely this round.
11) There are glimmers of movement in the Senate on energy.
12) A group of eight Democrats and eight Republicans is putting together a compromise bill that would allow drilling off the coast of Virginia, the Carolinas and Georgia, and Florida's Gulf coast; invest $20 billion on developing petroleum-free motor vehicles; and extend expiring renewable energy tax credits.
13) Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid would like to make the measure a new foundation for a debate when the Senate considers the issue, probably in the second week after Congress reconvenes.
14) In the House, Pelosi has taken whatever means available to prevent Republicans from getting a vote on offshore drilling. That has included shutting down work on spending bills that are supposed to be completed and signed into law by the end of this month. The new budget year begins Oct. 1.
15) Pelosi says she will introduce a bill in September that would mirror the Senate's drilling compromise, but only as part of a proposal that makes oil companies pay higher taxes and more government royalties, and increases renewable energy and mass transit subsidies.
16) Republicans were not impressed. "The reality is that this will be a political document," Rep. Thaddeus McCotter, a Michigan Republican, said.
17) Lawmakers are under pressure to extend more than $50 billion in tax breaks, including for renewable energy, that either expired at the end of 2007 year or that run out at the end of this year. They also must again fix the alternative minimum tax to prevent millions of mainly upper-middle income earners from being slapped with an additional $2,300 in taxes on average.
18) Republicans have objected to Democratic proposals to raise taxes on some corporate and investment income to pay for extending the energy, business and education tax breaks as well as the $60 billion AMT fix.
19) The House and Senate are also trying to work out compromises on bills to fund Amtrak passenger train service and revamp a federal flood insurance program facing new challenges this hurricane season. They could also vote to replenish the highway trust fund, the source of revenue for federal projects. It is running out of money because of lower gasoline tax revenues this summer.


US Senate votes on financial rescue plan Wednesday
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1) In a surprise move to resurrect President George W. Bush's $700 billion Wall Street rescue plan, Senate leaders scheduled a vote on the measure for Wednesday but added a tax cut plan already rejected by the House of Representatives.
2) Sen. Harry Reid, leader of the Democratic majority, who sets the Senate agenda, and Republican leader Mitch McConnell disclosed the plan Tuesday. The Senate plan also would raise federal deposit insurance limits to $250,000 from $100,000 per account, as suggested by both presidential nominees a few hours earlier.
3) The move to add tax legislation -- including a set of popular business tax breaks -- risked a backlash from House Democrats insisting they be "paid for" with savings elsewhere.
4) By also adding legislation to prevent more than 20 million middle class taxpayers from feeling the bite of the alternative minimum tax, the step could build momentum for the Wall Street bailout from House Republicans.
5) That tax was created in the 1970s to bring in money from very rich people who avoided heavy taxes through legal loopholes; inflation and escalation in salaries over the decades have put millions of middle-class wage-earners in range of the increased tax unless it is changed.
6) The surprise move capped a day in which supporters of the imperiled multibillion-dollar economic rescue fought to bring it back to life, courting reluctant lawmakers with a variety of other sweeteners including the plan to reassure Americans their bank deposits are safe.
7) Wall Street, at least, regained hope. The Dow Jones industrials average rose 485 points, one day after a record 778-point plunge after the U.S. House rejected the plan worked out by congressional leaders and the Bush administration.
8) Before Reid and McConnell's move, lawmakers, Bush and the two rivals to succeed him all rummaged through ideas new and old, desperately seeking to change a dozen House members' votes and pass the $700 billion plan.
9) The tax plan passed the Senate last week, on a 93-2 vote. It included the alternative tax relief, $8 billion in tax relief for those hit by natural disasters in the Midwest, Texas and Louisiana, and some $78 billion in renewable energy incentives and extensions of expiring tax breaks. In a compromise worked out with Republicans, the bill does not pay for the AMT and disaster provisions but does have revenue offsets for part of the energy and extension measures.
10) That was not enough for the House, which insisted that compensation from other expenses be supplied to offset the energy and extension parts of the package.
11) The Senate move seems aimed at "jamming" the House into accepting the deficit-financed tax cuts. Conservative Democrats will not like the idea, but some Congress-watchers suspect most Democrats might be willing to go along.
12) Still, the House is where the problems are, and leaders there were scrounging for ideas that might appeal to a few of the 133 Republicans and 95 Democrats who rejected the proposal on Monday.
13) Senate Banking Committee Chairman Christopher Dodd, a Democrat, told reporters, "I'm told a number of people who voted `no' yesterday are having serious second thoughts about it." He added, however, "There's no game plan that's been decided."
14) The idea drawing the biggest support was to raise the federal deposit insurance limit, now $100,000 per account, to $250,000. Several officials, including presidential nominees John McCain and Barack Obama, endorsed the change.
15) So did the agency that runs the program.
16) Within hours of the candidates' separate statements, Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. chairman Sheila Bair asked Congress for temporary authority to raise the limit by an unspecified amount. That could help ease a crisis of confidence in the banking system, Bair said.
17) She said the overwhelming majority of banks remain sound but an increase in the cap would help ease a crisis of confidence in the banking system as well as encourage banks to begin more lending.
18) Other ideas include extending unemployment insurance benefits, typically a Democratic goal, but one that appeals to some Rust Belt Republicans. Another Democratic-backed idea would double the property tax deduction taken by people who do not itemize their taxes. And another calls for more spending on transportation infrastructure projects, which would create more jobs.
19) Monday's House vote was a stinging setback to leaders of both parties and to Bush. The administration's proposal, still the heart of the legislation under consideration, would allow the government to buy bad mortgages and other deficient assets held by troubled financial institutions. If successful, advocates of the plan believe, that would help lift a major weight off the already sputtering national economy.
20) The proposal ignited furious responses from thousands of Americans, who flooded congressional telephones. The House voted 228-205 against the plan. Some lawmakers reported a shift in constituent calls pouring into their offices Tuesday after the record stock market decline. Many callers, they said, want Congress to do something without "bailing out Wall Street."
21) Bush renewed his efforts, speaking with McCain and Obama and making another statement from the White House. "Congress must act," he declared.
22) Though stock prices rose, more attention was on credit markets. A special rate that banks charge each other shot higher, further evidence of a tightening of credit availability.
23) Bush was talking about everyday Americans on Tuesday, not banks or other financial institutions. And no supporters were using the word "bailout."
24) The president noted that the maximum $700 billion in the proposed bill was dwarfed by the $1 trillion in lost wealth that resulted from Monday's stock market plunge.
25) "The dramatic drop in the stock market that we saw yesterday will have a direct impact on retirement accounts, pension funds and personal savings of millions of our citizens," Bush said. "And if our nation continues on this course, the economic damage will be painful and lasting."


Bailout heads for Senate win; House foes soften
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1) After one spectacular failure, the $700 billion financial industry bailout found a second life Wednesday, speeding toward passage in the Senate and gaining ground in the House of Representatives, where conservative opposition seemed to soften.
2) Senators loaded the economic rescue bill with tax breaks and other sweeteners for the right and left, hoping to secure approval in the House by Friday, just days after lawmakers there stunningly rejected an earlier version and sent markets plunging around the world.
3) The measure has not caused the same uproar in the Senate, where both parties' presidential candidates, Republican John McCain and Democrat Barack Obama, were making rare appearances to vote their support. That would send the package back to the House, where passage would require a turnaround of 12 votes from Monday's 228-205 defeat.
4) Leaders in both parties, as well as private economic chiefs everywhere, said Congress must approve some version of the measure quickly to start loans flowing and stave off a potential national economic disaster.
5) "This is what we need to do right now to prevent the possibility of a crisis turning into a catastrophe," Obama said on the Senate floor. In Missouri, before flying to Washington, McCain said, "If we fail to act, the gears of our economy will grind to a halt."
6) At the White House, President George W. Bush said, "It's very important for members to take this bill very seriously."
7) Even as the Senate neared its vote, congressional leaders targeted the 133 House Republicans who voted against the bill on Monday.
8) House Republican opposition appeared to be easing after the Senate added $100 billion in tax breaks for businesses and the middle class, plus a provision to raise, from $100,000 to $250,000, the cap on federal deposit insurance. They were also cheering a decision Tuesday by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission to ease rules that force companies to devalue assets on their balance sheets to reflect the price they can get on the market.
9) The heart of the bill, and the opposition to it, remained the same. It would enable the government to spend billions of dollars to buy bad mortgage-related securities and other devalued assets held by troubled financial institutions. If successful, advocates say, that would allow frozen credit to begin flowing again and keep the economy from a deep recession.
10) Proponents say the government eventually could sell the devalued assets at a better price, reducing the program's final cost.
11) As for House passage, there were worries that the tax breaks would cause some conservative-leaning Democrats who voted for the rescue Monday to abandon it because it would swell the federal deficit.
12) "I'm concerned about that," said Democratic Rep. Steny H. Hoyer, the House majority leader.
13) As revised by the Senate, the package would extend several tax breaks popular with businesses. It would keep the alternative minimum tax from hitting 20 million middle-income Americans and provide $8 billion in tax relief for those hit by natural disasters in Texas, Louisiana and several Midwestern states.
14) The alternative tax is a product of the 1970s designed to reach money hidden through tax loopholes by a few extraordinarily rich people. Because of inflation and increasing incomes, many middle-class people are nearing the range of taxpayers the tax targets.
15) The Senate bill would not point to offsetting spending cuts to pay for the alternative tax and disaster provisions, but it would have revenue offsets for part of the energy and extension measures. The failure to offset many of the tax cuts angered the House's band of "Blue Dog" Democrats.
16) Increasing the deposit insurance cap was a bid to reassure individuals and small businesses that their money would be safe in the event their banks collapsed. It was particularly geared toward small banks that fear customers will pull their money and park it in larger institutions seen as less likely to fold.
17) The Senate specializes in high-stakes legislating-by-enticement, and the long list of sweeteners it added was designed to attract votes from various constituencies.
18) Tax cuts new and old are favorites for most House Republicans, the main target of intense lobbying to gain support for the measure. Help for rural schools was aimed mainly at lawmakers in the West, while disaster aid was a top priority for lawmakers from across the Midwest and South.
19) Another addition, to extend the deductibility of state and local taxes for people in states without income taxes, helps Florida and Texas, among others.
20) And there were plenty of obscure tax breaks to go around, like one for certain wooden arrows used by children, and another benefiting litigants in the 1989 Exxon Valdez oil spill in Alaska.
21) Rep. John Shadegg of Arizona, a leading conservative who voted no on Monday, told CNN Wednesday he is "strongly leaning" toward voting for the plan.
22) Asked if was ready to switch from no to yes, Republican Rep. Steve LaTourette said: "Not yet, but it's getting there."
23) Sen. John Thune, also a Republican, said his party mates "can argue now that there have been some steps taken that they recommended."
24) The aftermath of Monday's vote, he said, has "changed the complexion, too, of what people's constituents are now saying. ... There's more of a recognition that we have to do something."
25) Besides Obama and McCain, Democratic vice presidential nominee Joe Biden was voting on the Senate bill.
26) Other provisions added by the Senate include a measure to require large companies' health plans to give equal treatment to mental health or addiction if they cover such illnesses. The House and Senate have passed similar "mental health parity" measures, but none has gone to Bush for his signature.


Financial woes boost Democrats in Congress races
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1) The financial turmoil that has devastated the stock market is also battering Republicans in congressional races, giving Democrats a chance to topple Republican incumbents once considered safe and wrest seats in pivotal districts and states.
2) Voters' deepening anxiety about the economy following the enactment of a $700 billion financial industry bailout has created the conditions, just over three weeks from the Nov. 4 election, for an anti-Republican tide that could hand Democrats insurmountable majorities in both the House of Representatives and the Senate, according to lawmakers and strategists in both parties.
3) "It is hurting every Republican across the board. This environment has just become very toxic for us," said Republican pollster Tony Fabrizio. "It could very easily be a wave" in Democrats' favor.
4) Majority Democrats who hold a 51-49 Senate majority with the support of two independents now have solid leads in five races, realistic chances of picking up as many as nine seats and believe they are within reach of their longer-shot goal of capturing 60 seats.
5) North Carolina Sen. Elizabeth Dole, once considered an improbable target in a solidly Republican state, now faces a real chance of losing to Democratic challenger Kay Hagan, a state senator. In Republican-leaning Georgia, polls show Democrat Jim Martin, a former state representative, gaining against Sen. Saxby Chambliss.
6) Even the Senate's Republican leader, Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, has lost ground against Democrat Bruce Lunsford, although both Chambliss and McConnell still lead in most public polls. McConnell wrote constituents a lengthy letter this past week defending his vote for the government financial industry rescue plan.
7) "It's not the bailout itself. It's the conditions leading up to needing the bailout and the difficulty in the economy that is sending voters in our direction," said Sen. Charles E. Schumer of New York, the Democrats' Senate campaign committee chief.
8) In the House, Democrats appear likely to add as many as a dozen seats to their 235-199 majority and could pick up twice that depending on the strength of the emerging surge. Public polls and strategists indicate Democrats are well-positioned to pick off as many as 10 Republican incumbents -- in Alaska, Connecticut, Florida, Michigan, New York, Ohio and Washington, among others -- and leading in efforts to shift more than a third of the 29 seats left open by Republican departures into the Democratic column.
9) Deepening economic worries have cost Republican presidential nominee John McCain ground at a crucial point in the race, and had the same impact on Republican candidates, said Rep. Tom Cole of Oklahoma, the Republicans' House campaign chief.
10) "If anybody thinks this issue has hit each side equally just look at (McCain's) numbers," Cole said. "It's made a difficult situation much more challenging" for congressional Republicans.
11) Democratic Rep. Chris Van Hollen of Maryland, the head of his party's House campaign committee, said the weakened state of the economy has boosted the public yearning for change stoked by Barack Obama's campaign "more-so today than even a month ago."
12) "We will, I'm confident to say, pick up seats in this next election. How many I think is still unknown," Van Hollen said on Friday, wary -- as he has been all year -- about inflating expectations for Democrats after their 30-seat sweep in 2006.
13) Republican Rep. Thomas M. Davis III of Virginia, however, hazarded a guess during a joint appearance with Van Hollen.
14) "You're going to see an election where we're going to lose double-digit seats in the House," said Davis, one of the Republican retirees whose seat is seen as likely to be won by a Democrat next month.
15) Republicans already were facing an uphill battle in congressional races this year. They started out at a numerical disadvantage, having to defend many more seats than Democrats because more of them were retiring. In the Senate, a quirk of the political calendar added to their challenge: Republicans are defending 23 seats this year and Democrats' 12. All 435 House seats -- including one vacancy -- are up for grabs.
16) Democrats have solid chances to win five Senate seats by unseating incumbent Sens. Ted Stevens in Alaska and John E. Sununu in New Hampshire, and capturing up-for-grabs seats in Colorado, New Mexico and Virginia. Polls indicate they have realistic shots at Sen. Norm Coleman in Minnesota, Dole in North Carolina and Sen. Gordon Smith of Oregon, and in a special election against Sen. Roger Wicker of Mississippi to serve out the remainder of retired Sen. Trent Lott's term.
17) Chambliss and McConnell would be icing on the cake.
18) The only real challenge Senate Democrats face is for the Louisiana seat now held by Sen. Mary L. Landrieu, facing Republican state Treasurer John Kennedy. Landrieu appears to be holding her own, say strategists in both parties.
19) "We could have an OK night or we could have a disastrous night -- it just depends on the next two or three weeks," said Sen. John Ensign of Nevada, the Senate Republican campaign chief.
20) With the economy proving a volatile issue, Ensign said he is telling Republican candidates to "just run as hard as you can. There are some things that are outside of your control, so just focus on what you can control."
21) In the House, 10 Republican incumbents are in danger and an additional dozen seats now held by departing Republican lawmakers are seen as highly competitive; 10 more Republican lawmakers are potentially at risk with small leads over their Democratic challengers. By contrast, Democrats are defending just eight incumbents against serious challenges -- Reps. Paul E. Kanjorski of Pennsylvania and Nick Lampson of Texas are regarded as the most endangered -- and one up-for-grabs seat, where Rep. Robert E. "Bud" Cramer of Alabama is retiring.
22) Republicans' challenges have been compounded by a huge fundraising disparity that has given Democrats far more money to spend on crucial TV advertising in the final weeks of the campaign. As of the end of August, the House Democrats' campaign committee had $54 million in cash compared with Republicans' $14 million; the Senate Democratic campaign arm had $34 million and the Republicans' $27 million.
23) The financial turmoil has only added to Republicans' troubles, strategists say, by raising the profile of Bush -- who has spoken publicly on 22 of the past 27 days on the economic mess, at a time when Republican candidates most want to distance themselves from him. It also has eclipsed the issue of energy that many Republicans had believed would help them hold off Democrats in key races.
24) Still, voter sentiment on economic matters can be as volatile as the markets themselves.
25) "It's a horribly toxic environment, but we still have three weeks until Election Day," said Republican strategist Bob Stevenson. "To some degree, it will depend on the market itself, and what answers and solutions are offered by the individual candidates."


Democrats plan spending hike to rebuild US economy
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1) Liberal-leaning economists made the case for several new and expensive spending programs as a House of Representatives panel on Friday pressed the Democratic case for legislation to try again to jump-start the sagging economy.
2) Even though Congress is in recess, Democrats have held several hearings this week to make the case for a $150 billion or more economic stimulus measure to follow the $700 billion bank rescue passed three weeks ago. A round of tax rebates and business tax breaks passed in February was credited with giving the economy a modest boost over the summer, but fears of a protracted recession after the credit crisis have Democrats promising more.
3) While tax cuts for low- and middle-income people are likely to be part of the Democratic plan, Democrats are focusing renewed attention on spending programs like public works projects such as road building and bridge repair, extending unemployment benefits for the long-term jobless, higher food stamp payments and aid to states to prevent layoffs and help with Medicaid costs.
4) "It is urgent that we prepare now to take the next steps to rescue the economy by creating jobs, providing immediate relief to the states and small businesses, and by making real investments in energy, technology and education," House Education and Labor Committee Chairman George Miller, a Democrat, said at Friday's session.
5) Some economists contend that federal dollars devoted to items like unemployment benefits and food stamps are more efficient tools to boost the economy than tax cuts and they say money devoted to infrastructure projects has lasting economic benefits.
6) "Since unemployed persons typically spend their checks to meet basic needs, the program yields a particularly large 'bang for the buck,'" said Jared Bernstein, senior economist for the liberal Economic Policy Institute.
7) But the Bush White House and congressional Republicans have a much dimmer view of spending as a stimulus. They blocked such spending plans earlier this year and again in September, but Democrats hope their resistance will soften as the economy continues to struggle. Senate Republicans blocked a $56 billion stimulus plan last month.
8) There is little evidence of changing attitudes among Republicans, however, though the results of next month's elections could change Republican attitudes.
9) They have outlined an economic stimulus package that will cost more than $300 billion without providing the long term stability or job creation that our economy so desperately needs, said top panel Republican Howard "Buck" McKeon of California in a statement.
10) If Republicans continue to resist, said Rep. Barney Frank, Democrats are likely to rejoin the issue in January, when they expect party standard bearer Barack Obama to take the oath of office as president.
11) "There's no question the House will pass ... a much bigger (stimulus plan) than we passed before," Frank said of a postelection session. "If enough Republicans in the Senate decide to filibuster it ... then we'll just wait until January."
12) Frank added that he believes the Democratic plan would offer permanent tax relief to middle income and working class people.


Democrats look for big increase in Senate majority
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1) Democrats, buoyed by Barack Obama's lead in the presidential race, expect to expand their hold on the U.S. Senate this year, and some are hoping for such a strong showing that it will be nearly impossible for the opposition Republicans to challenge their agenda.
2) If the Democrats can pick up nine seats in voting on election day on Tuesday -- a possibility, though not a sure thing -- it will strengthen their majority from a slim 51-49 to an nearly unbeatable 60-40.
3) The Democratic candidates have a lot going for them -- a faltering economy, the lingering Iraq war and a widely unpopular president.
4) Discontent with the administration of President George W. Bush has been increasingly evident in the polls, which show a majority of voters favoring Obama over Republican challenger John McCain, who has tried in vain to distance himself from Bush. Scandals also have hurt the Republicans, including Republic Sen. Ted Stevens' conviction this week on charges he lied about free home renovations and other gifts from a wealthy oil contractor.
5) To reach 60 seats, Democrats will have to take some traditionally Republican seats in the South. The fact that Obama has supported voter registration efforts nationwide and has campaigned rigorously on Republican turf could benefit his party's Senate candidates.
6) "Overall, I think Obama will help us in the South because, first, his economic message resonates with southerners, both white and black, and obviously there will be an increased African-American turnout," said New York Sen. Chuck Schumer, head of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee.
7) Obama, if elected, would be the first African-American U.S. president.
8) If Obama wins and finds himself with a strong majority in both the Senate and the House, where Democrats also are expected to make significant gains, it will be much easier for him to put his policies in place, said Bruce Cain, a professor of political science and executive director of the University of California's study center in Washington, D.C.
9) "It would give Obama some historic opportunities to move forward on health care reform, energy policy and other social programs that he might not have been able to do if margins were narrower, or if he was facing a Republican Congress," Cain said.
10) On the other hand, a big Democratic majority in the Senate could be a problem should Republican McCain take the White House.
11) "It's hard to predict whether Congress will be open to dealing with him," he said. "If he wins on a racial backlash, then I think we're in for a very bitter two years."
12) Winning 60 seats or more in the 10-seat Senate would be a major boon to the Democrats because it would make it nearly impossible for the opposition Republicans to use a filibuster to kill legislation. A filibuster, a procedural way to extend debate indefinitely and keep a proposal from coming to a vote, can be cut off in the Senate with a "supermajority" of 60 votes.
13) Republican don't want that to happen, but their campaign efforts have been hurt by deepening concerns over the economic turmoil in the United States.
14) "The financial crisis especially has damaged the Republicans," said Stuart Rothenberg, editor of a nonpartisan political newsletter based in Washington. "They're getting more of the blame, fairly or unfairly, because they're seen as closer to Wall Street so there's more animosity toward them."
15) Bruce Oppenheimer, a professor of political science at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tennessee, also believes McCain has failed to energize the Republican faithful.
16) Obama is perceived to be better on economic issues, which are key to voters this year, so McCain's strength in foreign policy and security has been blunted, Oppenheimer said.
17) "And distancing himself from Bush, has he (McCain) made that argument successfully?" Oppenheimer asked. "They haven't been able to stay on message; they've run an abysmal campaign."
18) As a result, some Senate seats that had been considered "safe" for Republicans now have a good chance of falling to the Democrats.
19) In North Carolina, Republican Sen. Elizabeth Dole, who served in the administrations of presidents Richard Nixon and Ronald Reagan and has been in the Senate since 2002, was considered a shoo-in. But revelations that she has spent little time at home in the past year has allowed Democratic newcomer Kay Hagan, a state senator with financial backing from the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, to move into position to unseat her.
20) Seats held by three Republicans who are retiring -- U.S. Senator John Warner of Virginia, Pete Domenici of New Mexico and Wayne Allard of Colorado -- are expected to fall to Democrats.
21) In New Hampshire, John Sununu, the youngest Republican in the Senate, could lose to former Gov. Jeanne Shaheen, the Democrat he defeated six years ago. Shaheen has argued that Sununu's backing of Bush economic policies helped create the current financial crisis.
22) Alaska's senator, Stevens, who is 84 and has held his seat for 40 years, has said he will not drop out of his re-election race against Democrat Mark Begich. Though very popular, he faces an uphill battled as a convicted felon.
23) Other senior Republicans also are at risk, in part because the Democrats have a lot more money to spend on their candidates than the Republicans do.
24) Smelling blood, the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee has been pouring money into Kentucky, where Sen. Mitch McConnell, the Senate's top-ranking Republican, has been characterized as "a lap dog to George Bush" by Democratic opponent Bruce Lunsford, a wealthy businessman.
25) The committee also has been buying ads in Georgia, where Jim Martin, a former state lawmaker, is trying to unseat Republican Sen. Saxby Chambliss. Democrats are still angry that Chambliss won in 2002 by criticizing opponent Max Cleland's commitment to national security -- even though Cleland had lost three limbs in the Vietnam War.
26) The only Democratic seat thought to be in contention, in Louisiana, appears to be tilting to incumbent Sen. Mary Landrieu now that Republican spending for opponent John Kennedy, a former state official, has been cut back. Kennedy, who was a Democrat before he switched parties in 2007, is not related to the Kennedy family of Massachusetts.
27) Cain, the University of California political science professor, said that while the Democrats would win the day on Nov. 4, it would not be without risk.
28) "The downside is that expectations will be higher," Cain said. He noted that the U.S. faces huge fiscal problems which will be difficult to solve.
29) "It's much harder to blame the other party if you're in control," he said. "If nothing is resolved in two years, voters could punish the Democrats for not delivering."


Democrats expected to deepen majority in Congress
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1) Democrats expected to profit from the popularity of Barack Obama and deepen their majorities in both chambers of U.S. Congress, as Americans turned out at the polls Tuesday in record numbers.
2) Public concern about the U.S. economy increased the odds Americans would vote against Republicans identified with President George W. Bush, who has been blamed for the financial crisis.
3) An Associated Press exit poll found that six in 10 voters across the country said the economy was the most important issue facing the United States.
4) That should boost Democrats' chances, because would-be voters have consistently said they believe Obama and the Democratic Party are better suited to deal with economic problems than the Republicans and their party's presidential candidate, John McCain.
5) The issues that McCain has most been identified with -- Iraq, terrorism and energy -- were picked by fewer than one in 10 voters in the AP exit poll.
6) In the first Senate races called by the AP, former Democratic Gov. Mark Warner defeated another former governor, Republican Jim Gilmore, for the seat in Virginia of retiring Republican Sen. John Warner, while Republic Lindsey Graham retained his Senate seat in South Carolina.
7) Democrats were counting on heavy turnout to capture more than 20 Republican seats in the House of Representatives, although the man who heads the Democratic campaign committee cautioned that the gains might not be in the range that some pundits had envisioned.
8) Democratic Rep. Chris Van Hollen said Tuesday that a high turnout for Obama should help House -- and Senate -- candidates. But over the past few days, he said, "we saw actually a tightening in a lot of races. That is why I've been careful ... about these huge numbers people are talking about."
9) Worried Republicans have taken to warning that the United States faces the possibility of strongly Democratic House and Senate memberships at the same time there's a Democratic president. They say that, unchecked, Democrats will go on a spending spree to expand social programs.
10) The Senate Republican campaign committee warned in an ad last week that liberals threatened to take total control of Washington.
11) "No checks. No balances ... a liberal agenda so scary its effects will be felt for a generation," the announcer says.
12) The final pre-election poll by Gallup indicated that Americans generally favor Democrats in Congress by a 12 percentage point lead among likely voters, or 53 percent to 41 percent. The survey was conducted Oct. 31-Nov 2.
13) In the Senate, essentially the upper house of the legislature, 35 seats are in contention.
14) If the Democrats can pick up nine seats -- a long shot that would require unexpected victories in the traditionally conservative South -- it would strengthen their majority from a slim 51-49 to an nearly unbeatable 60-40.
15) Winning 60 seats or more in the 100-seat Senate would be a major boon to the Democrats because it would make it nearly impossible for the opposition Republicans to use a filibuster to kill legislation. A filibuster, a procedural way to extend debate indefinitely and keep a proposal from coming to a vote, can be cut off in the Senate with a supermajority of 60 votes.
16) The Democrats have especially targeted seats in Colorado, Idaho, Nebraska, New Mexico and Virginia, where Republicans have chosen not to run again.
17) Some other Republican senators also are at risk, as the Democratic campaign outspends the Republican Party by more than 2-to-1.
18) In Minnesota, Republican incumbent Norm Coleman faced a tough challenge by Democrat Al Franken, the former "Saturday Night Live" writer and actor who became a best-selling author and radio host on the fledgling liberal Air America network.
19) In Alaska, Republican Ted Stevens, who has been in the Senate for 40 years, faces a tough re-election fight from Democrat Mark Begich since his conviction last week on charges he accepted favors from a contractor.
20) Three relative Republican newcomers, all elected in 2002 -- Saxby Chambliss of Georgia, John Sununu of New Hampshire and Elizabeth Dole of North Carolina -- are trying to fend off strong Democratic challenges.
21) Even the Senate minority leader, Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, who has been in the Senate since 1984 but is tarnished by his association with Bush, has a strong Democratic challenger, millionaire businessman Bruce Lunsford.
22) In the House, the lower body of the legislature, all 435 seats are up for election. Republicans hold 199 seats, the Democrats, 235. One seat is vacant due to a death.
23) Some 29 Republicans in the House have chosen to retire, and Democrats are projected to win at least a third of those seats.
24) Democrats also have their sights on a number of seats with incumbents, including Alaska's Don Young; Colorado's Marilyn Musgrave; Connecticut's Christopher Shays; Florida's Tom Feeney; Michigan's Joe Knollenberg; Nevada's Jon Porter; New York's Randy Kuhl, and Virginia's Thelma Drake.
25) Among the few Democrats in close races are Reps. Nick Lampson in Texas, who is in a solidly Republican district; Tim Mahoney in Florida, who recently admitted to having extramarital affairs; Carol Porter Shea in New Hampshire, and Paul Kanjorski in Pennsylvania.
26) The Democrats, who picked up 30 seats in the House in the last election in 2006 and three more in special elections, are outspending the Republicans this year 3-to-1. They are expected to add at least a dozen seats in Tuesday's voting -- and could pick up 25 to 30 seats depending on the strength of the surge.


Democrats pick up 5 Senate seats, gain in House
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1) Democrats strengthened their majorities in both houses of Congress, assuring President-elect Barack Obama a stronger hand in enacting his agenda of change.
2) Obama defeated Republican challenger John McCain, who was unable to distance himself from the widely unpopular President George W. Bush.
3) The public's expectations were high that Obama, who will be the first African-American U.S. president, will follow through on campaign promises to end the long-running war in Iraq and fix the financial ills that many blame on Bush and his party.
4) Democrats picked up five more seats in the Senate in Tuesday's voting, increasing their control in the 100-seat upper house to at least 56. They currently have a 51-49 majority, including two independents who vote in their caucus.
5) Three Senate races with Republican incumbents remained undecided, among them the contentious re-election bid by 84-year-old Sen. Ted Stevens of Alaska, the longest-serving Senate Republican, who was convicted last month of lying on Senate forms to hide favors he received from a contractor.
6) Races in Georgia and Oregon were too close to call.
7) Despite the strong showing, Democrats appeared to be falling short of their goal to take 60 Senate seats. A 60-40 majority would make it nearly impossible for the opposition to use procedural maneuvers to block Democratic proposals from coming to a vote.
8) In the lower chamber, the House of Representatives, the Democrats expanded their majority by dominating the Northeast and ousting Republicans in every region. The Democrats added at least 17 seats to the 30 they took from Republicans in 2006. Fewer than 10 races remained undecided.
9) Republicans were on track for their smallest numbers since 1994, the year a Republican Revolution retook the House for the first time in 40 years.
10) The Democratic edge in the current Congress is 235-199 with one vacancy in a formerly Democratic seat. Two Louisiana seats, one Democratic and one Republican, won't be decided until December because hurricanes postponed their primaries until Tuesday.
11) "The American people have called for a new direction. They have called for change in America," said House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.
12) It was the first time in more than 75 years that Democrats were on track for big House gains in back-to-back elections.
13) "This will be a wave upon a wave," Pelosi said.
14) House Republicans were licking their wounds and hoping to increase their numbers in the 2010 election.
15) "We sort of got through this, we think, a little bit better than some people might have expected," said Rep. Tom Cole of Oklahoma, the head of the Republican House campaign committee. "Our worst days are behind us."
16) The Democratic victories in the Senate included an upset in North Carolina by Democratic state legislator, Kay Hagan, who unseated Sen. Elizabeth Dole, one of the biggest names in the Republican Party. The former Cabinet secretary in two Republican administrations had been criticized for spending little time in recent years in her home state.
17) In Virginia, former Democratic Gov. Mark Warner breezed to victory over another former governor, Republican Jim Gilmore, in the race to replace retiring five-term Republican Sen. John W. Warner. The two Warners are not related.
18) In the West, two Udalls were elected to the Senate. In Colorado, Mark Udall, son of the late Arizona Rep. Morris "Mo" Udall, took the seat vacated by retiring Republican Sen. Wayne Allard. His cousin, Tom Udall, whose father Stewart Udall was Interior Secretary in the Kennedy administration, took the New Mexico Senate seat vacated by retiring Republican Sen. Pete Domenici.
19) In New Hampshire, Republican Sen. John Sununu lost to Democrat Jeanne Shaheen in a rematch that saw Shaheen referring to Sununu as Bush's "evil twin."
20) Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, a Nevada Democrat, attributed the party's gains to Obama's coattails.
21) "It's been a really good night," Reid told The Associated Press. "Obama ran a terrific campaign, he inspired millions of people."
22) According to other preliminary counts, 12 Democrats retained their seats and at least 14 Republicans were re-elected or won seats vacated by retiring Republicans.
23) Among the Republican survivors was Sen. Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, who outpolled millionaire businessman Bruce Lunsford to retain his seat. McConnell, the Senate minority leader, is a master strategist and could be a thorn in the side of the Democrats.
24) "Winston Churchill once said the most exhilarating feeling in life is to be shot at and missed," McConnell said. "After the last few months I think he really meant to say there is nothing more exhausting. This election has been both."
25) Incumbent Republican Sen. Norm Coleman of Minnesota squeaked by comedian Al Franken, a Democrat, by a margin that appeared certain to trigger a recount.
26) With the unofficial vote tally complete, Coleman led Franken by 571 votes out of nearly 2.9 million cast. Coleman had 1,210,942 votes, or 42.03 percent, to Franken's 1,210,371 votes, or 42.01 percent. The margin was well within a threshold set by state law for an automatic recount that could drag into December.
27) The Democratic winners included Obama's running mate Joe Biden of Delaware who was elected to his seventh senate term on Tuesday but must give up his seat now that he will become vice president. The state's governor will likely appoint a fellow Democrat to fill Biden's seat until 2010 when a new election will be held.
28) A total of 35 seats were in contention in the Senate.
29) In the House, all 435 seats were up for election.
30) The defeat of 22-year veteran Rep. Chris Shays in Connecticut gave Democrats every House seat from the northeastern New England states. The victory by Democratic businessman Jim Himes occurred despite Republican Shays' recent highly publicized late criticism of McCain's presidential campaign.
31) The Democrat also won an open seat in the borough of Staten Island, giving them control of all of New York City's congressional delegation in Washington for the first time in 35 years. The incumbent Republican Rep. Vito Fossella was forced to resign amid drunk driving charges and revelations that he fathered a child from an extramarital affair.
32) Elsewhere in the northeast, Republican Reps. John R. Kuhl of New York and Phil English of Pennsylvania were defeated.
33) In the South, Democrats took seats in Alabama, North Carolina and Virginia. In Florida, two Republican incumbents were defeated by Democrats, including Rep. Tom Feeney, who was under fire for ties to a disgraced lobbyist.
34) In the Midwest, Democrats captured one seat in Illinois and two seats each in Michigan and Ohio. Rep. Steve Chabot, a 14-year veteran, lost in a district that includes portions of Cincinnati, which has the largest black population of any congressional district in the nation held by a Republican. Obama's candidacy was a major factor in the race, where state Sen. Steven Driehaus won election.
35) Democrats also made inroads in the West, where they captured two New Mexico seats, one seat each in Colorado and Nevada, and one left open in Arizona by retiring Republican Rep. Rick Renzi, who is awaiting trial on corruption charges.
36) Among the handful of losing Democratic incumbents was Rep. Tim Mahoney in Florida, who recently admitted to having extramarital affairs. He was defeated by Republican attorney Tom Rooney.
37) But Rep. John P. Murtha, a Pennsylvania Democrat who angered his constituents by describing them as "racist," easily won re-election.


US House leader weighs stimulus bill
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1) The leader of the House of Representatives, Speaker Nancy Pelosi, said Wednesday she hopes Congress can return this month to approve spending measures to stimulate the depressed U.S. economy. She said much depends on finding common ground with the soon-to-depart Bush administration, which more often than not has been at odds with the Democratic majority.
2) At a postelection news conference, Pelosi said a new economic relief plan in the session could set the stage for more extensive stimulus legislation in the new Congress when Democrat Barack Obama is president and Democrats have larger majorities in the House and the Senate.
3) The economic crisis has worsened since the House passed a $61 billion aid bill in September, she said. "The need for more has grown."
4) Pelosi, a Democrat, said she was talking with the White House about a stimulus bill.
5) But White House spokesman Tony Fratto said there was no change in the administration's opposition to a measure similar to the one in September that focused on increased federal spending to rejuvenate the economy.
6) Passing economic aid legislation this year would require the acquiescence of Senate Republicans, who blocked Democratic attempts in September to consider a $56 billion bill that paralleled the House-passed legislation.
7) "The only way we can get anything done is with the cooperation of House and Senate Republicans and the White House," said Jim Manley, spokesman for Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, a Democrat.
8) House Republican leader John Boehner said his party agreed on the need to strengthen the economy. "But it should come in the form of pro-growth policies that create new jobs, provide tax relief, and lower energy costs -- not hundreds of billions in new government spending masquerading as 'economic stimulus,'" said Boehner, a Republican.
9) President George W. Bush last February signed bipartisan legislation that sent rebate checks of $600 to $1,200 to most individuals and couples and awarded tax breaks to businesses investing in new plants and equipment.
10) But pressure grew on Congress to step in again amid the financial crisis that unfolded in September and October. The House legislation would have extended unemployment insurance, provided additional food stamp assistance, given states help in covering Medicaid costs and backed the development of more fuel-efficient vehicles.
11) House lawmakers are scheduled to return to Washington on Nov. 17 to choose party leaders for the next session of Congress.
12) That could provide the opportunity to consider a stimulus bill that might be a prelude to a larger economic recovery plan next year. "We're talking probably in the neighborhood of $100 billion," House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, a Democrat, said Wednesday in an interview with CNBC television.
13) The Senate plans to be in session the week of Nov. 17, ostensibly to consider a bill dealing with wilderness areas, national heritage areas and historic sites. That could be pushed aside if an agreement could be reached on taking up a stimulus bill.


Obama considering $850 billion jolt to US economy
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1) Eager to jolt a worsening economy back to life, President-elect Barack Obama's aides are assembling a two-year stimulus package that could cost $850 billion, dwarfing last spring's tax rebates and rivaling drastic government actions to fight the Great Depression in the 1930s.
2) The emerging plan is blend of new jobs, middle-class tax relief and expanded aid for the poor and the unemployed, congressional officials said Wednesday.
3) Obama has not settled on a grand total, and the final figure could be smaller. But after consulting with outside economists of all political stripes, his advisers have begun telling Congress the stimulus should be bigger than the $600 billion initially envisioned, the officials said.
4) Obama is promoting a recovery plan that would feature spending on roads and other infrastructure projects, energy-efficient government buildings, new and renovated schools and environmentally friendly technologies.
5) There would also be some form of tax relief, according to the Obama team, which is well aware of the political difficulty of pushing such a large package through Congress, even in a time of recession. Any tax cuts would be aimed at middle- and lower-income taxpayers, and aides have said there would be no tax increases for wealthy Americans.
6) While some economists consulted by Obama's team recommended spending of up to $1 trillion over two years, a more likely figure seems to be $850 billion. There is concern that a package that looks too large could worry financial markets, and the incoming economic team also wants to signal fiscal restraint.
7) In addition to spending on roads, bridges and similar construction projects, Obama is expected to seek additional funds for numerous programs that experience increased demand when joblessness rises, one Democratic official said.
8) Among those programs are food vouchers and other nutrition programs, health insurance, unemployment insurance and job training programs.
9) Obama advisers have been contacting economists from across the political spectrum in search of advice as they assemble a spending plan that would meet Obama's goal of preserving or creating 2.5 million jobs over two years.
10) Among those whose opinions Obama sought were Lawrence B. Lindsey, a top economic adviser to President George W. Bush during his first term, and Harvard professor Martin Feldstein, an informal John McCain adviser and the chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers under President Ronald Reagan.
11) Feldstein recommended a $400 billion investment in one year, Obama aides said, and Lindsey said the package should be in the range of $800 billion to $1 trillion. The aides revealed the discussions on condition of anonymity because no decisions had been reached.
12) Obama aides also pointed to recommendations by Mark Zandi, the lead economist at Moody's Economy.com and an informal McCain adviser who has been proposing a $600 billion plan.
13) "I would err on the side of making it larger than making it smaller," Zandi said in an interview. "The size of the plan depends on the forecast -- the economic outlook -- and that is darkening by the day."
14) "Even a trillion is not inconceivable," he said.
15) Only one outside economist contacted by Obama aides, Harvard's Greg Mankiw, who served on Bush's Council of Economic Advisers, voiced skepticism about the need for an economic stimulus, transition officials said.
16) The advisers say they agree with economic forecasts that predict that without a government infusion unemployment will rise above 9 percent and not begin to come down until 2011.
17) Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, a Democrat, said Wednesday that Obama has indicated that Congress will get his recovery recommendations by the first of the year.
18) "He's going to get that to us very quickly and so we would hope within the first 10 days to two weeks that he's in office, that is after Jan. 20, that we could pass the stimulus plan," Reid said. "We want to do it very quickly."
19) In a letter to Peter Orszag, Obama's choice to be White House budget chief, Reid asked, among other things, that the stimulus package include tax relief for middle-class families, including a reduction in rates and an extension of the child tax credit.
20) Obama's aides have said they hope to work with Republicans in writing the bill, particularly in the Senate, where the Republican Party could slow action if it chooses. This week, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said Democrats were preparing their own recovery bill in the range of $600 billion, blending immediate steps to counter the slumping economy with longer-term federal spending that encompasses Obama's plan.
21) A stimulus package that approaches $1 trillion could run into significant Republican opposition in Congress. It also could cause heartburn for moderate and conservative Democratic lawmakers who oppose large budget deficits.
22) "Republicans want to work with the president-elect to help get our economy on the path to recovery, but we have grave reservations about taking $1 trillion from struggling taxpayers and spending it on government programs in the name of economic 'stimulus,'" House Republican leader John Boehner said in a statement.
23) In February, Congress passed an economic stimulus bill costing $168 billion and featuring $600 tax rebates for most individual taxpayers and tax breaks for businesses.
24) The upcoming effort would dwarf that earlier measure as well as a $61 billion stimulus bill the House of Representatives passed just before adjourning for the elections. That measure died after a Bush veto threat and Republican opposition in the Senate.


Dems say stimulus unlikely before inauguration
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1) Congressional Democrats said Sunday that President-elect Barack Obama probably will have to wait until next month before getting the chance to sign an economic stimulus bill his team once hoped would be on his desk by his inauguration on Jan. 20.
2) "It's going to be very difficult to get the package put together that early," House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer of Maryland said. "But we certainly want to see this package passed through the House of Representatives no later than the end of this month, get it over to the Senate, and have it to the president before we break" in mid-February.
3) Obama planned to meet with Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi on Monday to talk about enacting a massive spending plan. The president-elect also scheduled a separate meeting with the entire Democratic and Republican leadership teams.
4) Reid said they will do their "very very best" to get a package finished as soon as possible, but he was unwilling to set an artificial deadline for completion.
5) "We're going to get it done as quickly as we can," Reid said.
6) Added Hoyer: "We're going to move as quickly as possible, given our responsibilities to make sure that we're passing a package that will work."
7) Obama said Congress should pass a plan designed to create 3 million jobs. The Democratic president-elect has not announced a final price for it, but aides said the cost could be as high as $775 billion.
8) Congressional aides briefed on the measure say it probably would blend tax cuts of $500 to $1,000 for middle-class individuals and couples with about $200 billion to help revenue-starved states with their Medicaid health insurance programs for the poor and other operating costs. A large portion of the measure will go toward public works projects and include new programs such as research and development on energy efficiency and an expensive rebuilding of the information technology system for health care.
9) Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky warned Democrats against trying to move quickly without his party's input.
10) "This is an enormous bill. It could be close to a $1 trillion spending bill," McConnell said. "Do we want to do it with essentially no hearings, no input, for example, in the Senate from Republican senators who represent half of the American population? I don't think that's a good idea."
11) Democrats understand that the Republicans have to be involved in anything they do, said Sen. Dick Durbin of Illinois, the Senate's No. 2 Democrat.
12) "Mitch McConnell and Harry Reid both know that we can't pass the economic recovery plan that this nation desperately needs without bipartisan cooperation," Durbin said. "We've got to put aside a lot of the squabbling that in the past and come together under this new administration and new leadership, to get the American economy back on line."
13) Hoyer said they have only two criteria for passing an economic package.
14) "Do it as quickly as possible, but do it right, and do it so the American people know what we're doing, do it so that members of Congress are confident of the action that we're taking," Hoyer said. "So those are the two criteria -- do it as quickly as possible, but do it right. I think that time frame is hopefully certainly by the end of the month."
15) Hoyer spoke on "Fox News Sunday," Reid appeared on NBC's "Meet the Press," while Durbin and McConnell were on "This Week" on ABC.


New US Congress opens pledging to rescue economy
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1) The U.S.Capitol building rang loud with vows to fix the crisis-ridden economy Tuesday as Congress opened for business at the dawn of a new Democratic era. "We need action and we need action now," said the leader of the House of Representatives, Speaker Nancy Pelosi.
2) Republicans agreed, and pledged cooperation in Congress as well as with President-elect Barack Obama -- to a point.
3) On a day largely devoted to ceremony, new members of Congress and those newly re-elected swore to defend the U.S. Constitution. The Senate galleries were crowded; children and grandchildren of lawmakers squirmed in their seats in the House chamber as the winners in last November's elections claimed their prizes.
4) One office-seeker was not among them.
5) In a scripted bit of political theater, Democrat Roland Burris of Illinois was informed he would not be seated because his paperwork was not in order. He pledged a lawsuit, the latest twist in a political drama that began when he was named to Obama's Senate seat by Gov. Rod Blagojevich, who has been charged with having attempted to sell the appointment.
6) Obama was across town in a meeting with his economic advisers as the opening gavels fell in the House and Senate at noon. His inauguration as the nation's first black president is two weeks away.
7) Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, a veteran of numerous battles with President George W. Bush, made plain how glad he was the old administration was winding down.
8) "We are ready to answer the call of the American people by putting the past eight years behind us and delivering the change that our country desperately needs," he said on the Senate floor. We are grateful to begin anew with a far more robust Democratic majority."
9) At the same time, in comments directed at Republicans, he said, "we are in this together" when it comes to the economy, the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, health care and the country's energy needs.
10) Sen. Mitch McConnell, the Republican leader, replied in a speech of his own, saying, "The opportunities for cooperation are numerous." He said Democrats should avoid a "reckless rush to meet an arbitrary deadline" to pass an economic stimulus bill that could reach $1 trillion, and he outlined possible changes in the approach Obama and the Democratic congressional leaders have been considering.
11) Among them was a proposal to cut taxes by 10 percent. Another was to lend money to hard-pressed state governments rather than give it to them. "States will be far less likely to spend it frivolously" in that case, he said.
12) By the new political calculus, McConnell will soon be the most powerful Republican in government after elections that handed Democrats the White House and left them with gains of least seven seats in the Senate and 21 in the House.
13) McConnell's counterpart in the House, Republican leader John Boehner, handed the speaker's gavel to Pelosi in a traditional unity tableau. He, too, pledged cooperation, then said, "America's potential is unlimited. But government's potential is not. We must not confuse the two."
14) Obama spent much of Monday in the Capitol building, conferring with Republicans and Democrats alike on the economic stimulus measure he hopes to sign early in his term. The nation's consumer spending has plummeted, manufacturing has withered and job losses have grown in recent months, adding urgency to the legislative effort in contrast to the customary sluggish start to a new Congress.
15) Speech-making and celebrations aside, House Democrats pushed through a series of rules changes, including one that calls for greater disclosure of earmarks.
16) They also repealed the six-year term limit for committee chairman. It was a legacy of the Republican Revolution that swept through Congress in 1994, and in erasing it, Democrats evinced confidence in the strength of their majority status.
17) In all, 34 senators were sworn it, and apart from the controversy involving Burris, one other Senate seat was in limbo.
18) Democrat Al Franken holds a 225-vote lead over former Sen. Norm Coleman in Minnesota, a result certified on Monday by the state Canvassing Board. He has not yet received a certificate of election, and with Republicans threatening to protest, Democrats made no attempt to seat him.


Obama allies to reveal $850 billion stimulus bill
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1) President-elect Barack Obama's allies in the House are poised to reveal his $850 billion economic recovery bill Thursday, though it'll hardly be the final word on how the debate turns out.
2) Originally pegged at $725 billion to $775 billion, Obama's plan has grown after negotiations with Capitol Hill Democrats and will face pressure to grow further still as it moves through the spending-friendly Senate. The introduction of the massive measure is but the first official step in a long debate that will last into mid-February or beyond.
3) A debate over whether to use the economic recovery package to shepherd into law a tax cut for middle- to upper-income taxpayers is among the major differences between the House and Senate.
4) Rep. Charles Rangel, chairman of the tax-writing House Ways and Means Committee, said lawmakers in both the House and Senate want to use Obama's stimulus package to make the annual fix to the alternative minimum tax to prevent more than 20 million additional tax filers from having to pay it.
5) But making that fix for one year alone would have cost about $70 billion, taking a healthy chunk out of the approximately $300 billion that Obama has set aside for tax cuts. Now, Democratic aides briefed on the details but demanding anonymity to speak frankly, say the soon-to-emerge $850 billion stimulus plan is unlikely to address the minimum tax, at least in the House version likely to be revealed Thursday.
6) A $3,000 job-creation tax credit proposed by Obama, which drew strong objections as unworkable, still appears likely to be jettisoned from the Obama plan, Rep. Charles Rangel said.
7) But a pro-business provision that would allow companies posting losses last year to get refunds for taxes paid as far back as five years earlier now sounds more likely to win inclusion in the relief package after talks Wednesday.
8) The alternative minimum tax was designed in 1969 to make sure wealthy taxpayers pay at least some tax. But it never was indexed for inflation and therefore threatens to trap millions of people for whom it was never designed.
9) The largest components of Obama's plan include $85 billion to $90 billion for cash-strapped states to help pay for the Medicaid health care program for the poor and disabled. Another $80 billion or so would go into a block grant to states for education, which Sen. Charles Schumer, said would prevent cutbacks in school programs, layoffs and property tax increases.
10) There's also about $25 billion to pay for subsidies to help laid-off workers hold onto their health insurance, $35 billion to extend unemployment benefits and a 15 percent increase in food stamp benefits costing $20 billion.
11) Infrastructure spending, especially popular with rank-and-file lawmakers, is set for a big increase. Rep. John Olver, who chairs the panel funding transportation projects and public housing, said he had at least $55 billion on such projects. But other ideas, such as improving the nation's electrical grid, also are getting funded.
12) The recovery bill has set off a feeding frenzy in Washington as lawmakers across the spectrum press for add-ons. Sen. Arlen Specter, wants new health research funds, while Rep. Anthony Weiner, claimed credit for $1 billion worth of police hiring grants, which he hopes would create 13,000 jobs.


Congress tackles measures to boost economy
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1) Democrats in Congress rolled out recommended spending increases and tax cuts totaling a whopping $825 billion on Thursday and debated whether to release a huge new infusion of bailout cash for the financial industry, a rapid response to President-elect Barack Obama's plea to tackle national economic woes.
2) "Immediate job creation and then continuing job creation" are the twin goals of the measure to cut taxes for businesses and individuals while pouring money into areas such as health care, education, energy and highway construction, declared House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.
3) She and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid have pledged to have the economic stimulus bill ready for Obama's signature by mid-February.
4) Both houses debated Obama's call to release another $350 billion from the financial bailout package, but the vote that mattered most was in the Senate. There, Democratic allies of the incoming president sought to permit release of the funds before he takes office next week, and the president-elect made a commitment to use as much as $100 billion of the money to help homeowners facing foreclosure.
5) The 44th president-to-be was at his transition office across town from the Capitol -- and President George W. Bush relegated to the role of virtual onlooker -- as events played out at the dawn of a new Democratic era in government. Obama has called for swift and bold action to confront an economic debacle unrivaled since the Great Depression.
6) In a written statement, Obama welcomed the stimulus blueprint as "a significant downpayment on our most urgent challenges," and said, "it will contain the kind of strict, independent oversight that will allow the American people to hold Washington accountable for how and where their tax dollars are spent."
7) The outlines of the economic stimulus measure reflected a change in political priorities, with an emphasis on spending and tax breaks designed to encourage production of alternative energy sources, make federal buildings more energy- efficient and weatherize homes.
8) At the same time, more traditional anti-recession spending was built in. There was more than $130 billion for health care, much of it to help states cope with the rising demand for Medicaid, the health care program for the low-income and a recession-era refuge for the newly laid-off.
9) More than $100 billion was ticketed for education, in part to help local school districts avoid the impact of state budget cuts. Billions more would increase spending for food stamps and unemployment benefits and finance expanded worker retraining programs.
10) A written summary showed $30 billion for highway construction, $10 billion for mass transit and rail, and $3 billion for airport improvements.
11) In all, the outline called for $550 billion in new spending and $275 billion in tax cuts. And the $825 billion total is virtually certain to grow as the legislation advances through Congress.
12) Initial Republican reaction was negative -- and played on Obama's popularity to make a point.
13) "At first glance, it appears that my Democratic colleagues think they can borrow and spend their way back to prosperity with a half-trillion dollars of new spending and less tax relief than President-elect Obama has been talking about," said Republican Rep. John Boehner of Ohio, the party's leader in the House.
14) Democrats hold expanded majorities in both houses as the result of last fall's elections, and enactment of the stimulus measure is scarcely in doubt.
15) At the same time, lawmakers made clear they will not hesitate to substitute their own priorities for Obama's.
16) The president-elect's call for a business tax credit for each new job created was jettisoned by Democrats who questioned its value and preferred to use the money elsewhere. They agreed to Obama's separate proposal for a tax cut of $500 per worker and $1,000 per working couple. The documents made public did not say whether the money would come in the form of a one-time check or an adjustment in paycheck withholding.
17) The measure does not include money to help middle- to upper-income taxpayers ensnared in the alternative minimum tax, which was originally designed to prevent the extremely wealthy from avoiding payment of taxes but now threatens more than 20 million tax filers.
18) Several officials said the Senate was likely to include that provision in its version of the bill, a step that could push the overall total close to $900 billion.
19) Money for the financial bailout was a tougher sell by far.
20) Several newly elected Democrats campaigned as opponents of the program, which was launched last fall with an initial $350 billion, and lawmakers in both parties have expressed unhappiness with the Bush administration's management of the effort.
21) Obama lobbied Democrats in private earlier in the week not to stand in the way of release of the remaining $350 billion, and a top aide followed up with a written commitment to Reid.
22) In it, Lawrence H. Summers, pledged that $50 billion to $100 billion would be dedicated to a "sweeping foreclosure mitigation plan for responsible homeowners."
23) In search of Republican support, Summers also said that apart from a commitment to help the Big 3 automakers survive, the new administration did not intend to intervene financially in individual industries outside the financial sector.
24) The stimulus measure, meanwhile, encompassed a bewildering array of programs, from money to make broadband available in rural areas to support for scientific, biomedical and climate change research.
25) It also proposed an increase in Pell Grants for college students of $500, and would forgive repayment of a $7,500 tax credit that Congress passed last year as a loan for first-time homeowners.
26) Another $50 million would be spent "to put people to work making monument and memorial repairs at cemeteries for American heroes," according to an information sheet distributed by Democrats.
27) The summary claimed "unprecedented accountability" and said the bill would include no earmarks, the pet projects that lawmakers are fond of promoting.
28) In addition, Democrats said all announcements of contract and grant competition would be posted on a Web site to be created by the new administration.


Obama builds collegial relationship with Congress
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1) President-elect Barack Obama has gone out of his way to consult Congress on his economic stimulus package that could total $1 trillion, a strategy that's aimed at building a collegial relationship with lawmakers from the outset of his presidency.
2) "Congress is a co-equal branch of government. We're not trying to jam anything down people's throats," the president-elect said recently as he lobbied for support of his plan and approval of the second installment of the $700 billion financial industry bailout.
3) To press his case, Obama visited Capitol Hill twice and dispatched top aides there several more times. He made dozens of telephone calls to both Republicans and Democrats to seek their input and, lawmakers say, actually listened to their ideas -- even from Republicans.
4) Should it continue, Obama's collaborative approach with the Democratic-controlled House and Senate would mark a dramatic break from President George W. Bush's dismissive style with Congress, even when his Republican party ran the show. It also would contrast sharply with the troubled relationships the two most recent Democratic presidents -- Jimmy Carter and Bill Clinton -- had with their Capitol Hill counterparts.
5) "At this point, he is signaling a desire to change the tone," said Julian Zelizer, a Princeton University history and public affairs professor. "All presidents try to lay the groundwork for better relations but I do think he's trying to do it a bit more aggressively."
6) Yet, even before taking office Tuesday, Obama also has shown he won't hesitate to use executive power to get what he wants.
7) He recently told ABC's "This Week" that if his stimulus plan isn't ready by mid-February, "Congress was going to hear from me." Privately -- and reluctantly according to aides -- he told Senate Democrats last week he would veto any effort to block the bailout money.
8) A veto wasn't necessary; the Senate signed off on the money after Obama said his administration would track the cash closely and use some to help people facing foreclosure.
9) Several Democrats said they didn't feel strong-armed.
10) "He indicated he was firmly convinced that this was necessary. It wasn't my way or the highway," said Sen. Claire McCaskill. "This is someone who is showing a lot of respect to the legislative branch."
11) Still, for all the warm talk now, there's no certainty that Obama's attentiveness -- or Congress' receptiveness -- will last.
12) Indeed, Democratic leaders recently put Obama on notice they won't always agree to his wishes. Said Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid: "I do not work for Barack Obama. I work with him."
13) As presidents before Obama have learned, even the strongest relationship can easily fray when the administration's agenda bumps up against the politics of the 535-member House and Senate.
14) There's also little indication, thus far, that Obama will undo most of the executive-power expansions Bush put in place as he sought to skirt Congress to push his agenda.
15) Aides say Obama's approach with Congress reflects his personality. They say he prefers to weigh a range of viewpoints and reach consensus to solve problems rather than dig in on a certain position and fight. They also say he has a deep appreciation for and understanding of legislative bodies given his own experiences.
16) He was in the Illinois Senate for eight years, and in the U.S. Senate for four. He chose a vice president, Joe Biden, who has been in the Senate for 36 years, and his Cabinet is made up of several people from the House or Senate, including Hillary Rodham Clinton of New York.
17) Obama also has stocked his White House with House and Senate veterans skilled at navigating the politics from one end of Pennsylvania Avenue to the other. They include incoming chief of staff Rahm Emanuel, a former Chicago congressman who was in Democratic leadereship, and Capitol Hill liaison Philip Schiliro, who has more than 25 years of congressional experience.
18) There's also a political calculation to Obama's outreach.
19) "A shrewd president tries to cultivate Congress," said Don Ritchie, the Senate's associate historian.
20) Obama, who proved himself a shrewd candidate, no doubt is aware of the pitfalls of failing to accomplish his top priority early in his administration.
21) Certainly he's mindful of the need to secure support from both Republicans and Democrats, given the enormous amount of new spending he's seeking. Getting Republican support also would give Obama -- and his Democrats -- some measure of political cover in upcoming elections.
22) The reviews are mostly positive so far.
23) "This seems to be an administration willing to work with you, rather than the previous (Bush) administration that's willing to work on you," Sen. Ben Nelson said.
24) Even Republicans offer cautious praise.
25) "He's setting a nice tone," Republican Sen. John Thune said, noting that Obama's team has been reaching out to Republican leaders even though expanded Democratic majorities don't necessitate it.
26) "So far, so good," added Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham. He contends that Bush's "robust view of executive power" hurt him tremendously.


Obama recovery plan advancing through House panels
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1) President Barack Obama's plan to award a $500 tax credit to most workers is expected to advance through a key House panel as Democrats prepare his $825 billion economic recovery plan for a floor vote next week.
2) Plans to extend and boost unemployment benefits, give states $87 billion to deal with Medicaid shortfalls and help unemployed people retain health care will also advance.
3) Still, Republicans are turning against Obama's economic stimulus program, despite promises by both Obama and Capitol Hill Republicans to work together.
4) On Thursday, House Republican Whip Eric Cantor of Virginia said Republicans want a meeting with Obama to discuss concerns they have over the level of spending in the $825 billion economic recovery program.
5) Cantor, interviewed on CBS's "The Early Show," said Republicans want to cooperate with the new administration to help reset the faltering economy, but that many facets of the program being pushed by majority Democrats would fail to create new jobs.
6) Republicans worry that much of the plan that Democrats are pushing "does not stimulate the economy," said Cantor. He singled out a provision that would spend millions to weatherize poor people's homes, causing it a worthy goal but saying it does nothing to create new jobs.
7) At the same time, Timothy Geithner, Obama's nominee to become treasury secretary, was expected to win approval by the Senate Finance Committee on Thursday, despite acknowledging "careless mistakes" in failing to pay $34,000 in payroll taxes. His confirmation by the full Senate is expected soon.
8) The House version of Obama's "Making Work Pay" tax credit would give workers making $75,000 per year or less the full $500 tax credit; couples with incomes up to $150,000 a year would receive a $1,000 credit.
9) The plan being considered Thursday by the tax-writing Ways and Means Committee also would provide a temporary $2,500 tax credit to help pay for college. It would boost the earned income tax credit for low-income workers and permit them to receive the entire $1,000 per child tax credit as a refund in 2009-10 if they make as little as $8,500 a year and wouldn't otherwise qualify.
10) The panel would also provide $29 billion in tax cuts for businesses to invest in new plants and equipment and permit money-losing businesses to claim refunds on taxes paid up to five years ago, during profitable times. A raft of tax cuts to encourage the production of renewable energy are also in the measure.
11) On Wednesday night, a key piece of Obama's recovery program advanced through the House Appropriations Committee on a 35-22 party-line vote. The sweeping $358 billion spending measure blends traditional public works programs such as road and bridge construction and water and sewer projects with new ideas such as upgrading the nation's electricity grid and investments in health care information technology systems.
12) The measure contains temporary spending increases for dozens of programs across the federal government. There's money to weatherize poor people's homes, boost spending for community health centers, relieve a backlog of construction projects at national parks, and purchase buses for local mass transit agencies, just for starters.
13) "This package is no silver bullet," House Appropriations Committee Chairman David Obey, a Democrat from Wisconsin, cautioned. "What it is aimed at is staving off the worst aspects of this recession. ... I don't know, frankly, if it will be adequate."
14) The sprawling spending measure came under attack from panel Republicans, who said it would flood federal agencies such as the Energy Department with money they can't spend efficiently. They also questioned whether many of the other items in the bill would create jobs, such as $650 million to help people who get their television signals from local broadcast stations adapt to the conversion to digital signals.
15) White House budget chief Peter Orszag responded to criticisms stemming from a Congressional Budget Office analysis that the measure would not inject much infrastructure spending into the economy in the next several months. Orszag, who resigned from CBO the join the administration, said $3 of every $4 in the package should be spent within 18 months to have maximum impact on jobs and taxpayers.
16) Republicans, who said they were receptive to Obama's call for a "unity of purpose," promptly tested the day-old administration. They criticized Democratic spending initiatives and requested a meeting with the president to air their tax-cutting plans.
17) Congressional officials said a meeting was planned for next week.
18) The maneuvers illustrated Obama's governing predicament: his desire to move swiftly to confront the troubled economy while living up to a vow to break the traditional partisan barriers.
19) Asked about early partisan votes in shaping the stimulus package, Democratic House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said Obama is making an effort at bipartisanship by meeting with the congressional leaders from both parties on Friday and with House Republicans next week.
20) Whether the bill is bipartisan, she said, "just depends on how Republicans vote."


Obama asks lawmakers to back US stimulus bill
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1) President Barack Obama urged lawmakers from both parties Friday to back his economic stimulus package, saying the U.S. economy's dire problems require congressional action even if some members object to portions of the plan.
2) "I know that it is a heavy lift to do something as substantial as we're doing right now," Obama said as he sat down with House and Senate leaders from both parties at the White House. Republican members, especially, have objected to some of the $825 billion plan.
3) "I recognize that there are still some differences around the table and between the administration and members of Congress about particular details on the plan," he said. "But I think what unifies this group is a recognition that we are experiencing an unprecedented, perhaps, economic crisis that has to be dealt with, and dealt with rapidly."
4) He thanked congressional leaders for working quickly, even through some holiday periods, to move the rescue package he says will create 3 million to 4 million new jobs.
5) "That is going to be absolutely critical and it appears that we are on target to make our President's Day weekend," he said.
6) Democratic leaders have promised the measure will be ready for Obama's signature by that weekend in mid-February.
7) Obama also said that any legislation governing the use of an additional $350 billion in financial industry bailout money must include new measures to ensure accountability and transparency.
8) The stimulus legislation, priced at about $825 billion and likely to grow, advanced in House committees this week. Republicans, who are in the minority, were unable to make inroads with their proposals.
9) The House Ways and Means Committee on Thursday approved $275 billion in tax cuts on a party-line vote of 24-13. The House Energy and Commerce Committee, also working on the bill, cleared $2.8 billion to expand broadband communications service. And on Wednesday night, the House Appropriations Committee approved a $358 billion spending measure on a 35-22 party-line vote.
10) On Friday, Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus was expected to unveil a Senate version of the tax-cutting portion of the bill. The legislation could have a more bipartisan look in the Senate, where it takes 60 votes out of 100 to overcome procedural blocks.
11) Obama is scheduled to meet with House Republicans next week, at their request. But by then the House bill could be on the floor awaiting a vote.
12) "Yes, we wrote the bill. Yes, we won the election," the leader of the House of Representatives, Speaker Nancy Pelosi said Thursday. But that doesn't mean we don't want it to have sustainability and bipartisan support, and the president is working hard to get that done."
13) House Minority Leader John Boehner, a Republican, protested: "While we appreciate the chance to work with the president, it appears that House Democrats are going to continue to barrel ahead without any bipartisan support."
14) Obama's meeting with the bipartisan leadership Friday came in the midst of increasingly grim economic news. Government reports showed the number of new jobless claims was up and new home construction hit an all-time low in December. Microsoft Corp. said it would slash up to 5,000 jobs over the next 18 months, while chemical maker Huntsman Corp. said it would cut more than 1,600 employees and contractors combined.
15) Republicans have been seeking deeper tax cuts and have said there was no reliable estimate of the bill's impact on employment.
16) "Our plan offers fast-acting tax relief, not slow-moving and wasteful government spending," Boehner said, referring to a study by the Congressional Budget Office that questioned administration claims that the money could be spent fast enough to reduce joblessness quickly.


House Republicans sees stimulus in tax cuts
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1) House Republican leaders presented President Barack Obama on Friday with proposals to stimulate the U.S. economy that rely exclusively on tax cuts and envision none of the federal spending backed by Democrats and the administration.
2) The alternative includes across-the-board cuts in the two lowest income tax brackets, placing unemployment benefits off-limits to taxation and a new $7,500 break for home buyers who make a minimum down payment of 5 percent.
3) Another provision would also cut taxes for small businesses.
4) Republican Reps. John Boehner and Eric Cantor outlined the approach at a White House meeting with congressional leaders of both parties at which Obama urged passage of legislation by early February to revive the economy.
5) House Democrats plan a vote next week on an $825 billion plan that includes about $275 billion in tax cuts and $550 billion in new spending. Much of the spending would come in politically popular areas such as health care, food stamps and road construction and would include money designed to blunt the impact of state budget cuts affecting schools.
6) The Republican alternative reflected fault lines in the debate over the first major issue to arise since Obama and the new Democratic-controlled Congress took office.
7) "Rather than spending too much, too late as the congressional proposal does, our proposals let the American people keep more of what they earn to spur investment, encourage savings and create more private sector jobs," Boehner, the Repulican House leader, said in a statement.
8) While Republicans claimed their approach provided for more in tax relief than the Democrats' measure, they said they were still awaiting official estimates. They also said they could not estimate the number of jobs it would create.
9) It called for reducing the current 10 percent bracket to 5 percent, affecting a taxpayer's first $8,350 in income, and lowering the existing 15 percent bracket to 10 percent, covering income from $8,351 to $33,950.
10) Small business owners could take a tax deduction equal to 20 percent of their income.
11) Many Republicans have criticized the extent of spending advocated by Democrats.
12) "We understand that there will be spending in the final bill, the Democrats have made that completely clear," said Brad Dayspring, a spokesman for Cantor, the No. 2 Republican in the House.
13) Separately, Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell renewed his call for the federal government to provide help to the states in the form of loans rather than grants, as Democrats prefer.
14) In an appearance at the National Press Club, McConnell said of Obama: "I think he's open to new ideas. I've given some of mine. ...We'll see as we go along how many of them are incorporated."


Officials: Family planning money may be dropped
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1) House Democrats are likely to jettison family planning funds for the low-income from an $825 billion economic stimulus bill, officials said late Monday, following a personal appeal from President Barack Obama at a time the administration is courting Republican critics of the legislation.
2) Several officials said a final decision was expected on Tuesday, coinciding with Obama's scheduled visit to the Capitol for separate meetings with House and Senate Republicans.
3) The provision has emerged as a point of contention among Republicans, who criticize it as an example of wasteful spending that would neither create jobs nor otherwise improve the economy.
4) Under the provision, states no longer would be required to obtain federal permission to offer family planning services -- including contraceptives -- under Medicaid, the health program for the low-income.
5) Democrats considered the politically-potent change as congressional budget experts estimated it would take slightly longer for the overall legislation to achieve an impact on the economy than the administration projects.
6) The Congressional Budget Office said the economy would feel the effects of almost two-thirds of the money over the next year and a half. The administration claims 75 percent of the funding would be absorbed in that period of time, and Obama has pledged that the bill he signs will meet that target and either save or create up to 4 million jobs.
7) While the debate surrounding the overall impact of the measure pits economists and their statistics against one another, Republicans quickly seized on the family planning money as evidence that the Democrats were advancing an agenda that went beyond the economy.
8) "How you can spend hundreds of millions of dollars on contraceptives how does that stimulate the economy?" House Republican Leader John Boehner said on Friday after congressional leaders met with Obama at the White House. "You can go through a whole host of issues that have nothing to do with growing jobs in America and helping people keep their jobs."
9) Several Democrats said Monday night that Obama had spoken personally with Rep. Henry Waxman about removing the provision. Waxman is chairman of the committee with jurisdiction over Medicaid and a close ally of Speaker Nancy Pelosi.
10) The Democrats who described the likely reversal did so on condition of anonymity, saying they were not authorized to disclose developments not yet made public.
11) Obama's request to House Democrats underscores the administration's desire to signal a spirit of bipartisanship, a recurring theme for the president in his first week in office.
12) Whether it also succeeds in gaining votes is unclear, particularly in the House, where the GOP leadership has advanced an alternative that consists almost exclusively of tax cuts. The only new spending in the Republican plan is to maintain the current system of up to 33 weeks in unemployment benefits for several additional months.
13) By contrast, the White House-backed bill includes about $550 billion in spending and $250 billion in tax cuts.
14) Much of the funding in the Democratic bill is ticketed for health care and education, as well as money to weatherize buildings and build highways and other transportation projects.
15) A companion measure is making its way to the Senate floor for a vote next week, and congressional leaders have pledged to have legislation ready for Obama to sign by mid-February.
16) White House Budget chief Peter Orszag said in an AP interview that he's confident that the more ambitious target can be met for getting money into circulation in the economy, especially with changes likely to be made in the bill before it reaches the White House.
17) "With appropriate attention and proper management, you can both get the money out the door ... and still have well-selected projects," Orszag said.
18) "I don't see how that's possible," said Sen. Thad Cochran of Mississippi, top Republican on the Senate Appropriations Committee. "They'll be just pouring money down on the ground if they achieve that goal."


Obama pushes economic plan in Congress
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1) President Barack Obama is making his first trip to Capitol Hill since his inauguration as he pushes Tuesday for swift passage and bipartisan backing of his massive $825 billion plan intended to pull the country out of a deepening recession.
2) The unanswered question: whether the new Democratic president will actually listen to Republican concerns about the amount of spending and the tax approach -- and modify his proposal accordingly.
3) Meanwhile, Obama issued more directives aimed at reversing policies set down by former President George W. Bush.
4) Obama set out on an ambitious path to cutting greenhouse gases, ordering a review of Bush administration roadblocks on tougher state auto emissions rules and moving toward requiring cars to use less gas.
5) Obama said Monday that "America will not be held hostage to dwindling resources," declaring the federal government must work with the states -- not against them -- on tougher fuel standards for cars and trucks.
6) In a major foreign policy initiative, Obama dispatched his new Middle East envoy, former Senate majority leader George J. Mitchell, on the administration's first mission into a region that has persistently swallowed the efforts of former presidents to broker peace between Israel and the Palestinians.
7) The decision to dispatch a presidential envoy to the Middle East so early in the administration, is a sign that Obama intends to take a more active approach to the peace process than did his predecessor.
8) In an interview Monday with Dubai-based Al-Arabiya television, Obama said he felt it important to "get engaged right away" in the Mideast. He said he directed Mitchell to talk to "all the major parties involved" and that his administration would craft an approach after that.
9) "What I told him is start by listening, because all too often the United States starts by dictating," Obama said in the interview.
10) With the economy worsening, Obama was making his first trip to Capitol Hill since his swearing in last Tuesday for two private afternoon sessions Tuesday with House and Senate Republicans.
11) "The goal is to seek their input. He wants to hear their ideas," White House press secretary Robert Gibbs said. "If there are good ideas -- and I think he assumes there will be -- we will look at those ideas."
12) The presidential spokesman would not, however, reveal what concessions Obama may be willing to make, if any, to demonstrate his seriousness about bipartisanship and securing Republican support. Gibbs, however, noted that there already are tax provisions in the measure, mostly small business cuts, that are direct Republican suggestions to Obama and his economic team.
13) Republican leaders sent Obama a letter last week requesting he talk with them about the stimulus. Tuesday's meetings follow a bipartisan White House gathering last week with congressional leaders on the economy.
14) Under the Obama team's watchful eye, the Democratic-controlled House and the Senate are in the midst of modifying the package that melds new government spending with a series of tax cuts. It's likely to be the largest single piece of legislation ever, once it ends up on Obama's desk. He wants it ready to sign by mid-February.
15) As Senate committees prepared to take up the measure and the full House got ready to vote on it this week, the Congressional Budget Office released an analysis that found that Obama's plan would flow into the economy a little more slowly than he predicted.
16) At this point, two-thirds of the package consists of new spending on everything from unemployment aid to construction projects while the rest is tax cuts for both individuals and businesses. Republicans are griping that the price tag is too high because of nonessential spending and that the tax provisions are flawed.
17) Democrats in the House of Representatives appeared likely to jettison family planning funds for the low-income from the stimulus bill, officials said late Monday, following an appeal from Obama. Republicans have criticized the provision as an example of wasteful spending that would neither create jobs nor otherwise improve the economy.
18) Obama's meetings come as the Federal Reserve examines unconventional ways to lift the economy, and one day after several companies, including Sprint Nextel Corp., Home Depot Inc., and General Motors Corp., announced thousands of job cuts as they seek to remain solvent in an economic environment that worsens by the day amid turmoil in the financial, housing and credit sectors.
19) On Monday, New York Federal Reserve Bank President Timothy Geithner won Senate confirmation as Obama's treasury secretary despite personal tax lapses that turned more than a third of the Senate against him.
20) "Tim's work and the work of the entire Treasury Department must begin at once. We cannot lose a day, because every day the economic picture is darkening, here and across the globe," Obama said at Geithner's swearing in ceremony in the Treasury Department's Cash Room shortly after the vote.
21) In his remarks, Geithner said the new administration would work first to stabilize the financial system and get the economy growing again and then would move to reform the system.
22) Given the gravity of the economic situation, the stimulus measure is widely expected to pass Congress with bipartisan support. The question is just how many Republicans will side with majority Democrats to pass it.
23) Obama already has had one early victory, persuading Congress to give him the second installment of the $700 billion financial industry bailout money -- and that was before he even got into office.
24) But the stimulus package presents a huge opportunity for the president, who was elected in part by his call for a new-style politics that emphasizes solutions over partisanship to change the way frequently gridlocked Washington works. Getting a significant number of Republicans to back the measure would be a triumph for Obama that would set a bipartisan tone for his presidency and signal that he values Republican ideas -- and is willing to give a little to get a little.
25) For all his courting of Republicans and promises to listen to their ideas, Obama has made clear that it's his vision that will guide the country.
26) "I won" the election, he told Republicans on Friday when pressed about his tax policy -- a comment both the White House and Republican leaders described as lighthearted, though also matter-of-fact.
27) In ordering new action on vehicle emissions Obama said California and more than a dozen other states had tried to come up with tougher emission and fuel use standards but that "Washington stood in their way." He ordered the Environmental Protection Agency to review that action.
28) The Bush administration had come under fire for refusing to allow states to set their own standards, for failing to act on climate change, and walking away from the Kyoto Protocol on grounds it favored large developing nations like China and India.
29) Obama also ordered the Transportation Department to enact short-term rules on how automakers can improve fuel efficiency of their new models based on a 2007 law.
30) A spokeswoman for House Republican leader John Boehner called the announcement poorly timed and ill-conceived.
31) "Our nation's automakers are struggling -- drastically restructuring and shedding jobs just to stay afloat," said Antonia Ferrier, press secretary to the Ohio Republican. "And now they are being forced to spend billions of dollars to comply with California's emissions standards, instead of using that money to save American jobs."
32) Gloria Bergquist, a spokeswoman for the Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers, which represents General Motors, Toyota, Ford, Chrysler and others, said industry executives were awaiting details but that they support "an approach that bridges federal and state concerns about fuel economy and CO2." She was referring to carbon dioxide emissions responsible in part for global warming.


Republican blames Democrats for stimulus delays
(APW_ENG_20090127.0596)
1) The leader of the Senate's Republicans says Democrats are to blame for problems Congress is having in passing an economic stimulus plan.
2) Sen. Mitch McConnell said Tuesday that President Barack Obama is having a problem with "his own party," because Democrats seem to favor spending over tax cuts as the top strategy for helping the economy recover from its woes.
3) McConnell said Republican members are looking forward to meeting with Obama later Tuesday in Congress. McConnell said Republicans are trying to work toward a plan that would have at least 40 percent of the $825 billion measure go toward tax cuts.


Obama pushes economic plan in Congress
(APW_ENG_20090127.0645)
1) Congressional Republicans were testing President Barack Obama's bipartisan ambitions Tuesday during meetings in the Capitol, where he promises to hear out opposition lawmakers disenchanted with the new administration's plans to spend $825 billion to rescue the economy.
2) At every opportunity, Obama has taken his case for the unprecedented spending and tax cut measure to the American public, trying to chip away at the doubts of Republicans in both the House and Senate. They complain the measure should be tilted more heavily toward tax cutting.
3) Tuesday's journey to the Capitol will be his first since taking office last week. Obama's decision to meet lawmakers on their home turf is symbolic of his desire for bipartisan backing for the stimulus plan even though fellow Democrats hold sufficient majorities in both houses to pass the measure, regardless.
4) Obama has been moving rapidly in his first days as president to fulfill campaign promises, shifting smoothly from the economy to climate change to the closure of the Guantanamo Bay military prison to foreign affairs.
5) As he dispatched newly appointed Middle East envoy George J. Mitchell to the troubled region, Obama granted an interview Monday to Dubai-based Al-Arabiya television. The president emphasized the importance of becoming quickly engaged in trying to broker an Israeli-Palestinian peace, telling the satellite broadcaster he instructed Mitchell, a former Senate majority leader and Northern Ireland peace negotiator, to talk to "all the major parties involved."
6) "What I told him is start by listening, because all too often the United States starts by dictating," Obama said.
7) White House press secretary Robert Gibbs said Obama heads to the capital for separate private meetings with Republican leaders in the House and Senate "to seek their input. He wants their ideas."
8) "If there are good ideas -- and I think he assumes there will be -- we will look at those ideas," he said.
9) Meanwhile, Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell blamed Democrats for the hold-up.
10) "We're anxious to help him," McConnell said of Obama Tuesday morning on NBC television. "Frankly, the biggest problem is with his own party, the Democratic Party, which seems to be drifting away from what he said he wanted, which is a package that is at least 40 percent tax cuts and earmark free."
11) Obama, signaling he was prepared to compromise, reportedly spoke with key house Democrats Monday about jettisoning family planning funds for the low-income from an $825 billion stimulus measure.
12) A final decision was expected on Tuesday, coinciding with Obama's visit to Capitol. The provision has emerged as a point of contention among Republicans, who criticize it as an example of wasteful spending that would neither create jobs nor otherwise improve the economy.
13) Under the provision, states no longer would be required to obtain federal permission to offer family planning services -- including contraceptives -- under Medicaid, the federal health program for people with low incomes.
14) Democrats considered the politically potent change as congressional budget experts estimated it would take slightly longer for the overall legislation to achieve an impact on the economy than the administration projects.
15) The Congressional Budget Office said the economy would feel the effects of almost two-thirds of the money over the 18 months. The administration claims 75 percent of the funding would be absorbed in that period, and Obama has pledged that the bill he signs will meet that target while saving or creating as many as 4 million jobs.
16) As Senate committees prepared to take up the stimulus package and the full House prepared to vote on it this week New York Federal Reserve Bank President Timothy Geithner took over at the U.S. Treasury after sinning Senate confirmation despite personal tax lapses that turned more than a third of the Senate against him.
17) "Tim's work and the work of the entire Treasury Department must begin at once. We cannot lose a day, because every day the economic picture is darkening, here and across the globe," Obama said Monday night at Geithner's swearing in ceremony.
18) Geithner said the new administration would work first to stabilize the financial system and revive the moribund economy, then move to reform the system.


Obama pushes economic plan in Congress
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1) President Barack Obama made an unusual visit to congressional Republicans to rally support for his $825 billion economic stimulus package, as the Democrat followed up on his campaign promise to try to break down partisan divisions.
2) The House of Representatives is to vote on the measure Wednesday, and Democrats hold sufficient majorities in both chambers to pass the bill regardless of how Republicans vote.
3) But Obama's decision to meet with opposition lawmakers on their Capitol Hill home turf Tuesday is symbolic of his desire for bipartisan backing for the plan, and working with Republicans helps to protect his image as a different kind of politician and president.
4) "The American people expect action," Obama said as he shuttled between closed-door meetings.
5) Republicans who attended the sessions later said the president did not agree to any specific changes but did pledge to have his aides consider some points that Republican lawmakers raised dealing with additional tax relief for businesses.
6) House Republican leaders welcomed the Democratic president a few hours after urging their rank-and-file to oppose the stimulus bill, and it was far from clear that Obama had managed to pick up any actual support during the day.
7) Republicans are trying to regroup after last fall's elections, in which they lost the White House as well as seats in both houses of Congress. While some conservatives seem eager to mount a frontal attack on Obama and his plans, others are pursuing a strategy of criticizing congressional Democrats rather than the president.
8) "I think we both share a sincere belief that we have to have a plan that works," House Republican leader John Boehner said after meeting with Obama. "The president is sincere in wanting to work with us, wanting to here our ideas and find some common ground."
9) White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs said the administration expects some Republican lawmakers will vote for the measure on Wednesday in the House, and indicated he hopes there will be more in the Senate and even more later when a final compromise is reached. So far, the Senate has been showing signs of greater bipartisanship.
10) Congressional leaders have pledged to have the bill on Obama's desk by mid-February.
11) "I don't expect 100 percent agreement from my Republican colleagues, but I do hope that we can all put politics aside and do the American people's business right now," Obama said.
12) The legislation includes roughly $550 billion in spending as well as $275 billion in tax cuts. Much of the spending would be for items such as health care, jobless benefits, food stamps and other programs that benefit victims of the recession.
13) Obama's trip to the Capitol marked his second attempt to reach across party lines in as many days. On Monday, he leaned on House Democrats to drop an item that would make it easier for states to provide family planning funds for the poor, a provision in the legislation that had become a target of ridicule for Republicans. Gibbs said Obama supports the concept but wants it included in a different bill.
14) Democrats said deleting the provision would wind up increasing federal spending, since it probably would mean more money spent on higher pregnancy and post-natal care.
15) Obama has been moving rapidly in his first days as president to fulfill campaign promises, shifting smoothly from the economy to climate change to the closure of the Guantanamo Bay military prison to foreign affairs.
16) Obama planned to hear the opinions of the four U.S. military service chiefs on Wednesday, which the White House called one more step toward fulfilling his promise of withdrawing all combat troops from Iraq.
17) The service chiefs are among those in the Pentagon hierarchy who have expressed concerns about the impact that long, repeated war tours in Iraq have had on the U.S. military. The chairman and vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff -- the president's senior uniformed military advisers -- and Defense Secretary Robert Gates will also be at the meeting, to be held at the Pentagon in the afternoon.
18) Separately, the Senate Armed Services Committee on Tuesday heard about plans to bolster operations in Afghanistan, as Gates testified that the Pentagon could send two more brigades there by late spring and a third brigade by late summer. Obama has indicated he wants to shift more military resources from Iraq to Afghanistan.
19) And as he dispatched newly appointed Middle East envoy George J. Mitchell to the troubled region, Obama granted an interview Monday to Dubai-based Al-Arabiya television. The president emphasized the importance of becoming quickly engaged in trying to broker an Israeli-Palestinian peace, telling the satellite broadcaster he instructed Mitchell, a former Senate majority leader and Northern Ireland peace negotiator, to talk to "all the major parties involved."
20) "What I told him is start by listening, because all too often the United States starts by dictating," Obama said.


House to vote on Obama ' s US economic stimulus plan
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1) President Barack Obama said Wednesday he is confident that a multibillion dollar plan to kick-start the ailing US economy will survive a crucial vote in the House of Representatives.
2) He was not anxious to say how much Republican support he will get when the roll is called, however. Democrats enjoy a sufficiently comfortable majority that they likely will not need Republican help when the vote happens. Obama had said earlier that Republican support would back up his argument that a new style of bipartisan politics is needed in Washington.
3) Asked whether he was confident of getting Republican support, he replied only: "I'm confident we're going to get it passed."
4) The president talked about prospects for the $825 billion measure during a picture-taking opportunity at the White House where he was surrounded by supportive chief executive officers from major businesses.
5) "These are people who make things, who hire people," Obama said. "They are on the front lines in seeing the enormous problems in our economy right now. Their ideas and their concerns have helped to shape our recovery package."
6) Obama said their presence underscores why it is so important to "act, and act swiftly" in getting the nation's economy going on.
7) His program is expansive -- and expensive. Republican support has been in doubt, and remained in doubt in the hours leading up to the vote.
8) House Minority Leader John Boehner would not Wednesday how he thought the vote would turn out. He did emphasize anew that Republican members are worried about billions in domestic spending that "has nothing to do with creating jobs or preserving jobs."
9) "We're for more than just cutting taxes," Boehner said on ABC television's "Good Morning America."
10) Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell told CNN television that "where we have differences with the House Democrats is that the package just doesn't seem to reflect our priorities, nor the president's."
11) McConnell said the proportion of tax cuts versus spending increases in the version being pushed by Democrats has been "crammed down" to about 20 percent of the total instead of the 40 percent envisioned by both Republicans and Obama.
12) Senate committees were working on a separate version of the measure that enjoyed only slightly more support from Republicans. Congressional leaders have promised Obama they would send him the measure, which could be the single largest bill ever to go through Congress, by mid-February.
13) The president's first days in office have been dominated by his efforts to drum up bipartisan support for the sweeping plan to help pull the country out of the year-old recession that he inherited from former President George W. Bush. The increasingly troublesome economy -- and the federal government's response to it -- is the first major test of Obama's presidency; how he handles the volatile situation, and the effect of his stimulus package on the economy, could well set the tone for his first year in office, if not his entire term.
14) He is casting the measure as the first step toward turning around the moribund economy while laying the foundation for long-term objectives, like developing alternative energy sources and rebuilding the country's highways.
15) The House measure includes about $550 billion in spending and roughly $275 billion in tax cuts in hopes of spurring the economy and helping those directly affected. Much of the spending would be for items such as health care, jobless benefits, food stamps and other programs that benefit victims of the downturn.


House approves economic stimulus bill
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1) The Democratic-controlled House has approved an $819 billion economic stimulus package critical to President Barack Obama's plan to revive the economy.
2) The House vote came after days of intense lobbying by the new president, including personal appeals to congressional Republicans. The minority party's lawmakers spurned Obama, however, saying the bill contained too much spending and not enough tax cuts.
3) Democrats argued that the bill was imperative with the economy in the worst shape since the Great Depression during the 1930s.
4) The legislation includes an estimated $544 billion in federal spending and $275 billion in tax cuts for individuals and businesses. It includes money for highway construction and mass transit.
5) The Senate is working on a costlier version of the bill.


House passes economic stimulus, prodded by Obama
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1) In a swift victory for President Barack Obama, the Democratic-controlled House of Representatives approved a historically huge $819 billion stimulus bill Wednesday night, filled with new spending and tax cuts at the core of the young administration's revival plan for the desperately ailing economy.
2) The vote was 244-188. Despite Obama's urging, few members of the opposition Republican Party voted for the bill.
3) "We don't have a moment to spare," Obama declared at the White House as congressional allies hastened to do his bidding in the face of the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression.
4) The vote sent the bill to the Senate, where debate is expected to begin as early as this week on a companion measure already taking shape. Democratic leaders have pledged to have legislation ready for Obama's signature by mid-February.
5) A mere eight days after Inauguration Day, Speaker Nancy Pelosi said Tuesday's events heralded a new era. "The ship of state is difficult to turn," said the Democratic leader. "But that is what we must do. That is what President Obama called us to do in his inaugural address."
6) With unemployment at its highest level in a quarter-century, the banking industry wobbling despite the infusion of staggering sums of bailout money and states struggling with budget crises, Democrats said the legislation was needed desperately.
7) "Another week that we delay is another 100,000 or more people unemployed. I don't think we want that on our consciences," said Democratic Rep. David Obey, chairman of the House Appropriations Committee and a leading architect of the legislation.
8) Republicans said the bill was short on tax cuts and contained too much spending, much of it wasteful and unlikely to help laid-off Americans.
9) The party's leader, Rep. John Boehner, said the measure "won't create many jobs, but it will create plenty of programs and projects through slow-moving government spending." A Republican alternative, comprised almost entirely of tax cuts, was defeated, 266-170, moments before the final vote.
10) On the final vote, the legislation drew overwhelming support among Democrats while all but a few Republicans opposed it.
11) The White House-backed legislation includes an estimated $544 billion in federal spending and $275 billion in tax cuts for individuals and businesses.
12) Included is money for traditional job-creating programs such as highway construction and mass transit projects. But the measure tickets far more for unemployment benefits, health care and food stamp increases designed to aid victims of the worst economic downturn since the 1930s.
13) Tens of billions of additional dollars would go to the states, which confront the prospect of deep budget cuts of their own. That money marks an attempt to ease the recession's impact on schools and law enforcement. With money for housing weatherization and other provisions, the bill also makes a down payment on Obama's campaign promise of creating jobs that can reduce the nation's dependence on foreign oil.
14) The centerpiece tax cut calls for a $500 break for single workers and $1,000 for couples, including those who do not earn enough to owe federal income taxes.
15) The House vote marked merely the first of several major milestones a for the legislation, which Democratic leaders have pledged to deliver to the White House for Obama's signature by mid-February.
16) Already a more bipartisan and costlier measure is taking shape in the Senate, and Obama personally pledged to House and Senate Republicans in closed-door meetings on Tuesday that he is ready to accept modifications as the legislation advances.
17) Rahm Emanuel, a former Illinois congressman who is Obama's chief of staff, invited nearly a dozen House Republicans to the White House late Tuesday for what one participant said was a soft sales job.
18) This lawmaker quoted Emanuel as telling the group that polling shows roughly 80 percent support for the legislation, and that Republicans oppose it at their political peril. The lawmaker spoke on condition of anonymity, saying there was no agreement to speak publicly about the session.
19) In fact, though, many Republicans in the House are virtually immune from Democratic challenges because of the makeup of their districts and have more to fear from primary challenges from their own party in 2010. As a result, they have relatively little political incentive to break with conservative orthodoxy and support hundreds of billions in new federal spending.
20) Also, some Republican lawmakers have said in recent days they know they will have a second chance to support a bill when the final House-Senate compromise emerges in a few weeks.
21) That gave an air of predictability to the proceedings in the House, as Democrats defended the legislation as an appropriate response to the specter of double-digit unemployment in the near future.
22) Republican Rep. Randy Neugebauer sought to strip out all the spending from the legislation before final passage, arguing that the entire cost of the bill would merely add to soaring federal deficits. "Where are we going to get the money," he asked, but his attempt failed overwhelmingly, 302-134.
23) Obey had a ready retort. "They don't look like Herbert Hoover, I guess, but there are an awful lot of people in this chamber who think like Herbert Hoover," he said, referring to the president whose term is forever linked in history with the Great Depression.


Analysis: Republicans run risk in Obama opposition
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1) WASHINGTON (AP -- Eight days after Barack Obama took office as a "change" president, House Republicans have made a huge political gamble that could set the tone for the next election cycle in 2010.
2) In unanimously opposing the massive spending bill that Obama says is crucial to reviving the economy, they signaled they are not cowed by his November victory or his calls for a new era of bipartisanship. Obama's popularity will slacken, they say, and even if it does not, voters will reward a party that makes principled stands for restrained spending and bigger tax cuts.
3) Democratic officials think Republicans are misreading Americans' hunger for action. If they are right, the opposition party could face a third consecutive round of election setbacks next year.
4) Eyebrows were raised on both sides by Wednesday night's 244-188 House vote, in which not a single Republican supported the stimulus package.
5) Passage was never in doubt, even when 11 Democrats joined the Republicans in voting nay. The Democratic-controlled Congress is almost certain to enact some version of the measure soon, after senators make changes and work out the differences with the House of Representatives.
6) Many congressional insiders, however, thought a dozen or more Republican House members would support the bill this week, especially after Obama met separately Tuesday with House and Senate Republicans in a rare presidential visit to the Capitol's two wings. The House vote makes it easier for Democrats to portray the entire Republican Party as a do-nothing, head-in-the-sand group, although opposition party officials call that unfair.
7) "I think the Republicans have painted themselves into a box," said David DiMartino, a former Senate Democratic staffer now in public relations. "If the stimulus package works, they were wrong. For them to be right, the economy has to tank. They seem to be rooting for a bad economy."
8) Democratic strategists also think Republicans blundered by unanimously opposing Obama just after he made a high-profile show of bipartisanship. Not only was there his visit to the Capitol, but he agreed to drop two items from the bill that drew particular fire from the Republicans: money to re-sod the National Mall in Washington and to expand family planning programs.
9) Republicans began pushing back Thursday. The two concessions were small, they said, and Democrats ignored the party's alternative package that included more tax cuts and less spending, especially for programs with no obvious promise for stimulating the economy quickly.
10) Having Congress do nothing is not an option, "although sometimes our Democratic friends would like to present the false choice," Republican Sen. Jon Kyl told reporters.
11) If a Democratic measure fails to improve the economy, Kyl said, then in about six months Republicans will "be in the position to say, `We didn't have the input into this that we needed, and that's why it hasn't worked.'"
12) For now, at least, White House aides see Obama's outreach to Republicans as a win-win for him, no matter where the House and Senate votes end up. They calculate that Americans will give him credit for trying to win Republicans over, even if he should fail.
13) Liberal groups and labor unions turned up the heat Thursday. They announced a TV ad campaign meant to pressure moderate Republican senators to back the stimulus bill. The ad, financed by Democratic pressure groups, targets Republican Sens. Susan Collins and Olympia Snowe of Maine, Charles Grassley of Iowa, Judd Gregg of New Hampshire and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska.
14) White House press secretary Robert Gibbs said Obama will continue to meet with Republicans and make changes to the bill in response to their concerns. However, Gibbs suggested in an interview, Republican lawmakers will pay a political price if they ultimately stand in the bill's way.
15) "There will be people in districts all over the country who will wonder why, when there's a good bill to get the economy moving, why we still are playing gotcha," he said.
16) Both parties point to polls that they say show support for their respective viewpoints. White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel told House Republican moderates this week that surveys find about 80 percent support for the stimulus legislation.
17) House opposition leaders, meanwhile, cited a poll Thursday in which most respondents said the stimulus bill is too expensive. It also found, they said, that 71 percent think it is unfair to give refund checks to people who do not pay federal income taxes.
18) Many low-income workers already receive some benefits through the Earned Income Tax Credit, but the stimulus bill would expand refunds to help offset payroll taxes that these workers pay.
19) Republicans' biggest complaint is that the package is loaded with items that they say seem more likely to promote liberal agendas than to stimulate the economy in the short run. They include $1 billion for the Census Bureau and money to combat Avian flu and help people stop smoking.
20) With such items being highlighted, "it's becoming an easier `no' vote for all of us," Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham said in an interview Thursday.
21) Many Republican lawmakers feel they were stampeded into voting late last year for a $700 billion financial bailout measure that proved unpopular with voters and of questionable benefit, Graham said. They worry that the stimulus bill might have a similar fate.
22) "Who wants to own an $850 billion increase in the national debt," Graham said, "not knowing whether it will work?"


Obama to outline new economic rescue plan soon
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1) President Barack Obama is trying to reach out to the Republican opposition to gain support for his multi-billion dollar economic stimulus plan in Congress.
2) His attempts at bi-partisanship on Sunday will involve hosting a group of lawmakers -- some Republicans, many Democrats -- to watch the American football championship game between the Pittsburgh Steelers and the Arizona Cardinals.
3) Obama this past week won passage of a separate $825 billion economic stimulus plan in the House without a single Republican vote. It now heads to the Senate, where Vice President Joe Biden predicts the measure will fare better among Republican lawmakers.
4) The group of lawmakers invited to watch the Superbowl with Obama include 11 Democrats and four Republicans.
5) Press secretary Robert Gibbs said the gathering is another step in the president's continuing effort to reach out to lawmakers and get to know them better in hopes of reducing the partisan rancor as they work together on the people's business.
6) Since becoming president, Obama has met at the White House with congressional leaders, traveled to Capitol Hill for private sessions with House and Senate Republicans and invited a bipartisan group of lawmakers to the executive mansion for cocktails.
7) The Democratic president does not need Republicans for his economic plan and other initiatives to clear the Democratic-controlled Congress, but he has said he wants to get away from politics as usual and introduce a new era of bipartisanship at a time when the country faces two wars and its worst recession in 70 years.
8) Obama appeared to be leaning toward appointing a third Republican to his Cabinet, a move that would place the fiscally conservative Sen. Judd Gregg at the head of the Commerce Department.
9) A liberal Democrat, New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson, was initially tapped for the post, but bowed out when a grand jury investigation over how state contracts were issued to political donors threatened to cloud his confirmation hearings.
10) Gregg is the leading candidate to become commerce secretary, an Obama administration official said Saturday. A decision could come as soon as Monday, according to the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because the official wasn't authorized to discuss administration deliberations.
11) Republicans pledged on Saturday to work with Obama, although leaders cautioned against treating government spending like a "trillion-dollar Christmas list" and renewed their opposition to much of the bill's spending.
12) "A problem that started on Wall Street is reaching deeper and deeper into Main Street. And the president is counting on members of Congress to come together in a spirit of bipartisanship to act," Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, said in the Republican's radio address. "Unfortunately, the plan that Democrats in Congress put forward this week falls far short of the president's vision for a bill that creates jobs and puts us on a path to long-term economic health."
13) However, Obama's stimulus plan was receiving support from most Republican governors because it would send billions to states for education, public works and health care.
14) Their state treasuries drained by the financial crisis, governors would welcome the money from Washington.
15) Vermont Gov. Jim Douglas, the Republican vice chairman of the National Governors Association, planned to be in Washington on Monday to urge the Senate to approve the plan.
16) "As the executive of a state experiencing budget challenges, Gov. Douglas has a different perspective on the situation than congressional Republicans," said Douglas' deputy chief of staff, Dennise Casey.
17) Meanwhile, the White House continues to decide how to structure the remaining half of the $700 billion that Congress approved last year to save financial institutions and lenders. An announcement was possible as early as this coming week on an approach that would use a range of tools to unfreeze credit, helping families and businesses.
18) At the end of a week that saw hundreds of thousands of people lose their jobs, Obama also used his Saturday radio and Internet address to tell Americans that "no one bill, no matter how comprehensive, can cure what ails our economy."
19) During the final three months of 2008, the U.S. economy recorded its worst downhill slide in a quarter-century, stumbling backward at a 3.8 percent pace, the government reported Friday; that rate could accelerate to 5 percent or more this quarter.
20) Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner is trying to finish a plan to overhaul the bailout program begun in the Bush administration. Geithner has said the administration is considering using a government-run "bad bank" to buy up financial institutions' bad assets. But some officials now say that option is gone because of potential costs.
21) Many ideas under consideration could end up costing hundreds of billions beyond the original price tag. Aides would not rule out the possibility that the administration would seek more than the $350 billion already set aside.
22) The Bush administration's spending of the first $350 billion of the bailout package drew heavy bipartisan and public criticism because it went overwhelmingly to bankers who have not put much of the money into the credit system. Obama only gained access to the second $350 billion with written assurances to Congress that the funds would reach Americans facing home mortgage foreclosures and in need of credit for autos and other big ticket items.
23) Geithner met Friday with Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke and other top government officials to develop a plan and improve regulation of the financial system.


Senators question Daschle ' s late tax filing
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1) Republican and Democratic senators on Sunday questioned how former Sen. Tom Daschle could make a $128,203 mistake on his taxes but said they were not prepared to oppose his nomination as health secretary.
2) "You have to be troubled by it," said Sen. Jon Kyl of Arizona, the No. 2 Republican in the Senate.
3) "We'll have to question former Sen. Daschle and understand his explanation, and then have a conversation about it and see where it goes," Kyl said on "Fox News Sunday." As to how much trouble the tax issue could present for the nomination, he said, "I think it's too early to tell."
4) Daschle, chosen by President Barack Obama to lead the administration's all-important health care reform initiatives, is the second Cabinet nominee to scramble to pay back taxes. Timothy Geithner's confirmation as treasury secretary was delayed after it was revealed that he had failed to pay more than $34,000 in taxes.
5) Daschle recently filed amended tax returns to report $128,203 in back taxes and $11,964 in interest. The amended returns reflect additional income for consulting work, the use of a car service and reduced deductions for charitable contributions.
6) The South Dakota Democrat, once the majority leader of the Senate, was scheduled to meet privately Monday with the Senate Finance Committee.
7) Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky said he was surprised that Daschle had not paid his taxes properly but would not say whether he thought the nomination was in trouble. He said the committee will make a recommendation to the full Senate. "I think I'm going to just wait until they give me their opinion," he told CBS television's "Face the Nation."
8) Sen. Jim DeMint, a South Carolina Republican, said the problem could disqualify Daschle but that he wanted to learn more about the matter.
9) "It's disheartening, obviously. People are struggling to pay taxes on a very small amount of income and he's got this huge amount," DeMint said on ABC's "This Week."
10) Sen. Susan Collins, a Maine Republican, also said the tax problem was a concern and needed more explaining, telling CNN's "State of the Union" that it involved "an awful lot of money" but that she had not decided to vote against confirmation.
11) On the Democratic side, Sen. Ben Nelson of Nebraska called it "a tough issue" and said he was waiting to hear the results of the meeting between Daschle and the Finance Committee.
12) "I'm not prepared at this point in time to vote no," Nelson told CNN.
13) The Senate's No. 2 Democrat, Dick Durbin of Illinois, defended Daschle but said skepticism, even cynicism, about Daschle not paying his taxes was understandable.
14) "But if you know Tom Daschle, you know better," Durbin said on Fox. "He's found himself having made a mistake and admitted to it. He took the steps necessary to start paying the taxes, make sure they're paid. Now, that's the right thing to do. I believe Tom Daschle's one of the most honest people I've ever known or worked with in public life."
15) Obama's first choice for commerce secretary, New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson, took his name out of consideration when his confirmation appeared headed toward complications because of a grand jury investigation over how state contracts were issued to political donors.
16) "President Obama wanted to have a very ethical administration starting out and so on, but I think he's seeing how hard it is to avoid these kind of problems," Kyl said. "And I just wonder, if President Bush had nominated these people, what folks would be saying about that."


Republicans say little Senate backing on stimulus
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1) The Senate begins debate this week on its version of the stimulus bill and Republicans see little support from their side.
2) Sen. Jon Kyl, the chief Republican vote counter, says Republicans have not started to count their votes. But he says he sees support eroding for the nearly $900 billion measure. He says it has too much wasteful spending and maybe it's best to just start from scratch.
3) The chief Democratic vote counter, Sen. Dick Durbin, says Democrats have asked Republicans for their ideas and are open to possible changes.
4) Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell says President Barack Obama must be embarrassed because he wanted bipartisan support in the House and the stimulus plan there passed without any Republican votes.


Republicans doubt stimulus bill will pass Senate
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1) Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell said Sunday the massive stimulus bill backed by President Barack Obama and congressional Democrats could go down to defeat if it's not stripped of unnecessary spending and focused more on housing issues and tax cuts.
2) The Senate version of the bill, which topped out at nearly $900 billion, is headed to the floor for debate. The House bill totaled about $819 billion and earned no Republican votes, even though it easily passed the Democratic-controlled House. At some point lawmakers will need to compromise on the competing versions.
3) McConnell and other Republicans suggested that the bill needed an overhaul because it doesn't pump enough into the private sector through tax cuts and allows Democrats to go on a spending spree unlikely to jolt the economy. The Republican leader also complained that Democrats had not been as bipartisan in writing the bill as Obama had said he wanted.
4) "I think it may be time ... for the president to kind of get a hold of these Democrats in the Senate and the House, who have rather significant majorities, and shake them a little bit and say, 'Look, let's do this the right way,'" McConnell said. "I can't believe that the president isn't embarrassed about the products that have been produced so far."
5) Sen. Jon Kyl of Arizona, the No. 2 Republican in the Senate, said he was seeing an erosion of support for the bill and suggested that lawmakers should consider beginning anew.
6) "When I say start from scratch, what I mean is that the basic approach of this bill, we believe, is wrong," Kyl said.
7) While Democrats defended the bill, they said they were open to considering changes by Republicans. But they also said the unrelentingly bleak economic news demanded action.
8) "We cannot delay this," said Sen. Dick Durbin of Illinois, the Senate Democrats' No. 2 leader. "We can't engage in the old political rhetoric of saying, 'Well, maybe it could be a little bit better here and a little bit better there.' We've got to pull together."
9) Sen. Chuck Schumer, a Democrat from New York, agreed that more could be done in the area of housing, though he said tapping money in the separate financial bailout fund would be a more likely way to pay for mortgage relief.
10) Under Obama's plan, strained state budgets would receive a cash infusion, projects for roads and other infrastructure would be funded, and "green jobs" in the energy sector would be created. In its centerpiece tax cut, single workers would gain $500 and couples $1,000, even if they don't earn enough to owe federal income taxes.
11) Among the major changes Kyl said would be needed to gain Republican support in the Senate was the tax rebate for individuals and couples, which he criticized as going to too many people who didn't pay the tax to start with. He also criticized the bill for seeking to create nearly three dozen government programs and giving states far more money than they need.
12) Durbin argued that $1 out of every $3 in the bill goes to tax cuts and defended it as aimed at helping working families. While he contended that Democrats were "very open" to Republican proposals, he cited only what he said were calls for more money in job-creating public works projects, typically a Democratic priority.
13) Sen. Jim DeMint, a Republican from South Carolina, characterized the proposal as "a spending plan. It's not a stimulus plan. It's temporary, and it's wasteful."
14) Rep. Barney Frank, a Massachusetts Democrat and chairman of the House Financial Services Committee, said the bill was designed to help people who have been damaged in the economic meltdown as well as stimulate the economy.
15) "I never saw a tax cut fix a bridge. I never saw a tax cut give us more public transportation. The fact is, we need a mix," Frank said.
16) Durbin and Kyl appeared on "Fox News Sunday," DeMint and Frank were on ABC's "This Week," and McConnell and Schumer were on CBS' "Face the Nation."


Republicans want mortgage relief, larger tax cuts
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1) Senate Republicans circulated a sweeping plan to drive down the cost of mortgages by expanding the federal government's role in the industry, officials said Monday night as debate opened on an economic stimulus bill at the top of President Barack Obama's agenda.
2) The emerging proposal also relies on a bigger and more widely available tax break for homebuyers than is now available, those officials added as Senate Republicans staked their claim to a different type of economic recovery measure than Democrats and the administration favor.
3) Democrats already are under pressure from moderates in their own party to scale back spending in the $885 billion bill, and Obama met with party leaders at the White House late in the day to discuss strategy.
4) "What we can't do is let very modest differences get in the way" of swift enactment of the legislation, Obama said several hours earlier as new layoffs rippled through the economy and the Commerce Department reported an unexpectedly large sixth straight drop in personal spending.
5) In the Capitol, Republicans said their goal was to change the bill, not to block it. "Nobody that I know of is trying to keep a package from passing," said Sen. Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, the Republican leader.
6) "We need to fix housing first," he said. Republicans are expected to seek a vote on their proposals this week as part of the debate on the overall stimulus measure.
7) Officials said Republicans were coalescing behind a proposal designed to give banks an incentive to make loans at rates currently estimated at 4 percent to 4.5 percent. Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, which were seized by the federal government in September, would be required to purchase the mortgages once banks have made them to consumers.
8) Officials said loans to credit-worthy borrowers on primary residences with a mortgage of up to $625,000 would qualify, including those seeking to refinance their current loans.
9) Separately, Republican officials said they intended to press for a $15,000 tax credit for homebuyers through the end of the year. Current law permits a $7,500 tax break and limits it to first-time homebuyers.
10) Republicans generally dislike government intervention in the workings of the private marketplace, but their opposition has eroded in recent months as the crisis in the financial industry and economy have deepened.
11) The officials who described the emerging proposal did so on condition of anonymity, saying they were not authorized to discuss it.
12) McConnell also said Republicans favor cutting the two lowest tax brackets as a way to "put money back in people's hands directly." If adopted, that would reduce the tax rate from 10 percent to 5 percent for the first $8,350 in individual income for the current year, and $16,700 for couples. The tax rate would be lowered from 15 percent to 10 percent on income between $8,351 and $33,950 for individuals and between $16,701 and $67,900 for couples.
13) Obama and the Democrats favor a different approach. The legislation provides a cut of $500 for workers and $1,000 for working couples, even if they do not earn enough in wages to pay income taxes.
14) Separately, Democrats privately conceded they may wind up reducing spending that has come under withering fire in recent days from Republicans.
15) Last week, House Democrats jettisoned money to reseed the National Mall and a provision to make it easier for states to offer family planning services to the poor under the Medicaid program.
16) Democrats hold a commanding 58-41 majority in the Senate, but some of their more moderate and conservative members are pushing to trim spending. There was additional pressure on the leadership in the form of bipartisan amendments to reduce spending.
17) As a result, the outcome of the debate on the measure is far less clear than it was in the House, where leaders had the votes to enforce their will.
18) The political environment also has changed since House Republicans voted unanimously against the bill last week. Public opinion polls show strong support for a package of tax cuts and spending increases to remedy the worst economic downturn since the Great Depression. But Obama is now on the spot, having pledged personally to Republican lawmakers that he would make changes in the bill once it reached the Senate.
19) The $885 billion Senate bill is larger than the House-passed version, principally because it includes a one-year tax cut to prevent upper-middle income taxpayers from falling victim to the Alternative Minimum Tax. The so-called AMT initially was created a generation ago to make sure the super-wealthy did not avoid taxation, but inflation has expanded its reach over the years.
20) In all, the Senate measure provides for roughly $560 billion in spending and $325 billion in tax cuts.
21) Much of the spending is in the form of health care for the poor; education funds for the states to avoid the impact of their own budget cuts on schools, and more money for food stamps, unemployment insurance and worker retraining funds.
22) Additionally, the bill includes a down payment on two of Obama's domestic initiatives. They include expanding health information technology and providing spending and tax cuts to encourage development of new jobs while increasing reliance of alternative energy sources.
23) Whatever the breakdown, Republicans said there was far too much spending, and not enough in tax cuts.
24) Obama made his comments at the White House, where he met with Vermont Gov. Jim Douglas, the Republican vice chairman of the National Governors Association.
25) "If I were writing it, it might look at little different," said Douglas, trying to keep faith with Republican critics in Congress while saying his state needed help. "But the essence of a recovery package is essential to get the nation's economy moving."
26) The White House issued a statement late Monday saying the president and Democratic congressional leaders had a productive meeting and that they agreed on the urgent need to pass legislation. They also pledged to continue working together to achieve a bipartisan consensus.
27) The latest layoffs were announced by Macy's, the Cincinnati-based department store chain, which said it was cutting 7,000 jobs.


Obama hits new snag as Cabinet nominee questioned
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1) President Barack Obama's young administration hit a new snag as a second Cabinet nominee faced questions over his tax returns, an unwelcome distraction as the president urges swift passage of his massive economic stimulus plan.
2) Former Sen. Tom Daschle apologized Monday for failing to pay more than $120,000 in taxes and appealed to his former colleagues in the Senate to approve him all the same. Obama said he was "absolutely" sticking with his nominee for health secretary.
3) The White House both underscored the magnitude of the problem and tried to downplay it in the space of seven words. "Nobody's perfect," said press secretary Robert Gibbs. "It was a serious mistake. ..."
4) The administration did receive some welcome news Monday, as another Cabinet choice, Eric Holder, was confirmed by the Senate as the first African-American U.S. attorney general.
5) Holder's nomination initially had been viewed as problematic because of questions over his role in controversial pardons when he was the No. 2 Justice Department official under President Bill Clinton. Now Holder will be the country's chief law enforcement official as head of the Justice Department.
6) Holder easily overcame some Republican objections over what they considered his insufficient commitment to fight terror and his support for gun control, but even his critics agreed that Holder was well-qualified for the post.
7) Nobody was predicting defeat for Daschle's nomination as secretary of health and human services, but it was proving an unsavory pill to swallow for senators who only last week confirmed Timothy Geithner as treasury secretary despite his separate tax-payment problems. The issue strikes a nerve as many Americans are struggling with their own serious money problems.
8) The Commerce Department reported that personal spending fell for the sixth straight month in December by 1 percent. Analysts had predicted a decline of 0.9 percent. Incomes also dipped, and the personal savings rate shot higher, a sign that consumers remain extremely nervous about the economy.
9) The president predicted Monday some of America's troubled banks still could fail, despite a $700 billion financial bailout program, half of which has already been spent by the former Bush administration. The bailout program is separate from the Obama administration's more than $800 billion stimulus plan.
10) Democrats already are under pressure from moderates in their own party to scale back spending in the $885 billion stimulus bill under consideration in the Senate.Obama met with party leaders at the White House late Monday to discuss strategy.
11) "What we can't do is let very modest differences get in the way" of swift enactment of the legislation, Obama said several hours earlier as new layoffs rippled through the economy and the Commerce Department reported an unexpectedly large sixth straight drop in personal spending.
12) Top Senate Democrats plan to add a big increase in highway and mass transit funding to Obama's economic recovery program Tuesday, even as others in the president's party hope to rein in the plan's almost $1 trillion cost to taxpayers. Republicans, for their part, readied a plan to lower mortgage costs to try to jolt the housing market out of its slump.
13) In the Capitol, Republicans said their goal was to change the bill, not to block it. "Nobody that I know of is trying to keep a package from passing," said Sen. Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, the Republican leader.
14) "We need to fix housing first," he said.
15) Nineteen Democratic and Republican governors, meanwhile, cited frozen credit markets and rising unemployment in urging lawmakers to resolve their differences and asking Obama to sign the bill as soon as it reaches his desk. The governors said the money it provides for public education, health care and rebuilding the nation's infrastructure will create and preserve jobs while making a sound investment in the country's long-term economic interests.
16) "While we all believe in the importance of free markets, we believe that the markets today need stimulating," the governors told Obama in a letter dated Monday. Among the signers were Democrats Deval Patrick of Massachusetts and Tim Kaine of Virginia, and Republicans Arnold Schwarzenegger of California and Charlie Crist of Florida.
17) Obama has struggled to win Republican support in Congress for his stimulus plan. He did not win any Republican votes when the $819 billion version of the bill passed the House of Representatives last week. Republican senators also have not been well disposed toward it, declaring the measure too focused on government spending rather than on tax cuts. The Senate version of the plan totals nearly $900 billion and a vote was expected later this week.
18) Separately, the financial bailout program appeared likely to be expanded beyond the $700 billion now allocated by Congress.
19) "We can expect that we're going to have to do more to shore up the financial system," Obama said in an interview with NBC television.
20) An announcement is expected next week on how the Obama administration plans to use the last $350 billion of that effort, which has come under heavy congressional and public criticism.
21) The massive infusion of taxpayer money into the financial sector has largely failed to thaw U.S. credit markets, while some financial institutions used the money to pay dividends, buy other banks and pay out big year-end bonuses to employees.
22) The president also said that he was taking full responsibility for rescuing the U.S. economy, which is facing its worst downturn in 80 years.
23) "If I don't have this done in three years then there's going to be a one-term proposition," Obama said, already looking forward to the 2012 presidential election.
24) Also Monday, Daschle sought to explain how he overlooked taxes on income for consulting work and the use of a car service. He also deducted more in charitable contributions than he should have.
25) "I apologize for the errors and profoundly regret that you have had to devote time to them," he told committee members.
26) Daschle's former Democratic colleagues rallied to his defense after he met behind closed doors with the Senate Finance Committee.
27) "His tax mistakes are regrettable," said Sen. Max Baucus of Montana. "But his tax mistakes do not change his qualifications to lead on health care reform."
28) Republican members of the committee avoided reporters after the committee meeting Monday, but an aide to Sen. Charles Grassley of Iowa said the senator still has a lot of questions he will explore at Daschle's confirmation hearing Feb. 10.
29) Daschle filed the amended tax returns after Obama announced he intended to nominate him as secretary of health and human services with a major responsibility for reforming the U.S. health care system.
30) Before Daschle's difficulties over back taxes, Geithner's confirmation as treasury secretary was delayed after it was revealed that he had failed to pay more than $34,000 in taxes.
31) Meanwhile, the White House confirmed that Obama will nominate Republican Sen. Judd Gregg as commerce secretary on Tuesday. The White House confirmed the Gregg choice on the condition of anonymity because the announcement had not yet been made.
32) The fiscally conservative Gregg would be the third Republican to join Obama's Cabinet, if confirmed. The others are Defense Secretary Robert Gates and Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood.


Democrats promise boost for road building
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1) Top Democrats hope to add $25 billion in highway and mass transit funds to President Barack Obama's U.S. economic recovery program, despite complaints from lawmakers in both parties that the legislation already is too expensive.
2) "Our highways are jammed. People go to work in gridlock," Sen. Dianne Feinstein said Tuesday as she and Sen. Patty Murray, both Democrats, advanced their proposal.
3) Senate debate unfolded as Obama issued another call for swift action on the measure, urging lawmakers to act "with the same sense of urgency Americans feel every day."
4) The proposed increase in highway funding would raise spending to $40 billion, reflecting complaints from lawmakers in both parties that Obama's plan does not do enough to relieve a backlog of unfinished projects. Mass transit programs would get a $5 billion boost, while water projects would get $7 billion more.
5) Republicans, for their part, readied a plan to lower mortgage costs to try to jolt the housing market out of its slump.
6) The $885 billion Senate economic plan faces assaults from both Democrats and Republicans during debate this week, as lawmakers in both parties aim to kill ideas that won't jolt the economy right away.
7) "The goal is to shape a package that is more targeted, that would be smaller in size and that would be truly focused on saving or creating jobs and turning the economy around," said Sen. Susan Collins, a Republican. She said ideas like $870 million to combat bird flu should be dumped.
8) Others, such as Sen. Ben Nelson, a Democrat, have complained about items such as health research being in the bill. But Sen. Arlen Specter, -- a moderate Republican whose vote is sought by Obama -- is instead proposing to add $6.5 billion for the National Institutes of Health.
9) Democrats already are under pressure from moderates in their own party to scale back spending in the $885 billion bill, and Obama met with party leaders at the White House late Monday to discuss strategy.
10) "What we can't do is let very modest differences get in the way" of swift enactment of the legislation, Obama said several hours earlier as new layoffs rippled through the economy and the Commerce Department reported an unexpectedly large sixth straight drop in personal spending.
11) In the Congress, Republicans said their goal was to change the bill, not to block it. "Nobody that I know of is trying to keep a package from passing," said Sen. Mitch McConnell, the Republican leader.
12) "We need to fix housing first," he said. Republicans are expected to seek a vote on their proposals this week as part of the debate on the overall stimulus measure.


Obama administration shaken by nominee withdrawals
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1) President Barack Obama's fledgling administration was shaken by two heavy political blows Tuesday when two top nominees withdrew under the cloud of tax problems.
2) Tom Daschle, the former Senate majority leader, who had battled in recent days to save his nomination as Health and Human Services secretary after revealing he failed to pay more than $120,000 in taxes, said he was stepping aside to avoid being a distraction.
3) His move came less than three hours after Nancy Killefer withdrew her candidacy to be the nation's first chief performance officer for the federal government, explaining in a letter to Obama that she feared her own tax issues "could be used to create . . . distraction and delay."
4) Obama increasingly has run up against the stark realities of Washington politics as he spent the early days of his administration trying to stiffen ethics requirements for his administration and struggled with congressional Republicans to win bipartisan support for stimulus spending and tax cuts to pull the country out of its worst economic swoon in 80 years.
5) The president had said as recently as Monday that he "absolutely" stood behind Daschle.
6) But under growing criticism about the tax lapse, Daschle apparently decided Tuesday morning that his problems were presenting an unneeded distraction for Obama.
7) When Killefer's selection was announced by Obama on Jan. 7, The Associated Press disclosed that in 2005 the District of Columbia government had filed a $946.69 tax lien on her home for failure to pay unemployment compensation tax on household help. She resolved the issue five months after the lien was filed.
8) The administration had only recently finished sweating out Senate approval for Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner, who had faced embarrassing disclosures about his failure to pay taxes on a portion of his income when he worked for the International Monetary Fund.
9) Tuesday's messy political developments threatened to blunt Obama's effort to take his economic message directly to the American people through a series of interviews with every national television network.
10) He is pressing Congress to quickly pass $800-plus billion spending and tax cut measures to put a floor under the U.S. economy's downward spiral.
11) Sandwiched between the withdrawals and the afternoon television interviews, Obama took the highly unusual step of nominating a third Republican to his Cabinet -- New Hampshire Sen. Judd Gregg as commerce secretary. President's rarely rely as heavily on figures from the opposition party to fill government slots.
12) Obama used the Gregg announcement at the White House to warn against allowing the "same partisan gridlock" to bog down quick action on the stimulus initiative.
13) The new president campaigned for the presidency and took office promising to yank Washington out of decades of bitter bipartisanship but has struggled on the stimulus measure despite his unprecedented courting of the opposition party even before he was inaugurated.
14) Republicans want to reshape his massive stimulus plan -- budgeted at $819 billion as it passed the House of Representatives and rising to nearly $900 billion under debate in the Senate.
15) While issuing praise of the highly popular president's call for quick stimulus action, Republicans have been attacking their Democratic congressional colleagues for what they say is loading the measure down with pet projects and failing to provide larger tax cuts -- the perennial Republican prescription for economic troubles.
16) Obama bore down on fellow Democratic congressional leaders at a White House meeting late Monday and planned to talk economics with party rank-and-file at House and Senate retreats later in the week.
17) Despite the heavy political weather surrounding Daschle and Killefer, there was welcome news when another Cabinet choice, Eric Holder, was confirmed by the Senate late Monday and sworn in Tuesday as the first African-American U.S. attorney general.
18) Holder's nomination initially had been viewed as problematic because of questions over his role in controversial pardons when he was the No. 2 Justice Department official under President Bill Clinton. Now Holder will be the country's chief law enforcement official as head of the Justice Department.
19) Holder easily overcame some Republican objections over what they considered his insufficient commitment to fight terror and his support for gun control, but even his critics agreed that Holder was well-qualified for the post.
20) The political scrum over Obama's stimulus measure took place as the Commerce Department reported that personal spending fell for the sixth straight month in December by 1 percent. Analysts had predicted a decline of 0.9 percent. Incomes also dipped, and the personal savings rate shot higher, a sign that consumers remain extremely nervous about the economy.
21) Also Monday, the president predicted some of America's troubled banks still could fail, despite a $700 billion financial bailout program, half of which has already been spent by the former Bush administration. The bailout program is separate from the Obama administration's stimulus plan.
22) Top Senate Democrats plan to add a big increase in highway and mass transit funding to the recovery program Tuesday, even as others in the president's party hope to trim the cost of the plan. Republicans were pressing to lower mortgage costs to try to jolt the housing market out of its slump.


Senate approves tax break for new car buyers
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1) The Senate voted Tuesday to give a tax break to new car buyers, setting aside bipartisan concerns over the size of an economic stimulus bill with a price tag approaching $900 billion.
2) The 71-26 vote came as President Barack Obama said he lies awake nights worrying about the economy, and signaled opposition to congressional attempts to insert "buy American" provisions into the legislation for fear it would spark a trade war.
3) Sen. Barbara Mikulski led the successful effort to allow many car buyers to claim an income tax deduction for sales taxes paid on new autos and interest payments on car loans.
4) She said the plan would aid the beleaguered automobile industry as well as create jobs at a time the economy is losing them at a rapid rate. "I believe we can help by getting the consumer into the showroom," she said.
5) The provision was attached to the economic stimulus bill at the heart of Obama's economic recovery plan and is subject to change or even elimination as the measure makes its way toward final passage.
6) Democratic leaders have pledged to have the bill ready for his signature by mid-month, and in a round of network television interviews, the president underscored the urgency. He told CNN that even three months ago, most economists would not have predicted the economy was "in as bad of a situation as we are in right now."
7) He also spoke out against efforts to require the use of domestic steel in construction projects envisioned in the bill, telling Fox News, "we can't send a protectionist message."
8) The stimulus bill remains a work in progress, following last week's party-line vote in the House and an Oval Office meeting on Monday in which Obama and Democratic leaders discussed ways to reach across party lines.
9) In a series of skirmishes during the day, the Senate turned back a proposal to add $25 billion for public works projects and voted to remove a tax break for movie producers. Both moves were engineered by Republicans who are critical of the bill's size and voice skepticism of its ability to create jobs.
10) But several hours later, without explanation, Republican conservatives abruptly dropped their opposition to a $6.5 billion increase in research funding for the politically popular National Institutes of Health.
11) Even so, Democratic leaders conceded they may soon be obliged to cut billions of dollars from the measure. "It goes without saying if it's going to pass in the Senate, it has to be bipartisan," said Sen. Dick Durbin, the second-ranking Democratic leader, adding that rank-and-file lawmakers in both parties want the bill's cost reduced.
12) One Democrat, Sen. Ben Nelson, said he hoped for reductions "in the tens of billions of dollars."
13) The developments unfolded as more companies announced job layoffs -- including 5,800 at PNC Financial Services Group. In another sign of economic weakness, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation predicted the cost of bank failures will exceed its estimate from last fall and urged lawmakers to more than triple the agency's line of credit with the Treasury Department to $100 billion from the current $30 billion.
14) Mikulski's office put the cost of the tax break she sponsored at $11 billion over 10 years. It would apply to the first $49,500 in the price of a new car purchased between last Nov. 12 and Dec. 31, 2009. Individuals with incomes of up to $125,000 and couples earnings as much as $250,000 could qualify, including those who do not itemize their deductions. A couple would save an estimated $1,553 on a new $25,000 car, aides said.
15) Republican Sen. Charles Grassley sought unsuccessfully to derail the proposal, saying it would only increase consumer debt in a time of recession and adding that there were other provisions in the legislation to help the auto industry. But the 71 votes in support were far more than the 60 needed for passage.
16) Earlier, the vote to add $25 billion for new construction on highways, mass transit and water treatment facilities failed 58-38, two short of the 60-vote majority needed for passage.
17) Sens. Dianne Feinstein and Patty Murray argued the increase would quickly translate into jobs.
18) "Our highways are jammed. People go to work in gridlock," Feinstein said in arguing for the proposal.
19) But Republican Sen. Jim Inhofe countered, "We can't add to the size of this bill. ... The amount is just inconceivable to most people."
20) Republican Sen. Tom Coburn led the successful effort to remove a provision allowing movie makers to write off their expenses more quickly. The vote was 52-45, despite protests from Democratic Sen. Max Baucus. He said Hollywood was the only industry denied the break in a tax bill two years ago.
21) Republicans are expected to seek a vote later in the week on a plan to inject the government into the mortgage industry in an attempt to drive down the cost of mortgages to as low as 4 percent. Democrats treaded carefully on the proposal, saying they would consider it but also claiming the $300 billion Republicans allocated would not come close to accommodating the demand.


Obama economic plan now tops $900B
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1) The cost of President Barack Obama's economic recovery plan is now above $900 billion in the Senate after the chamber added money for medical research and tax breaks for car purchases.
2) Meanwhile, Obama cautioned Congress that the final version of the economic recovery package should not include protectionist language that could trigger a trade war.
3) The cost of the package could go higher on Wednesday if a tax break for homebuyers is made more generous, even as centrists in both parties promise to clear away spending items that won't jump-start the economy right away.
4) In an interview on CNN, Obama signaled a willingness to drop items that "may not really stimulate the economy right now." He also signaled he'll try to remove "buy American" provisions in the legislation to avoid a possible trade war.
5) The $819 billion stimulus bill that passed the House requires the use of American-made iron and steel for public construction projects. The Senate is considering even stronger language.
6) Obama, without commenting specifically on the wording, told Fox News he thought it would be a "mistake ... at a time when worldwide trade is declining, for us to start sending a message that somehow we're just looking after ourselves and not concerned with world trade."
7) Speaking to ABC News, Obama said, "I think we need to make sure that any provisions that are in there are not going to trigger a trade war."
8) In a victory for auto manufacturers and dealers, Sen. Barbara Mikulski, a Maryland Democrat, won a 71-26 vote to allow most car buyers to claim an income tax deduction for sales taxes paid on new autos and interest payments on car loans. The break would cost $11 billion over the coming decade but could mean savings of $1,500 on a $25,000 car.
9) "Just as we need to get the housing market going, we need to get auto sales going," said Democratic Sen. Debbie Stabenow, who represents Michigan, the home to the Big 3 U.S. automakers.
10) Wednesday's session could produce even more generous savings for homebuyers.
11) Sen. Johnny Isakson, a Georgia Republican, is pressing for a tax credit of up to $15,000 for everyone who buys a home this year, at a cost of $18.5 billion. The pending measure would award a $7,500 tax credit only to first-time homebuyers.
12) At the same time, centrist senators, including Ben Nelson, a Nebraska Democrat, and Susan Collins, a Maine Republican, are seeking to cut tens of billions of dollars from the legislation. They are operating with the blessing of Democratic leaders, who hope a successful effort could attract some badly needed Republican votes for Obama's plan.
13) Democratic leaders conceded they may soon be obliged to cut billions of dollars from the measure. "It goes without saying if it's going to pass in the Senate, it has to be bipartisan," said Sen. Dick Durbin of Illinois, the second-ranking Democratic leader, adding that rank-and-file lawmakers in both parties want to reduce the cost of the bill.
14) In a series of skirmishes Tuesday, the Senate turned back a proposal to add $25 billion for public works projects and voted to remove a $246 million tax break for movie producers. Both moves were engineered by Republicans who are critical of the bill's size and voice skepticism of its ability to create jobs.
15) But several hours later, Republican conservatives didn't contest approval of a $6.5 billion increase in research funding for the politically popular National Institutes of Health. That amendment, by Tom Harkin, an Iowa Democrat, drove the price tag of Obama's plan just above $900 billion.
16) Democratic leaders have pledged to have the bill ready for Obama's signature by mid-month, and in a round of network television interviews Tuesday, the president underscored the urgency. He told CNN that even three months ago, most economists would not have predicted the economy was "in as bad of a situation as we are in right now."
17) Mikulski's office put the cost of the automobile tax break she sponsored at $11 billion over 10 years. It would apply to the first $49,500 in the price of a new car purchased between last Nov. 12 and Dec. 31, 2009. Individuals with incomes of up to $125,000 and couples earnings as much as $250,000 could qualify, including those who do not itemize their deductions.
18) Republicans are expected to seek a vote later in the week on a plan to inject the government into the mortgage industry in an attempt to drive down the cost of mortgages to as low as 4 percent. Democrats treaded carefully on the proposal, saying they would consider it but also claiming the $300 billion Republicans allocated would not come close to accommodating the demand.


Obama: Catastrophe coming if Congress does not act
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1) Republicans tried to push back against the ballooning size of President Barack Obama's economic recovery plan Wednesday, even as he warned that the U.S. financial crisis will turn into "a catastrophe" if the bill is not passed quickly.
2) Obama summoned centrist senators to the White House Wednesday to discuss a plan to cut more than $50 billion in spending from the measure, which breached the $900 billion barrier in the Senate on Tuesday and appears headed higher.
3) Republican Sens. Susan Collins and Olympia Snowe, as well as Ben Nelson, a Democrat, have tentatively agreed to cutting more than $50 billion from the bill, a Nelson spokesman said, though details were not yet available.
4) Their effort is central to building at least some bipartisan support for the bill, which has come under increasing attack for too much spending unrelated to jolting the economy right away.
5) Obama indicated he is amenable to changes.
6) "No plan is perfect, and we should work to make it stronger," Obama said at the White House Wednesday. "Let's not make the perfect the enemy of the essential. Let's show people all over our country who are looking for leadership in this difficult time that we are equal to the task."
7) The cost of the plan expanded past $900 billion after the Senate on Tuesday added money for medical research and tax breaks for car purchases. An effort to add $25 billion more for infrastructure projects -- which narrowly failed to advance -- is likely to be revived.
8) The cost could go higher Wednesday if a tax break for homebuyers is made more generous.
9) Sen. Johnny Isakson, a Republican, is pressing for a tax credit of up to $15,000 for everyone who buys a home this year, at a cost of about $20 billion. The pending measure would award a $7,500 tax credit only to first-time homebuyers.
10) Taken together, the developments prompted a scolding from the Senate's top Republican.
11) "At some point, we're going to have to learn to say no," said Sen. Mitch McConnell. "If we're going to help the economy, we need to get a hold of this bill. And making it bigger isn't the answer."
12) The president rejected some criticisms of the plan: that tax cuts alone would solve the problem, or that longer-term goals such as energy independence and health care reform should wait until afterward.
13) In remarks at the White House, Obama argued that recalcitrant lawmakers need to get behind his approach, saying the American people embraced his ideas when they elected him president in November.
14) But Republicans have focused the debate on questionable spending in the bill, pushing down its popularity with complaints about items such as money to combat sexually transmitted diseases, fix problems with the Census and combat the flu.
15) Some Democrats are griping as well. Rep. Jim Cooper, a big critic of the measure, told a radio station that he "got some quiet encouragement from the Obama folks for what I'm doing.... They know its a messy bill and they wanted a clean bill."
16) Obama has sought each day to ratchet up the pressure on lawmakers, bringing different supportive groups to the White House, scheduling a series of TV interviews, even traveling to a charter school to tout one portion of the bill.
17) "A failure to act, and act now, will turn crisis into a catastrophe and guarantee a longer recession, a less robust recovery, and a more uncertain future," Obama said in his prepared remarks.


Obama hits stimulus critics, cites voter support
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1) Polite yet pointed, President Barack Obama pushed back against Republican critics of the U.S. economic stimulus legislation making its way through Congress on Wednesday, even as he reached across party lines to consider scaling back spending in the bill.
2) "Let's not make the perfect the enemy of the essential," Obama said as Senate Republicans stepped up their criticism of the bill's spending and pressed for additional tax cuts and relief for homeowners. He warned that failure to act quickly "will turn crisis into a catastrophe and guarantee a longer recession."
3) Democratic leaders have pledged to have legislation ready for Obama's signature by the end of next week, and they concede privately they will have to accept some spending reductions along the way.
4) "This bill needs to be cut down," Republican leader Mitch McConnell said on the Senate floor. He cited $524 million for a State Department program that he said envisions creating 388 jobs. "That comes to $1.35 million per job," he added.
5) Republicans readied numerous attempts to reduce the cost of the $900 billion measure, which includes tax cuts and new spending designed to ignite recovery from the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression.
6) But after days of absorbing rhetorical attacks, Obama and Senate Democrats mounted a counteroffensive against Republicans who say tax cuts alone can cure the economy.
7) Obama said the criticisms he has heard "echo the very same failed economic theories that led us into this crisis in the first place, the notion that tax cuts alone will solve all our problems."
8) "I reject those theories, and so did the American people when they went to the polls in November and voted resoundingly for change," said the president, who was elected with an Electoral College landslide last fall and enjoys high public approval ratings at the outset of his term.
9) The president repeated his retort word for word in late afternoon, yet softened the partisan impact of his comments by meeting at the White House with senators often willing to cross party lines.
10) His first visitor was Sen. Olympia Snowe, a moderate Republican lawmaker. Later he met with Sens. Susan Collins, a Republican, and Ben Nelson, a Democrat.
11) "I gave him a list of provisions" for possible deletion from the bill, Collins told reporters outside the White House. Among them were $8 billion to upgrade facilities and information technology at the State Department and funds for combatting a possible outbreak of pandemic flu and promoting cyber security. The latter two items, she said, are "near and dear to her," but belong in routine legislation and not an economic stimulus measure.
12) Collins and Nelson have been working on a list of possible spending cuts totaling roughly $50 billion, although they have yet to make details public.
13) The House approved its own version of the stimulus bill last week on a party line vote, but the political environment in the Senate is far different.
14) Democrats hold a comfortable 58-41 majority. But because the legislation would increase the federal deficit, any lawmaker can insist that 60 votes be required to add to its cost.
15) While the 60-vote threshold can impose a check on Democrats, it can also illuminate the cross-pressures at work on Republicans.
16) A Democratic attempt on Tuesday to add $25 billion for public works projects failed when it gained only 58 votes, two short of the total needed.
17) But a few hours later, a proposed $11 billion tax break for new car buyers attracted 72 votes, including several from Republicans. One, Sen. Sam Brownback, later issued a statement applauding the provision. "The car tax deduction amendment will make the purchase of a new car more affordable and encourage more people to buy a car," he said.


Home-buyers tax cut raises cost of stimulus bill
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1) Historically huge to begin with, economic stimulus legislation is growing larger by the day in the Senate, where the addition of a new tax break for homebuyers sent the price tag well past $900 billion.
2) "It is time to fix housing first," Republican Sen. Johnny Isakson said Wednesday night as the Senate agreed without controversy to add the new tax break to the stimulus measure, at an estimated cost of nearly $19 billion.
3) The tax break was the most notable attempt to date to add help for the crippled housing industry and gave Republicans a victory as they work to remake the legislation more to their liking.
4) Democratic leaders hope for Senate passage of the legislation by Friday at the latest, although prospects appear to hinge on crafting a series of spending reductions that would make the bill more palatable to centrists in both parties.
5) Three swing-vote senators met with President Barack Obama at the White House on Wednesday to discuss possible cutbacks, but they declined to discuss details of their talks. Obama has made the legislation a cornerstone of his recovery plan.
6) For their part, Senate Republicans signaled they would persist in their efforts to reduce spending in the measure, to add tax cuts and reduce the cost of mortgages for millions of homeowners.
7) Official figures were unavailable, but it appeared that the measure carried a price tag of more than $920 billion, making it bigger than the financial industry bailout that passed last year and as large as any measure in memory.
8) Despite bipartisan concerns about the cost, Republicans failed in a series of attempts on Wednesday to cut back the bill's size.
9) The most sweeping proposal, advanced by Sen. Jim DeMint, would have eliminated all the spending and replaced it with a series of tax cuts. It was defeated 61-36.
10) Democrats also upheld a so-called Buy American provision that requires projects financed by the measure to be built with domestically produced iron and steel.
11) But with Obama voicing concern about the provision, the requirement was changed to specify that U.S. international trade agreements are not to be violated.
12) Additionally, Democrats turned back an attempt to strip out a provision that Obama has said was essential. It would provide a tax cut of up to $1,000 for working couples, including those who do not make enough to pay income taxes.
13) Isakson said the new tax break for homebuyers was intended to help revive the housing industry, which has virtually collapsed in the wake of a credit crisis that exploded last fall.
14) The proposal would allow a tax credit of 10 percent of the value of new or existing residences, up to a $15,000 limit. Current law provides for a $7,500 tax break but only for first-time homebuyers.
15) Isakson's office said the proposal would cost the government an estimated $19 billion.
16) The provision was the second tax cut approved in as many days targeted to individual industries. On Tuesday, the Senate voted to give a break to consumers who buy new cars.
17) The House approved its own version of the bill last week.


US Senate pushes on stimulus; Obama seeks action
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1) Senate moderates worked to cut tens of billions of dollars from the economic stimulus bill in hopes of clearing the way for passage Thursday as the U.S. government spit out grim new jobless figures and President Barack Obama warned of more bad news to come.
2) "The time for talk is over. The time for action is now," said Obama. He implored lawmakers in both parties to "rise to this moment" and send him legislation to begin fixing the worst economic crisis in decades.
3) Obama added he would "love to see additional improvements" in the bill, a gesture to the moderates from both parties at work on trying to trim the $920 billion price tag.
4) But with the Senate plodding through a fourth day of debate, earlier talk of a large, bipartisan vote for the legislation was fading.
5) "As I have explained to people in that group, they cannot hold the president of the United States hostage," said Majority Leader Harry Reid, a Democrat. "If they think they're going to rewrite this bill and Barack Obama is going to walk away from what he is trying to do for the American people, they've got another thought coming."
6) Republicans countered that neither the president nor Democratic congressional leaders have been willing to seek common ground on the first major bill of the new administration.
7) "We're not having meaningful negotiations. ... It's a bad way to start," said Sen. John McCain ,who was Obama's Republican opponent in last November's presidential campaign.
8) In an Associated Press interview, he said Obama "gave the Democrats the leeway to basically shut out Republicans starting with the House and now here in the Senate, and I don't think that's good."
9) McCain's penchant for working across party lines has irritated fellow Republicans in the past, but he was not taking part in bipartisan talks on trimming the stimulus bill.
10) Nearly 20 senators from both parties met twice during the day and reviewed a list of possible cuts totaling nearly $80 billion. They included elimination of at least $40 billion in aid to the states, which have budget crises of their own, as well as $1.4 billion ticketed for the National Science Foundation.
11) There was no sign the group of self-appointed compromisers had agreed to support the reductions, but even if they had the numbers were far short of what some were looking for.
12) "The president made a strong case for a proposal that would be in the neighborhood of $800 billion," said Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, who met with Obama at the White House on Wednesday.
13) The legislation is a blend of federal spending and tax cuts that supporters say can create or preserve at least 3 million jobs. They cite the tax cuts for lower-income workers, as well as more money for jobless benefits, worker training, food stamps, health care, education and public works projects such as highways and mass transit.
14) Critics contend the bill is bloated with spending for items that will not create jobs, such as smoking prevention programs or efforts to combat a future pandemic flu outbreak.
15) And while polls show Obama is popular and the public supports recovery legislation, Republicans have maneuvered in the past several days to identify and ridicule relatively small items in the bill.
16) Whatever the public relations battle, Republicans have tried without success so far to reduce spending in the measure and were ready with additional attempts during the day.
17) The legislation is a key early test for Obama, who has been in office just two weeks and has made economic recovery his top priority.
18) His warnings have become increasingly dire, and in remarks to employees at the Department of Energy, he said, "Today, we learned that last week the number of new unemployment claims jumped -- jumped to 626,000. Tomorrow, we're expecting another dismal jobs report on top of the 2.6 million jobs that we lost last year. We've lost 500,000 jobs each month for the last two months."
19) The new jobless claims were reported by the Labor Department, and the total was the highest since October 1982, when the economy was in a steep recession.


Senate struggles on stimulus in nighttime session
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1) In an uncertain reach across party lines, Senate moderates struggled for a compromise on economic stimulus legislation Thursday as the government spit out grim new jobless figures and President Barack Obama warned of more bad news ahead.
2) With partisan tensions rising, several Republican attempts to remake the bill -- with higher tax cuts, lower spending and fresh relief for homeowners -- failed on party-line votes.
3) "The time for talk is over. The time for action is now," declared Obama as the Senate plodded through a fourth day of debate on the legislation at the heart of his economic recovery plan. He implored lawmakers in both parties to "rise to this moment."
4) Obama added he would "love to see additional improvements" in the bill, a gesture to the moderates from both parties who were at work trying to trim the bill with a newly recalculated, $937 billion price tag.
5) After fitful, secretive talks lasting well into the evening, the would-be compromisers remained shy of agreement, and Majority Leader Harry Reid announced they could have another day to work at it.
6) Sen. Claire McCaskill, D-Mo., said the group was discussing reductions in the bill in the range of $100 billion or more and expressed optimism about the outcome. No details were available.
7) Increasingly, the events that mattered most were not the long roll calls on the Senate floor, but the private conversations in which the White House and Democratic leaders sought -- either with the support of a large group of centrist lawmakers or without them -- to clear the bill at the heart of the president's recovery program.
8) Either approach remained a possibility for the Democratic leadership. One path could lead to passage with as few as 60 votes, the minimum needed, while the other presented the opportunity for a larger bipartisan success for the young administration.
9) One minor victory for Obama came Wednesday night when the Senate softened -- but would not remove -- a "Buy American" protectionist measure that drew strong criticism from major U.S. trading partners including Japan, Australia and Canada.
10) The bill sent to the Senate by the House of Representatives demanded that only U.S.-made iron and steel be used in infrastructure projects finance by the stimulus bill. The Senate added to the edict all manufactured products used in such projects.
11) In the face of warnings by Obama that such rules could cause trade wars, the Senate agreed Wednesday night to specify in the bill that U.S. international trade agreements should not be violated. It rejected, however, an effort by Republican Sen. John McCain, Obama's opponent in last year's presidential campaign, to remove the stipulations altogether.
12) Canada's trade minister, Stockwell Day, praised the Senate action and expressed optimism Thursday that U.S. and Canadian officials could come up with "what we hope will be a successful conclusion" to ward off trade retaliation.


Senators seek bipartisan OK of stimulus package
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1) Moderate U.S. senators seeking to pare back President Barack Obama's economic plan are rekindling their efforts in hopes of building a bipartisan vote that eluded the president in the House.
2) A group of nearly 20 moderates from both parties -- more Democrats than Republicans -- huddled off and on all day Thursday in hopes of cutting as much as $100 billion from Obama's plan, which ballooned up to $937 billion on the Senate floor, with further add-ons possible during a long day of votes Friday.
3) Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid displayed impatience with the moderates, led by Republican Susan Collins and Nebraska Ben Nelson at midday news conference Thursday, but he lent them encouragement as he sent senators home to rest Thursday night.
4) "It's gotten more encouraging and that's because the leadership has indicated that they have some appreciation for the work that this bipartisan group is doing," said Democratic Sen. Mary Landrieu. "It's still got life. It's still breathing."
5) A roster of $88 billion worth of cuts was circulating Thursday, almost half of which would come from education grants to states, with an additional $13 billion in aid to local school districts for special education and the No Child Left Behind education law on the chopping block as well. Some $870 million to fight the flu was among the first items to go, but other items divided the group.
6) At the same time, the group also was hoping to add perhaps $25 billion in additional infrastructure projects.
7) "We've added more tax cuts and tax relief. We've trimmed out some of the fat and now we have to add a little muscle," Landrieu said, referring to additional infrastructure spending.
8) If the group fails to reach an accord -- or if it won't fly with Democratic loyalists -- the alternative for Reid is to try to ram the measure through with just a few Republican supporters, such as Olympia Snowe of Maine. Reid expressed confidence that he has the 60 votes needed to press it through if need be.
9) The massive measure is a key early test for Obama, who has made it the centerpiece of his fledgling presidency. Obama embraced the moderates' efforts, saying he would "love to see additional improvements" in the bill.
10) Speaking to a House Democratic retreat in Williamsburg, Virginia, Obama pushed Democrats to avoid political gamesmanship and get a stimulus bill to his desk by next week.
11) Voters who ousted Republicans from power "didn't vote for the status quo," he said. "They sent us here to bring change. We owe it to them to deliver."
12) One minor victory for Obama came Wednesday night when the Senate softened -- but would not remove -- a "Buy American" protectionist measure that drew strong criticism from major U.S. trading partners including Japan, Australia and Canada.
13) The bill sent to the Senate by the House of Representatives demanded that only U.S.-made iron and steel be used in infrastructure projects finance by the stimulus bill. The Senate added to the edict all manufactured products used in such projects.
14) In the face of warnings by Obama that such rules could cause trade wars, the Senate agreed Wednesday night to specify in the bill that U.S. international trade agreements should not be violated. It rejected, however, an effort by Republican Sen. John McCain, Obama's opponent in last year's presidential campaign, to remove the stipulations altogether.
15) Canada's trade minister, Stockwell Day, praised the Senate action and expressed optimism Thursday that U.S. and Canadian officials could come up with "what we hope will be a successful conclusion" to ward off trade retaliation.
16) The Collins-Nelson group is hoping to bring the measure's cost down to the $800 billion range, though they were working from the $885 billion measure that came to the floor -- ignoring the more than $50 billion in add-ons added over the past three days. A recalculated cost for a popular plan to award a $15,000 homebuyer tax credit pushed the overall price tag to $937 billion.
17) On the Senate floor, Democrats continued to flex the muscle of their expanded 58-41 majority, easily killing efforts by Republican conservatives to replace the bill with versions containing more tax cuts and less spending.
18) Despite their numbers, many Democrats, including newly-elected freshmen such as Mark Begich of Alaska and Mark Udall of Colorado, want to see less long-term spending and more items directly related to job creation.
19) And while polls show Obama is popular and the public supports recovery legislation, Republicans have maneuvered in the past several days to identify and ridicule relatively small items in the bill.


Obama makes another push for his stimulus
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1) Pushing Congress to pass his economic plan by next week, President Barack Obama implored House Democrats to reject delaying tactics and political gamesmanship that often stymies legislation and keep a promise to voters who booted Republicans from power.
2) "They didn't vote for the status quo; they sent us here to bring change. We owe it to them to deliver," the Democratic president said Thursday, eliciting cheers and applause from the Democratic rank and file gathered for a three-day retreat in Williamsburg, Virginia.
3) "This is not a game," he added. "This is not a contest for who's in power and who's up and who's down."
4) In a feisty speech before a fiercely partisan crowd, Obama took a sharper tone than he has in recent weeks and seemed to be sending a message to Republicans, who voted as a bloc against the plan in the House of Representatives and who are demanding massive changes to the measure in the Senate.
5) "We are not going to get relief by turning back to the very same policies that for the last eight years doubled the national debt and threw our economy into a tailspin," Obama said -- an implicit criticism of the Republicans that were in power during that period.
6) Since his inauguration two weeks ago, the president repeatedly has reached across the aisle to Republicans as his economic plan has wound its way through the Democratic-controlled Congress. Yet, despite continuing to make gestures of bipartisanship, Obama has increasingly sought to rebut Republican criticism as he seeks to sell the pricey package to both the public and the Congress.
7) Obama said the package "is not going to be absolutely perfect," and that no one is going to get everything they want in it. But he said the plan's scope is right and he reiterated his message that inaction would bring catastrophe.
8) The economic stimulus package is the president's top legislative priority. He has worked hard to obtain at least some Republican support for it -- with no luck so far.
9) An $819 billion version of the bill passed in the House last week. Moderates worked late Thursday to cut tens of billions of dollars from the $920 billion Senate version in hopes of clearing the way for passage.
10) Passage of the bill in the Senate would turn the tide on a bad week for Obama, who has seen two nominees for key positions withdraw under a cloud of tax problems.
11) Another Cabinet nominee hit an obstacle Thursday -- a Senate panel abruptly postponed a confirmation vote on Labor Secretary nominee Hilda Solis after revelations that her husband had some tax problems.
12) While tax problems have dogged several of Obama's nominees -- the latest forcing former Sen. Tom Daschle to withdraw his nomination as health secretary -- administration officials say they are not blaming Solis for her husband's actions.
13) Despite the controversies surrounding Obama's cabinet choices, he has in recent days reminded the Republicans who is in charge now -- and on whose watch the economy collapsed.
14) "I found this deficit when I showed up," Obama said, earning a standing ovation. "I found this national debt doubled, wrapped in a big bow waiting for me when I stepped into the Oval Office."
15) One by one, he rejected arguments from Republican critics.
16) He said tax cuts alone as a way to stimulate the economy are "a losing formula." He defended how quickly the bill is moving through Congress and belittled those who call the measure simply a spending bill: "What do you think a stimulus is? That's the whole point!"
17) Obama also reiterated his contention that inaction is not an option, saying that if the legislation is not enacted quickly "an economy that is already in crisis will be faced with catastrophe."
18) Critics contend the stimulus bill is bloated with spending for items that won't create jobs, such as smoking prevention programs or efforts to combat a future pandemic flu outbreak.
19) And while polls show Obama is popular and the public supports recovery legislation, Republicans have maneuvered in the past several days to identify and ridicule relatively small items in the bill.
20) One minor victory for Obama came Wednesday night when the Senate softened -- but would not remove -- a "Buy American" protectionist measure that drew strong criticism from major U.S. trading partners including Japan, Australia and Canada.
21) The bill sent to the Senate by the House demanded that only U.S.-made iron and steel be used in infrastructure projects finance by the stimulus bill. The Senate added to the edict all manufactured products used in such projects.
22) Obama has issued a series of increasingly dire warnings in recent days, putting the pressure on Congress in his piece Thursday as he argued that without a stimulus package the recession could linger for years and 5 million more Americans could lose their jobs.
23) Initial jobless claims rose to 626,000, a 26-year high, the Labor Department said. And the number of claims by people continuing to apply for unemployment benefits reached a new record of nearly 4.8 million.
24) "We lost half a million jobs each month for two consecutive months," Obama told reporters traveling with him to Williamsburg aboard his first Air Force One flight as president.
25) Obama said that economists "will agree that if you've got a trillion dollars in lost demand this year, and a trillion dollars in lost demand next year, then you've got to have a big enough recovery package to actually make up for those lost jobs and lost demand."
26) Obama plans to name the members of his Economic Recovery Advisory Board and outline its mission on Friday.
27) White House spokeswoman Jen Psaki said Obama will make the announcement alongside Paul Volcker, the chairman of the special White House panel focused on the recession.
28) Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner and other top officials, meanwhile, are putting the finishing touches on a plan to overhaul the government's separate $700 billion rescue program for the financial sector. A Treasury official said Geithner will deliver a speech on Monday outlining the new plan.
29) Also Thursday, Obama established a White House office of faith-based initiatives to reach out to organizations that provide help "no matter their religious or political beliefs."


Moderates seek approval of US stimulus package
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1) The Senate Democratic leader expressed optimism Friday about the prospects for President Barack Obama's U.S. economic recovery package as centrists from both parties scrambled to cut its massive, $900-billion-plus price tag.
2) "The world is waiting to see what we're going to do in the next 24 hours," said Majority Leader Harry Reid, reflecting the Democrats' fierce urgency to wrap up the bill as conservative Republicans criticize the legislation and the economic picture grows bleaker.
3) A group of nearly 20 moderates from both parties -- more Democrats than Republicans -- have been negotiating in hopes of cutting as much as $100 billion from Obama's plan, which has ballooned to $937 billion on the Senate floor, with further add-ons possible during a long day of votes Friday.
4) Their efforts came as new government figures showed recession-battered employers eliminated 598,000 jobs in January, the most since the end of 1974. The unemployment rate rose to 7.6 percent.
5) Obama said he hoped Congress members would react to "the single worst month of job loss in 35 years."
6) "I hope they share my sense of urgency and draw the same unmistakable conclusion: The situation could not be more serious," Obama said Friday. He acknowledged the $900-billion-plus plan was not perfect and pledged to work with lawmakers to refine the measure, which he called "absolutely necessary."
7) "But broadly speaking, the package is the right size," Obama said.
8) The bill still contains a "Buy American" protectionist measure that drew strong criticism from major U.S. trading partners including Japan, Australia and Canada.
9) In the face of warnings by Obama that such rules could cause trade wars, the Senate has agreed to specify in the bill that U.S. international trade agreements should not be violated. It rejected, however, an effort by Republican Sen. John McCain, Obama's opponent in last year's presidential campaign, to remove the stipulations altogether.
10) The massive measure is a key early test for Obama, who has made it the centerpiece of his fledgling presidency. Obama embraced the moderates' efforts, saying he would "love to see additional improvements" in the bill.
11) Earlier, Reid commended the work of the centrist lawmakers and said progress has been made since Thursday night. He said a vote on the Senate bill by later Friday was possible.
12) Sen. Susan Collins, a Republican, circulated a roster proposing $88 billion worth of net cuts from the measure. She proposed eliminating money in the bill for K-12 education while boosting funding for Pentagon operations, facilities and procurement by $13 billion.
13) Collins is one of just three to five Republican targets Democrats hope to attract to breach the critical 60-vote barrier, though some in the group, such a Mel Martinez, were said to be balking.
14) Collins has been working with Ben Nelson, a Democrat. Both met separately with Reid Friday.
15) Republican leader Mitch McConnell said his party is ready to support a bill, "but we will not support an aimless spending spree that masquerades as a stimulus."
16) He added: "Putting another $1 trillion on the nation's credit card isn't something we should do lightly. We need to get a stimulus. But more importantly, we need to get it right."
17) If a compromise on trimming the bill cannot be reached -- or if it will not fly with Democratic loyalists -- the alternative for Reid is to try to ram the measure through with just a few Republican supporters, such as Olympia Snowe of Maine. He expressed confidence he has the 60 votes needed to press it through if need be.


Obama pushes for stimulus package
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1) President Barack Obama ratcheted up the pressure on Congress, saying Friday it would be "inexcusable and irresponsible" to delay approval of his gigantic stimulus plan as a grim new unemployment report revealed the depths of the U.S. economic tailspin.
2) The nearly $1 trillion package is Obama's top legislative priority in his early presidency, its urgency highlighted by Friday's report. The package's passage, which could potentially come as early as Friday afternoon, would be a huge relief for the president, who has struggled to win the backing he sought from opposition Republicans.
3) The Labor Department reported that employers slashed payrolls by 598,000 in January, the most since the end of 1974, catapulting the unemployment rate to 7.6 percent. The rate is the highest since September 1992. An estimated 3.6 million Americans have lost their jobs since the recession began.
4) "These numbers demand action. It is inexcusable and irresponsible for any of us to get bogged down in distraction, delay or politics as usual while millions of Americans are being put out of work," Obama said. "Now is the time for Congress to act."
5) Obama's feisty speech was a reminder of the aggressive campaigner who helped his party boot Republicans from office. It also was a sign that his administration is worried about losing its first big legislative test so soon after taking office.
6) Democratic and Republican moderates in the Senate were working to scale down the stimulus package in hopes of winning enough votes for passage. Its passage would cap a difficult week in which Obama saw some of his key appointments delayed or derailed because of tax problems.
7) Since his Jan. 20 inauguration, the president repeatedly has reached across the aisle to resistant Republicans as the stimulus plan has wound its way through the Democratic-controlled Congress. But even as he continued to make gestures of bipartisanship, he has sharpened his tone as he seeks to sell the pricey package to both the public and Republican lawmakers who want less spending and more tax cuts.
8) Obama also planned to take his message outside of the capital next week, participating in town hall-style meetings in two cities that are struggling. White House spokesman Robert Gibbs said Obama plans to visit Elkhart, Indiana and Fort Myers, Florida, on Monday and Tuesday to tell residents what his stimulus plan would mean for them.
9) While the Democrats' majority in the House of Representatives allowed them to pass their $819 billion version of the stimulus package even though they won no Republican support, Senate passage had proved far more difficult. If the plan passes in the Senate, both versions would have to be reconciled and more changes could still come.
10) Because of Senate rules, a simple majority, which the Democrats hold, was not sufficient for passage of their plan because of rules in the upper chamber that require 60 out of 100 votes to overcome an opposition filibuster -- a parliamentary delaying tactic that can effectively kill any piece of legislation.
11) The Senate Democratic leader Harry Reid expressed optimism about the bill and said progress has been made since Thursday night. Republican leader Mitch McConnell said his party was ready to support a bill, "but we will not support an aimless spending spree."
12) A group of nearly 20 moderates from both parties -- more Democrats than Republicans -- were huddling in hopes of cutting as much as $100 billion from Obama's plan, which ballooned to $937 billion on the Senate floor, with further add-ons possible during a long day of votes Friday.
13) Borrowing themes from an address the night before to fellow Democrats, Obama reminded lawmakers that voters gave them the White House and control of Congress.
14) "They did not choose more of the same in November," Obama said Friday as he announced a team of independent advisers. "They did not send us to Washington to get stuck in partisan posturing, to try to score political points. They did not send us here to turn back to the same tried and failed approaches that were rejected because we saw the results. They sent us here to make change with the expectation that we would act."
15) Obama's new economic team is meant to be a sounding board that reports to him directly. Obama planned to use the Economic Recovery Advisory Board announcement as a way to address the millions of out-of-work Americans. He has already tapped Paul Volcker, a former Federal Reserve chairman and a top Obama adviser, as the leader of his high-profile panel.
16) Its mission will include responding to requests from Obama -- such as delving into a particular subject -- without competing with the National Economic Council government agency or day-to-day decision-making at the White House.


Tentative deal on Senate stimulus bill
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1) President Barack Obama's multibillion-dollar plan to revive the economy moved closer to reality as key senators reached a deal on the measure amid stunning new signs of America's economic weakness.
2) Officials put the cost of the measure at $780 billion in tax cuts and new spending combined. No details were immediately available, and there appeared to be some confusion even among senators about the price tag as floor debate continued late into the night.
3) The agreement announced Friday night capped a tense day of backroom negotiations in which Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, joined by White House chief of staff Rahm Emanuel, sought to attract the support of enough Republicans to pass the measure.
4) Democrats hold a 58-41 majority in the Senate, including two independents, but it takes 60 votes to pass the bill because it would raise the federal deficit.
5) "The American people want us to work together. They don't want to see us dividing along partisan lines on the most serious crisis confronting our country," said Sen. Susan Collins, one of two Republican senators who signaled support for the bill.
6) At $780 billion, the legislation would be smaller than the measure that cleared the House of Representatives on a party-line vote last week. It also would mean a sharp cut from the bill that has been the subject of Senate debate for a week. That measure stood at $937 billion.
7) Beyond the numbers, though, any agreement would mark a victory for the new president and would keep Democratic leaders on track to fulfill their promise of delivering him a bill to sign by the end of next week.
8) The deal on the stimulus measure caps a difficult week in which Obama saw some of his key appointments delayed or derailed because of tax problems.
9) Obama earlier had ratcheted up the pressure on lawmakers as a new jobs report posted the worst results in a generation -- 598,000 positions lost in January and the U.S. unemployment rate rising to 7.6 percent -- the highest since September 1992. An estimated 3.6 million Americans have lost their jobs since the recession began.
10) "These numbers demand action. It is inexcusable and irresponsible for any of us to get bogged down in distraction, delay or politics as usual while millions of Americans are being put out of work," Obama said. "Now is the time for Congress to act."
11) Since his Jan. 20 inauguration, the president repeatedly has reached across the aisle to resistant Republicans as the stimulus plan has wound its way through the Democratic-controlled Congress. But even as he continued to make gestures of bipartisanship, he has sharpened his tone as he seeks to sell the pricey package to both the public and Republican lawmakers who want less spending and more tax cuts.
12) Obama also planned to take his message outside of the capital next week, participating in town hall-style meetings in two cities that are struggling. White House spokesman Robert Gibbs said Obama plans to visit Elkhart, Indiana and Fort Myers, Florida, on Monday and Tuesday to tell residents what his stimulus plan would mean for them.
13) While the Democrats' majority in the House of Representatives allowed them to pass their $819 billion version of the stimulus package even though they won no Republican support, Senate passage had proved far more difficult. If the plan passes in the Senate, both versions would have to be reconciled and more changes could still come.
14) At its core, the stimulus legislation is designed to ease the worst economic recession in generations, and combines hundreds of billions of dollars in new spending with tax cuts. Much of the money would go for victims of the recession in the form of welfare, unemployment compensation and health care.
15) There are funds, as well, for construction of highways and bridges, and it also includes a "Buy American" protectionist measure for iron and steel that has drawn strong criticism from major U.S. trading partners including Japan, Australia and Canada.
16) But the administration also decided to use the bill to make a down payment on key domestic initiatives, including creation of a new health technology industry and so-called green jobs designed to make the country less dependent on imported oil.
17) And Democrats in Congress decided to add additional huge sums for the states struggling with the recession, as well as billions more for favored programs such as parks, the repair of monuments in federal cemeteries, health and science research and more.
18) With Obama enjoying post-inauguration support in the polls and the economy shrinking, Democratic leaders in Congress have confidently predicted they would have a bill to the president's desk by mid-February.
19) But Republicans, freed of the need to defend former President George W. Bush's policies, have pivoted quickly to criticize the bill for its size and what they consider wasteful spending.


Deal announced on emergency econ stimulus bill
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1) With job losses soaring nationwide, Senate Democrats reached agreement with a small group of Republicans Friday night on an economic stimulus measure at the heart of President Barack Obama's plan for combatting the worst recession in decades.
2) "The American people want us to work together. They don't want to see us dividing along partisan lines on the most serious crisis confronting our country," said Sen. Susan Collins of Maine, one of at least two Republican senators who pledged their votes for the bill.
3) Democratic leaders said the concessions they had made to Republicans and moderate Democrats to trim the measure had cleared the way for its passage. It seemed likely a final vote would take place Saturday or Sunday.
4) Democrats put the cost of the measure at $780 billion, including Obama's signature tax cut of up to $1,000 for working couples. Much of the new spending in the bill would be for victims of the recession, in the form of unemployment compensation, health care and food stamps.
5) Republican critics said that the price tag was actually higher, and that billions were ticketed for programs that would not create jobs. Official cost figures were not yet available.
6) The agreement capped a tense day of backroom negotiations in which Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, joined by White House chief of staff Rahm Emanuel, sought to attract the support of enough Republicans to give the measure the needed 60-vote majority.
7) Uncertain of the outcome of the talks, Democrats called Sen. Edward M. Kennedy back to Washington in case his vote was needed. The Massachusetts senator, battling brain cancer, has been in Florida in recent days and has not been in the Capitol since suffering a seizure on Inauguration Day more than two weeks ago.
8) In addition to Collins, Republican Sen. Arlen Specter said he would vote for the bill. Several Democratic senators said Olympia Snowe, another Republican, also had agreed to vote for it, but her office said she was uncommitted.


Deal announced on emergency stimulus plan
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1) With job losses soaring nationwide, Senate Democrats reached agreement with a small group of Republicans Friday night on an economic stimulus measure at the heart of President Barack Obama's plan for combatting the worst recession in decades.
2) "The American people want us to work together. They don't want to see us dividing along partisan lines on the most serious crisis confronting our country," said Sen. Susan Collins of Maine, one of three Republican moderates who broke ranks and pledged their votes for the bill.
3) Democratic leaders expressed confidence that the concessions they had made to Republicans and moderate Democrats to trim the measure had cleared the way for its passage. No final vote was expected before Monday.
4) Officials put the cost of the bill at $827 billion, including Obama's signature tax cut of up to $1,000 for working couples, even if they earn too little to pay income taxes. Also included are breaks for homebuyers and people buying new cars. Much of the new spending would be for victims of the recession, in the form of unemployment compensation, health care and food stamps.
5) Republican critics complained that whatever the cost, billions were ticketed for programs that would not create jobs.
6) In a key reduction from the bill that reached the Senate floor earlier in the week, $40 billion would be cut from a "fiscal stabilization fund" for state governments' education costs, though $14 billion to boost the maximum for college Pell Grants by $400 to $5,250 would be preserved, as would aid to local school districts for the No Child Left Behind law and special education.
7) A plan to help the unemployed purchase health insurance would be reduced to a 50 percent subsidy instead of two-thirds.
8) The agreement capped a tense day of backroom negotiations in which Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, joined by White House chief of staff Rahm Emanuel, sought to attract the support of enough Republicans to give the measure the needed 60-vote majority. Democrats hold a 58-41 majority in the Senate, including two independents.
9) Uncertain of the outcome of the talks, Democrats called Sen. Edward M. Kennedy back to Washington in case his vote was needed. The Massachusetts senator, battling brain cancer, has been in Florida in recent days and has not been in the Capitol since suffering a seizure on Inauguration Day more than two weeks ago.
10) In addition to Collins, Republican Sens. Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania and Olympia Snowe of Maine pledged to vote for the legislation.
11) Whatever the price tag, the compromise marked a victory for the new president, who has veered between calls for bipartisanship and increasingly strong criticism of Republicans in recent days. And it indicated that Democratic leaders remain on track to deliver a bill to the White House by the end of next week.
12) Late Friday night, White House press secretary Robert Gibbs said, "On the day when we learned 3.6 million people have lost their jobs since this recession began, we are pleased the process is moving forward and we are closer to getting Americans a plan to create millions of jobs and get people back to work."
13) Obama said earlier in the day that further delay would be "inexcusable and irresponsible" given Friday's worst monthly unemployment report in a generation -- 598,000 jobs lost in January and the national unemployment rate rising to 7.6 percent. And late Friday, federal regulators announced the closures of three banks, First Bank Financial Services in Georgia and Alliance Bank and County Bank in California, raising to nine the number of bank failures this year.
14) "The world is waiting to see what we're going to do in the next 24 hours," said Reid who has spent much of the week trying to balance demands among moderates in both parties against pressure for a larger bill from liberals in his own rank and file.
15) By midday, the majority leader had spoken once with Obama by phone and five times with Emanuel. He met with Collins and Specter as well as Sen. Ben Nelson, a conservative Nebraska Democrat who had long advocated cuts in the House-passed bill.
16) Later, Nelson declared on the Senate floor, "We trimmed the fat, fried the bacon and milked the sacred cows." He said the compromise included $350 billion in tax cuts that would reach 95 percent of all Americans.
17) One Republican-proposed document that circulated earlier called for cuts of $60 billion from money Democrats want to send to the states. That money is targeted to avoid budget cuts for schools as well as law enforcement and other programs.
18) Talk of cuts in proposed education funds triggered a counterattack from advocates of school spending as well as unhappiness among Democrats.
19) One, Sen. Carl Levin of Michigan, told reporters he and others hoped that some of the funds on the chopping block would be restored next week when negotiations open on a House-Senate compromise.
20) At its core, the legislation is designed to ease the worst economic recession in generations, and combines hundreds of billions of dollars in new spending with tax cuts. Much of the money would go for victims of the recession in the form of food stamps, unemployment compensation and health care. There are funds, as well, for construction of highways and bridges.
21) But the administration also decided to use the bill to make a down payment on key domestic initiatives, including creation of a new health technology industry and so-called green jobs designed to make the country less dependent on imported oil.
22) And Democrats in Congress decided to add additional huge sums for the states struggling with the recession, as well as billions more for favored programs such as parks, the repair of monuments in federal cemeteries, health and science research and more.
23) With Obama enjoying post-inauguration support in the polls and the economy shrinking, Democratic leaders in Congress have confidently predicted they would have a bill to the president's desk by mid-February.
24) But Republicans, freed of the need to defend former President George W. Bush's policies, have pivoted quickly to criticize the bill for its size and what they consider wasteful spending.
25) The entire Republican rank and file voted against the measure in the House, effectively prodding senators to take up the same cause.
26) In the intervening days, Republicans have appeared to catch the administration and its allies off-guard, holding up relatively small items for ridicule and routinely seizing on comments from Democrats critical of the House-passed bill.
27) At the same time, they have stressed a desire to help the economy but have said they prefer tax cuts and spending that would have a more immediate impact on job creation.
28) Privately, Democrats in Congress have been critical of Obama and his aides for failing to counter the Republicans more effectively. In recent days, the president has sharpened his rhetoric against unnamed critics of the bill whom he accused of trying to re-establish the "failed policies" of the past eight years.
29) Despite the struggle, some Republicans seemed to sense the White House would ultimately prevail, and sought political mileage.
30) Obama "could have had a very, very impressive victory early on," said Sen. John Cornyn of Texas, who heads the Senate Republican campaign committee. "But this is not turning out to be an impressive victory. it is turning out to be a little bit of a black eye."


Obama recovery plan on track in Senate
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1) President Barack Obama's economic recovery plan is on track to be passed by the Senate after a handful of moderate Republicans and Democrats forced more than $100 billion in cuts in programs they said wouldn't create many jobs right away.
2) But the group backed away from a confrontation that threatened to kill the legislation altogether after White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel weighed in to urge Democrats to make a final round of concessions.
3) Architects of the compromise included Republican Sen. Susan Collins of Maine and Democratic Sen. Ben Nelson of Nebraska, who represented a broader group of moderates unhappy that so much money went into programs they thought wouldn't create jobs. Eventually, every Republican except Collins and Arlen Specter, a Pennsylvania Republican, left the talks, which finally produced a deal with the White House late Friday afternoon.
4) While ensuring passage of Obama's plan in the Senate within a few days, the deal sets up difficult negotiations with the House.
5) Officials put the cost of the bill at $827 billion, including Obama's signature tax cut of up to $1,000 for working couples. Also included is a tax credit of up to $15,000 for homebuyers and smaller breaks for people buying new cars. Much of the new spending would be for victims of the recession, in the form of unemployment compensation, health care and food stamps.
6) In a key reduction from the bill that reached the Senate floor earlier in the week, $40 billion would be cut from a "fiscal stabilization fund" for state governments. But the compromise package preserves aid to local school districts and an increase in the maximum grant available to college students from low-income families.
7) A plan to help the unemployed purchase health insurance would be reduced to a 50 percent subsidy instead of two-thirds.
8) Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, who had sought Friday to cut just $63 billion in spending from the bill, throwing a monkey wrench into the talks, called it an imperfect compromise. He warmly praised it nonetheless.
9) "But at the end of the day, we are passing a bold and responsible plan that will help our economy get back on its feet, put people to work and put more money in their pockets," Reid said.
10) Despite a 58-41 majority bolstered by the elections, Democrats need 60 votes to clear a key procedural hurdle on Monday and advance the bill to a final vote.
11) In addition to Collins and Specter, Republican Sen. Olympia Snowe of Maine pledged to vote for the legislation.
12) The end-stage negotiations played out against a backdrop of yet another dismal jobs report -- 598,000 jobs lost in January and the national unemployment rate rising to 7.6 percent.
13) At its core, the legislation is designed to ease the worst economic recession in generations, and combines hundreds of billions of dollars in spending to boost consumption by the public sector, along with tax cuts designed to increase consumer spending.
14) States would get large sums aimed at forestalling cuts in services or tax increases.
15) Much of the money would go for victims of the recession in the form of food stamps, unemployment compensation and health care. There is money, as well, for construction of highways and bridges.
16) It's hoped that the combined effort would work its way into the economy and save or create 3 million jobs or so to begin to ease the nation out of the recession by the end of this year.


Analysis: Obama may learn from slips on stimulus
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1) On his first big test, Barack Obama made some rookie mistakes and strategic missteps. But he still appears headed for a win on the centerpiece of his agenda, a huge economic recovery program, with the fresh striking of a bipartisan deal in the Senate.
2) Legislative leaders, including some fellow Democrats who support him, chalked up his problems to inexperience and some initial miscalculations over the lack of Republican support, and they suggest he will learn from the rocky start.
3) Americans have learned, too, a little about how their new president works.
4) He has swung from being conciliatory to badgering Congress to act, from courting the opposition to taking partisan swipes. He has had to fight to keep from losing control of the message. And all this is playing out against a background of Cabinet problems, economic distress and global distractions.
5) Some veteran Democrats say Obama could have made it easier for himself.
6) "I think it is important that he reached out. But lesson learned: It would have been better for him to send up his idea of a bill," instead of having House Democratic leaders initiate the process, said Sen. Dianne Feinstein, a California Democrat.
7) Leaders of both parties agree the slumping U.S. economy requires strong stimulus, an argument reinforced by a government report showing soaring new job losses. Obama will likely get most of what he wants. On the job under three weeks, he still has a large reservoir of good will on Capitol Hill.
8) But things have not gone quite the way the new Obama team expected. It has been a rough two weeks of on-the-job training on the legislative process from the other end of Pennsylvania Avenue for the former one-term Illinois senator.
9) "You know, it's referred to as sausage-making and probably for good reason," said White House spokesman Robert Gibbs.
10) While Obama reached out energetically to members of both parties, he did not win a single Republican vote in the House for the stimulus plan. In the Senate, Democrats late Friday reached a deal late Friday with a small band of Republican moderates that set the stage for expected approval within the next few days.
11) The recovery package was put together by congressional Democrats in partnership with Obama, a process begun during Obama's transition. The administration decided against starting off the process by submitting its own detailed legislative package.
12) Even though Obama and top aides stayed close to the process, the result was an $819 billion package packed with spending projects, some of which struck even some fiscally conservative Democrats as not particularly stimulative. In the Senate, an even larger package was considered, although the deal struck Friday night pared it back some.
13) The size and composition of the plan gave Republicans an opening to assert that Obama had given too much leeway to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and House Banking Committee Chairman Barney Frank. And they also could argue that, while Obama had offered to consider Republican suggestions for the package, none wound up in the legislation.
14) In not sending his own legislation to Congress, Obama did the exact opposite of what President Bill Clinton did in 1993 when he tried to get Congress to swallow whole a detailed health care overhaul plan put together by a task force headed by his wife, Hillary Rodham Clinton. That take-it-or-leave it approach alienated Congress.
15) Pennsylvania Gov. Ed Rendell, who has actively championed the stimulus bill, said Obama stumbled at first by ceding the debate to Capitol Hill and not stepping out more forcefully to explain the bill to the public.
16) "A small percentage of this bill, the unnecessary spending, allowed Republicans -- who have played politics on this from the beginning -- to discredit it so public opinion is against it," Rendell, the chairman of the National Governors Association, said in an interview Friday. "We need a massive stimulus bill with spending. Every economist says that. And yet the American people are against it now because we let the Republicans spin."
17) Rep. James Clyburn, a South Carolina Democrat, said Republican critics were able to define the legislation as a bloated spending measure being rushed through Congress. "We can't just sit back and let them define us," he said. He said he was pleased that Obama had shifted gears and was "going on the offensive."
18) After his original outreach to Republicans, Obama late last week changed his tone and derided Republican ideas for putting more tax cuts in the stimulus package. Such ideas "have been tested and they have failed," he said in a speech at the Energy Department. Later, he told a gathering of congressional Democrats in Williamsburg, Virginia, that "the scale and scope of this plan is right."
19) He will continue trying to regain momentum on economic policy. He plans his first prime-time news conference on Monday after Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner outlines details for a new financial-sector rescue plan. He also plans to participate in town hall-style meetings in towns suffering particularly hard times -- Elkhart, Indiana, on Monday and Fort Myers, Florida, on Tuesday.
20) Sen. Charles Schumer, a New York Democrat, said Obama's courtship of Republicans only to be rebuffed by them should serve as "an early lesson for President Obama and his team."
21) But James Thurber, director of the Center for Congressional and Presidential Studies at American University, said Obama set a particularly high bar for himself by "promising to change the way Washington works."
22) "He promised to make it a less partisan, post-partisan place. And so he has to do this. The question is whether he can hit the sweet spot on the stimulus package with enough tax breaks and enough non-controversial spending to get the votes. I think he can," Thurber said.
23) Democrats praise Obama's close work with them on the stimulus legislation.
24) "I don't think there's any doubt that the president has been active ... he's been making phone calls, visiting members in the Senate and the House personally," said Rep. Xavier Becerra, a California Democrat. But Becerra said the jury's still out on the effectiveness of his approach because the bill still is not done. Once the measure passes the Senate, differences with the House-passed bill will have to be reconciled.
25) "It's a work in progress," said Becerra. "It's still cooking."


Obama and Senate Republicans bicker over stimulus
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1) President Barack Obama and Senate Republicans bickered Saturday over his economic recovery plan after states and schools lost billions of dollars in a late-night bargain to save it.
2) The $827 billion measure is likely to pass next week despite stiff opposition from the Republicans and disappointment among Democrats, including the new president who labeled it imperfect.
3) "We can't afford to make perfect the enemy of the absolutely necessary," Obama said in his weekly radio and Internet address, sounding a note of pragmatism that liberal followers rarely heard on the campaign trail.
4) Still, the popular president -- six in 10 voters approve of his performance so far -- scolded Republicans with a pointed reminder that Democrats, not Republicans, were victorious in November.
5) Hours later, the Senate convened a rare Saturday session to debate a compromise forged between Republican moderates and the White House late Friday, a rare burst of comity aimed at securing passage of the bill with a few Republican votes joining the Democratic majority.
6) The compromise stripped $108 billion in spending from Obama's plan, including some destined for projects that likely would give the economy a quick lift. Yet it retained items that probably won't help the economy much at all.
7) Among the most controversial cuts was the elimination of $40 billion in aid to states, money that economists say is a relatively efficient way to pump up the economy by preventing layoffs, cuts in services or tax increases.
8) While publicly supportive of the bill, White House officials and top Democrats said they were disappointed that so much money was cut, including almost $20 billion for construction and repair of schools and university facilities. Those funds would have supported many construction jobs.
9) The $827 billion package debated in the Senate on Saturday included Obama's signature tax cut of up to $1,000 for working couples. Also included is a tax credit of up to $15,000 for homebuyers and smaller breaks for people buying new cars. Much of the new spending would be for victims of the recession, in the form of unemployment compensation, health care and food stamps.
10) Obama himself acknowledged that the bill was far from perfect but said it would be too dangerous to leave it lifeless on the table. He and his advisers have grown more assertive in recent days, reminding Democrats that voters gave them the White House, the House and the Senate to bring change, not partisan gamesmanship.
11) "In the midst of our greatest economic crisis since the Great Depression, the American people were hoping that Congress would begin to confront the great challenges we face," Obama said in the address, released before he made his first trip to Camp David, the presidential retreat in the Maryland mountains.
12) "That was, after all, what last November's election was all about," he said.
13) Republicans characterized Obama's rhetoric as arrogant.
14) "Democrats have controlled both branches of government for less than a month. And you have to wonder if all that power has gone to their heads," Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Steele said in the party's weekly address. "For the last two weeks, they've been trying to force a massive spending bill through Congress under the guise of economic relief."
15) Obama made an aggressive push for House and Senate lawmakers to work quickly to resolve their differences. The White House plans a major public relations blitz: A prime-time news conference Monday, several trips outside Washington next week and an address to a joint session of Congress later this month.
16) "From the beginning, at its core, a simple idea: Let's put Americans to work doing the work America needs done," Obama said in a video message sent by e-mail Saturday to his millions-strong re-election campaign-in-waiting.
17) Obama had hoped to sign economic legislation on his first day in office, but instead he has spent his first three weeks in office wrangling with a reluctant Congress, including fellow Democrats.
18) After weeks of losing a public-relations fight with Republicans, Obama's aides considered any forward movement of Obama's legislation a victory toward fixing the economic crisis that has left 3.6 million Americans without jobs.
19) Sen. Jon Kyl, the Republican's No. 2 in the Senate, criticized Obama as misrepresenting Republicans' concerns and accused the president of using "dangerous words" in describing the emergency.
20) "This is still a very big spending bill," Kyl said on the Senate floor as an afternoon session got under way. "You can't fix it by simply shaving a little bit off."
21) The Senate headed toward a vote early in the week. If, as expected, the bill passes lawmakers will need to resolve the differences between the Senate and House bills before sending a final package to Obama.


Imperfect stimulus plan: a lesson for Obama
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1) President Barack Obama's political skills and pragmatism, balancing needed shock therapy for the failing U.S. economy against promises to take the debilitating partisan heat out of Washington politics, face dramatic tests in the week ahead.
2) The Senate, where he must hold on to a handful of moderate Republican votes, was likely to vote Tuesday on its $827 billion version of the economic stimulus plan that has been gutted of provisions that were deeply important to Obama.
3) If the measure passes the upper chamber, as expected Tuesday, Senate negotiators will sit down with their counterparts from the House of Representatives, where an $819 billion package already has been approved up but without a single Republican signing on.
4) The negotiators must reconcile differences between the two bills and submit a final version to both chambers for approval before the stimulus plan can be sent to Obama for his signature.
5) Obama has found himself on defense over the spending and tax cut measure as Republicans picked the measure apart in both houses of Congress, focusing on portions of it that run counter to the opposition party's philosophical core -- small government and lower taxes. The Republicans accuse Democratic colleagues of loading the measure down with unneeded pet projects that do not stimulate the economy that is tumbling into the worst swoon since the Great Depression of the 1930s.
6) As he tries to regain the upper hand, Obama will take his case to the American people next week with his first prime-time news conference on Monday, after Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner outlines details for a new financial-sector rescue plan which will likely require hundreds more billions of dollars to prop up the country's banking and financial sector.
7) He will also participate in town hall-style meetings in cities suffering particularly hard times -- Elkhart, Indiana, on Monday and Fort Myers, Florida, on Tuesday.
8) But things have not gone quite the way the new Obama team expected. It has been a rough two weeks of on-the-job training for the former one-term Illinois senator.
9) "You know, it's referred to as sausage-making and probably for good reason," said White House spokesman Robert Gibbs, referring to the legislative process.
10) Among the most difficult cuts for the White House and its liberal allies to accept in the Senate bill was the elimination of $40 billion in aid to states, money that economists say is a relatively efficient way to pump up the economy by preventing layoffs, cuts in services or tax increases.
11) "It reduces a number of highly stimulative items like state fiscal relief ... and largely substitute for it some large tax cuts that are highly ineffective as stimulus," said Bob Greenstein, founder of the liberal Center on Budget and Policy Priorities. "So your net result is a bill that gets significantly less bang for the buck."
12) The House version of the bill is weighted more toward sending money to states and local governments.
13) Still, Obama aides claimed they were satisfied with the results, given the enormity of the challenge. "In a matter of weeks, we moved through both houses of Congress a very complex piece of legislation," Obama senior adviser David Axelrod said Saturday in an interview. "I don't know if there is a parallel in history."
14) The $827 billion measure is on track to pass the Senate on Tuesday despite stiff opposition from the Republican Party and disappointment among Democrats, including the new president who labeled it imperfect.
15) "We can't afford to make perfect the enemy of the absolutely necessary," Obama said Saturday in his weekly radio and Internet address, sounding a note of pragmatism that liberal followers rarely heard on the campaign trail.
16) Still, the popular president -- six in 10 voters approve of his performance so far -- scolded Republicans with a pointed reminder that Democrats, not Republicans, were victorious in November.
17) Hours later, the Senate convened a rare Saturday session to debate a compromise forged between Republican moderates and the White House on Friday, a rare burst of comity aimed at securing passage of the bill with a few Republican votes joining the Democratic majority.
18) The compromise reached between Republican moderates led by Sen. Susan Collins of Maine, the White House and its Democratic Senate allies stripped $108 billion in spending from Obama's plan.
19) While cutting out projects that likely would give the economy a quick lift, the Senate measure retained items that probably won't help the economy much, such as $650 million to help people without cable receive digital signals through their old-fashioned televisions or $1 billion to fix problems with the 2010 Census.
20) The bill, nevertheless, retains the core of Obama's plan, designed to ease the worst economic recession in generations by combining hundreds of billions of dollars in spending to boost consumption by the public sector with tax cuts designed to increase consumer spending.
21) Much of the new spending would be for victims of the recession, in the form of extending unemployment insurance through the end of the year and increasing benefits by $25 a week, free or subsidized health care, and increased food stamp payments.


Obama pitches stimulus plan in hard-hit city
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1) President Barack Obama made a campaign-style pitch for his massive economic stimulus plan, traveling Monday to a hard-hit industrial city in hopes of winning support for a package that has become the first big test since taking office.
2) Obama was participating in a town hall-style meeting in Elkhart, Indiana, on Monday. He plans to hold another one Tuesday in Fort Myers, Florida, and one Thursday in Peoria, Illinois, two cities suffering particularly hard times. On Monday night, the president will hold his first prime-time news conference.
3) The public appearances come as Obama plunges into a difficult challenge early in his leadership, struggling to get a divided Congress to agree on his economic recovery package while pitching a new plan to ease loans to U.S. consumers and businesses.
4) "We can't afford to wait. We can't wait to see and hope for the best," Obama said in Elkhart, a community reeling from job losses. "We can't posture and bicker and resort to the same failed ideas that got us in into this mess in the first place."
5) The Senate's $827 billion stimulus legislation seems assured narrow passage by Tuesday. Harder work for Obama and the Democrats comes in the days ahead, when the House and Senate attempt to reconcile differences in their two versions.
6) Obama and Democratic Party leaders had hoped to have a bill ready for the president's signature by Feb. 16 -- a deadline that grows more challenging by the day.
7) "You know, look, it's not perfect," the president conceded. "But it is the right size, it is the right scope. Broadly speaking, it has the right priorities to create jobs that will jump-start our economy and transform the economy for the 21st century."
8) At the Treasury Department, Secretary Timothy Geithner delayed the unveiling of a new bailout framework for financial institutions from Monday to Tuesday to let the administration focus on the stimulus legislation.
9) Geithner is considering steps to broaden the use of a new lending facility at the Federal Reserve, provide government guarantees to help banks deal with their troubled assets, and continue direct infusion of capital into banks in exchange for securities and tougher accountability rules.
10) Amid the urgency created by nearly 600,000 new unemployed workers last month and new bank failures, Obama's economic prescriptions are coming under critical scrutiny by both Congress and the American public.
11) A new poll showed 67 percent of Americans approve of Obama's efforts on behalf of the stimulus plan, while a 31 percent give Republicans in Congress and approval rating. The Gallup poll also showed 51 percent of Americans agree that passing such a bill is critically important.
12) The House and Senate bills are about $7 billion apart in cost and overlap in numerous ways. But the Senate bill has a greater emphasis on tax cuts, while the House bill devotes more money to states, local governments and schools.
13) Two senators who played a leading role in shaping the $827 billion stimulus Senate bill said Monday it's the best that could be achieved under difficult circumstances and must be passed.
14) The pair -- Republican Susan Collins and Democrat Ben Evans -- said they hope that differences between their version and the $827 billion House bill can be worked out in conference.
15) They spoke on the eve of a critical floor vote on the bill. The measure has attracted the support of Collins and two other Republicans in what supporters believe is enough strength to get it past a key procedural vote later Monday.
16) Appearing on NBC television, Collins conceded "the bill is not perfect." But she said the country is facing a crisis and doesn't need "a partisan divide."
17) Appearing with Collins on NBC, Evans said, "I think the things we have focused on will help turn this economy around."
18) The Senate bill is finely tuned. With only two or three Republicans on board, it is guaranteed, at most, 61 votes; the bill needs 60 votes in the 100-member body to advance and avoid procedural hurdles. Any change in the balance struck by the Senate bill could doom it.
19) The bank bailout proposal that Geithner will announce Tuesday also carries policy and political risks. Congress approved a $700 billion bailout for the financial sector last fall. But since then, lawmakers from both parties have been critical of how the Bush administration spent the first half of the money.
20) The Senate grudgingly agreed to give Obama access to the second half of the fund, but only after Obama promised to impose tougher conditions and to devote at least $50 billion of the fund to reducing mortgage foreclosures.
21) Officials said Geithner will not ask for more money for the program at this point. Instead, his plan is likely to include various approaches to loosening credit and helping banks deal with troubled, mortgage-backed assets.


Economic stimulus bill passes crucial Senate test
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1) The economic stimulus legislation backed by President Barack Obama has passed a key test in the Senate over strong Republican opposition.
2) The vote late Monday was 61-36, one more than the 60 needed. The $827 billion bill is expected to pass the Senate on Tuesday.
3) The next step would be negotiations with the House on a final compromise. Democratic leaders want to get the bill to the president's desk by the end of the week.


Stimulus bill narrowly survives Senate test vote
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1) An $838 billion economic stimulus bill backed by the White House narrowly advanced in the Senate on Monday over strong Republican opposition, and Democratic leaders vowed to deliver the emergency legislation for President Barack Obama's signature within a few days.
2) The vote was 61-36, one more than the 60 needed to move the measure toward Senate passage on Tuesday. That in turn, will set the stage for possibly contentious negotiations with the House on a final compromise on legislation the president says is desperately needed to tackle the worst economic crisis in more than a generation.
3) The Senate vote occurred as the Obama administration moved ahead on another key component of its economic recovery plan. Officials said Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner would outline rules on Tuesday for $350 billion in bailout funds designed to help the financial industry as well as homeowners facing foreclosure.
4) As for the stimulus, Obama said Monday night at the start of his televised news conference, "I can tell you with complete confidence that a failure to act will only deepen this crisis as well as the pain felt by millions of Americans."
5) The Senate vote was close but scarcely in doubt once the White House and Democratic leaders agreed to trim about $100 billion on Friday.
6) As a result, Republican Sens. Susan Collins and Olympia Snowe of Maine and Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania broke ranks to cast their votes to advance the bill.
7) Democratic Sen. Edward M. Kennedy, battling a brain tumor, made his first appearance in the Capitol since suffering a seizure on Inauguration Day, and he joined all other Democrats in support of the measure.
8) "There is no reason we can't do this by the end of the week," said Majority Leader Harry Reid of Nevada. As House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has said, he declared he was prepared to hold the Senate in session into the Presidents Day weekend if necessary, and cautioned Republicans not to try and delay final progress.
9) He said passage would mark "the first step on the long road to recovery."
10) Moments before the vote, the Congressional Budget Office issued a new estimate that put the cost at $838 billion, an increase from the $827 billion figure from last week. Ironically, the agency said provisions in the bill intended to limit bonuses to executives at firms receiving federal bailout money would result in lower tax revenues for the government.
11) "This bill has the votes to pass. We know that," conceded Sen. John Thune, a South Dakota Republican who has spoken daily in the Senate against the legislation.
12) As if to underscore its prospects for passage, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, a prominent and powerful business group, issued a statement calling on the Senate to advance the measure.
13) Even so, in the hours before Monday's vote, Republican opponents attacked it as too costly and unlikely to have the desired effect on the economy. "This is a spending bill, not a stimulus bill," said Sen. Lamar Alexander.
14) Republican Sen. Mike Enzi ridiculed the bill. "The emperor has no clothes! Somebody has to say it. I'm referring to this additional bailout, this spending bill that spends everything we've got on nothing we are sure about."
15) All 36 votes in opposition were cast by Republicans.
16) The two remaining versions of the legislation are relatively close in size -- $838 billion in the Senate and $819 billion in the House, and are similar in many respects.
17) Both include Obama's call for a tax cut for lower-income wage earners, as well as billions for unemployment benefits, food stamps, health care and other programs to help victims of the worst recession in decades. In a bow to the administration, they also include billions for development of new information technology for the health industry, and billions more to lay the groundwork for a new environmentally friendly industry that would help reduce the nation's dependence on foreign oil.
18) At the same time, the differences are considerable.
19) The measure nearing approval in the Senate calls for more tax cuts and less spending than the House bill, largely because it includes a $70 billion provision to protect middle-class taxpayers from falling victim to the alternative minimum tax, which was intended to make sure the very wealthy don't avoid paying taxes.
20) Both houses provide for tax breaks for home buyers, but the Senate's provision is far more generous. The Senate bill also gives a tax break to purchasers of new cars.
21) Both houses provide $87 billion in additional funds for the Medicaid program, which provides health care to the low income. But the House and Senate differ on the formula to be used in distributing the money, a dispute that pits states against one another rather than Republicans against Democrats.
22) There are dozens of differences on spending.
23) The Senate proposed $450 million for NASA for exploration, for example, $50 million less than the House. It also eliminated the House's call for money to combat a potential flu pandemic.
24) On the other hand, the Senate bill calls for several billion more in spending for research at the National Institutes of Health, the result of an amendment backed last week by Specter.


Obama warns of risk of economic `catastrophe '
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1) President Barack Obama, in the first nationally televised evening news conference of his young presidency, demanded that lawmakers pass an $800-billion-plus economic recovery plan or risk turning "a crisis into a catastrophe."
2) The administration and Congress were both moving on parallel tracks Tuesday toward a new round of heavy intervention to pull the U.S. economy out of its recessionary spiral.
3) The Treasury Department planned to announce Tuesday a revamped bank rescue plan, one calling for a stepped-up role by private investors. And an $838 billion stimulus bill was headed for expected Senate approval after clearing a critical procedural hurdle Monday.
4) On a day of high economic activity, Obama was headed Tuesday to Fort Myers, Florida, a metropolitan area among the hardest-hit by mortgage foreclosures, for another town-hall meeting like the one he held Monday in Elkhart, Indiana.
5) As part of his campaign to build public support for quick passage of his economic stimulus plan, the president took his message to a nationwide audience watching his news conference live during television's prime evening viewing hours. In opening remarks Monday night, he said the federal government "is the only entity left with the resources to jolt our economy back to life."
6) "The plan is not perfect," the president said. "No plan is. I can't tell you for sure that everything in this plan will work exactly as we hope, but I can tell you with complete confidence that a failure to act will only deepen this crisis as well as the pain felt by millions of Americans."
7) The Treasury Department was ready to announce how it will spend the remaining $350 billion of the $700 billion financial rescue program started by the Bush administration last fall. The plan envisions big investors buying more than $1 trillion in troubled assets from the banks, according to congressional staffers briefed on the plan Monday night by Treasury officials.
8) Obama depicted his administration's rewrite of the bank bailout effort as a template for "restoring market confidence."
9) "The credit crisis is real, and it's not over," Obama said.
10) Obama also said Monday that his administration is looking for opportunities to engage longtime adversary Iran and that there is "no doubt" that terrorists are operating in safe havens in Pakistan, near the Afghan border.
11) But it was the U.S. economic crisis, the nation's worst in 80 years, that dominated the news conference, much as it has dominated the early days of Obama's presidency.
12) Just three weeks after his inauguration was celebrated jubilantly around the world, Obama has run into the jarring difficulties of governing. He failed to win over the Republicans he courted for his economic plan. Some of his supporters have wondered if he has yielded too much ground in the pursuit of bipartisanship.
13) Yet Obama's approval ratings remain high -- 67 percent according to a Gallup Organization poll released Monday. He is trying to tap into that popularity to win public and congressional support for his economic recovery plan.
14) At his East Room news conference, Obama issued a dire warning of the consequences if Congress fails to agree on a stimulus package.
15) "This is not your ordinary, run-of-the-mill recession," he said. He cited Japan's failure to take bold actions in time to reverse a recession that turned the 1990s into a "lost decade" with no economic growth.
16) He said failure to act quickly "could turn a crisis into a catastrophe."
17) Obama said the U.S. could well be in better shape by next year, as measured by increased hiring, lending, home values and other factors. "If we get things right, then, starting next year, we can start seeing significant improvement," Obama said.
18) Obama declared that bringing politicians of both parties behind the task of saving the economy was "the test facing the United States of America in this winter of our hardship."
19) But he also said bipartisanship has its limits. "What I won't do is return to the failed theories of the last eight years that got us into this fix in the first place," he said.
20) The new bank rescue plan, to be announced by Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner, will propose a government partnership with the private sector to buy troubled debt now clogging the balance sheets of banks.
21) The administration is counting on private investors to help rescue banks by buying up some of these bad loans and other toxic debt. Hedge fund managers and other big investors are counting on the government to sweeten the deal before they open their checkbooks.
22) The plan also includes fresh cash injections into banks, new programs to help struggling homeowners and an expansion of a Federal Reserve program to spur consumer lending.
23) Obama criticized the way the first $350 billion was spent by the Bush administration: "We didn't get as big of a bang for the buck as we should have."
24) But he brushed aside a question on whether his administration would seek more funds for the Troubled Asset Relief Program. "We don't know yet if we'll need additional money, or how much additional money we'll need," Obama said.
25) As for the economic stimulus bill in Congress, Democratic Senate leaders were able to rally the votes needed to clear a procedural barrier Monday to open the way toward expected final passage Tuesday. The 61-36 vote, just one more than the 60 required, was heavily partisan, with only three Republicans joining all Democrats in voting for the package, a blend of federal spending and tax cuts.
26) In the House, not a single Republican had voted for that chamber's version of the legislation.
27) Still ahead was a difficult round of further negotiations aimed at producing a final House-Senate compromise. Congressional leaders hope to get the bill to Obama's desk before the Presidents Day recess next week.
28) The House and Senate versions are relatively close in size and are similar in many respects, but there are some key differences.
29) Both include Obama's call for a tax cut for lower-income wage earners, and billions of dollars for unemployment benefits, food stamps, health care and other programs to help victims of the worst recession in decades. In a bow to the administration, the bills also include billions for development of new information technology for the health industry, and billions more to lay the groundwork for a new, environmentally friendly energy industry that would help reduce the nation's dependence on foreign oil.
30) At the same time, the Senate measure calls for more tax cuts and less spending than the House bill.
31) Both bills provide for tax breaks for home buyers, but the Senate's provision is far more generous. The Senate bill also gives a tax break to purchasers of new cars.


US Senate OKs stimulus, opens urgent final talks
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1) The U.S. Senate sailed to approval of its $838 billion economic stimulus bill Tuesday, with only three Republicans signing on and no time to celebrate. The White House plunged into compromise talks with congressional leaders on a final version.
2) Within hours of the 61-37 Senate vote, White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel, Budget Director Peter Orszag and other top aides to President Barack Obama met in the Capitol with Democratic leaders as well as moderate senators from both parties whose support looms as crucial for any eventual agreement.
3) A top priority for Obama is to restore money to build and repair schools and to give cash-starved states more help with their budget problems. Almost $60 billion for those two programs alone was cut at the insistence of Republican moderates last week in a bargain that was crucial to getting their votes.
4) The moderates, Olympia Snowe and Susan Collins of Maine and Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania, are demanding that the final bill resemble the Senate measure, which devotes about 42 percent of its $838 billion in debt-financed costs to tax cuts, including Obama's signature $500 tax credit for 95 percent of workers, with $1,000 going to couples.
5) The $820 billion measure passed by the House of Representatives is about one-third tax cuts.
6) The Republican moderates also want the final bill to retain a $70 billion Senate plan to "patch" the alternative minimum tax, or AMT, for one year. The provision would make sure 24 million families will not be slammed with unexpected tax bills more than a year from now during the 2010 filing season.
7) The AMT was designed 40 years ago to make sure wealthy people were unable to use loopholes in the law to avoid paying taxes, but it has been updated for inflation each year to avoid tax increases averaging $2,300 a year. Fixing the annual problems now allows lawmakers to avoid difficult battles down the road, but economists say the move will do little to lift the economy.
8) Obama and his Democratic allies go into final negotiations on the economic rescue package with limited ability to make it more to their liking after the moderate Republicans -- with support from conservative Democrats such as Ben Nelson of Nebraska -- wrung savings totaling $108 billion in spending from the measure.
9) The Senate moderates are essential if the final plan is going to pass and get to Obama's desk, so they are playing sticking with their demands.
10) "My support for the conference report on the stimulus package will require that the Senate compromise bill come back virtually intact," Specter warned in a statement.
11) House Democratic leaders promised to fight to restore the school construction money. Those funds could create more than 100,000 jobs, according to Will Straw, an economist at the liberal Center for American Progress. He said the $40 billion cut in aid to state governments would mean 183,000 fewer jobs would be created under the plan.
12) The Senate has a well-earned reputation for emerging the winner in most House-Senate negotiations, since its rules make passing bills more difficult and typically require bipartisan votes. Senators tell the House leaders it is difficult to pass anything through the Senate that departs from carefully wrought agreements.
13) Hence the likelihood the final measure will greatly resemble the Senate bill.
14) "I think they've got a lot of influence on the outcome," said Democratic Sen. Kent Conrad. "It has to do with the simple reality of getting the votes to pass. And whether somebody likes it or doesn't like it, there's a thing called reality."


Negotiators hope for agreement on stimulus plan
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1) House and Senate negotiators hoped to seal agreement Wednesday on a final version of an $800-billion economic stimulus package that President Barack Obama says is urgently needed to pull the country out of its recessionary spiral.
2) The negotiations began Tuesday within hours of the Senate approving its $838 billion economic recovery bill by a 61-37 margin, but with only three moderate Republicans signing on and then demanding the bill's cost go down when the final version emerges from negotiations.
3) Also Tuesday, Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner unveiled the administration's much-anticipated plan to rescue the American banking system at a cost that could hit $2 trillion.
4) That unprecedented figure would include a mixture of government and private sector money designed to rid bank balance sheets of toxic investments and thaw frozen credit markets.
5) "Right now critical parts of our financial system are damaged," Geithner said in releasing the new plan. "Instead of catalyzing recovery, the financial system is working against recovery and that's the dangerous dynamic we need to change."
6) But a lack of detail about the bailout program announced by Geithner and questions about whether the private sector could be enticed to sign on sent stocks tumbling 382 points on Wall Street, losing more than 4.5 percent of their value. Banking and financial stocks were particularly hard hit.
7) In a sign of the urgency the administration attaches to the economic stimulus package, White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel, a former congressman, and other top Obama aides met in the Capitol late Tuesday with Democratic leaders as well as moderate senators from both parties whose support looms as crucial for any eventual agreement.
8) Negotiators were working with a target of about $800 billion for the final bill, lawmakers said.
9) "That's in the ballpark," Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus of Montana, said of the $800 billion figure late Tuesday.
10) Obama's negotiating team insisted on restoring some lost funding for school construction projects as talks began Tuesday in hopes of striking a quick agreement, but by late in the day it appeared resigned to losing up to $40 billion in aid to state governments.
11) Baucus had said earlier that $35.5 billion to provide a $15,000 homebuyer tax credit, approved in the Senate last week, would be cut back. There was also pressure to reduce a Senate-passed tax break for new car buyers, according to Democratic officials.
12) Democratic leaders have long pledged to have stimulus legislation on Obama's desk for his signature by mid-month.
13) Obama has staked his presidency on rescuing the economy from its worst crisis since the Great Depression of the 1930s.
14) Obama said Wall Street was mistakenly looking for an "easy out" in the bailout plan, telling ABC television it was time for banks and the financial sector to come clean about the scope of their loses.
15) Members of both political parties have been smarting over the implementation of the $700 billion financial package, which started under President George W. Bush last fall and now is in the hands of the Obama administration. The lingering suspicions present one of Obama's biggest obstacles as he attempts the dual challenge of prodding the financial sector to ease credit while aiming to create jobs with an economic stimulus package.
16) Half of the $700 billion bailout money was allocated by the Bush administration, but that spending has come under heavy criticism for a lack of transparency and the failure of banks to put the money into the frozen credit market.
17) On Wednesday, eight CEOs of U.S. banks were scheduled to testify before the House Financial Services Committee to face a battery of questions about how they have used more than $160 billion in taxpayers' money received under the financial bailout plan.
18) Geithner explained his complex banking rescue plan shortly before the Senate voted to give the administration $838 billion in spending and tax cuts to put the brakes on the economic slide.
19) Part of the Senate package retained language that would restrict spending to U.S.-produced iron and steel for stimulus projects.
20) The moderate Republican senators -- Olympia Snowe and Susan Collins of Maine and Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania -- are demanding that the final House-Senate compromise resemble the Senate measure, which devotes about 42 percent of its $838 billion in debt-financed costs to tax cuts, including Obama's signature $500 tax credit for 95 percent of workers, with $1,000 going to couples.
21) The $820 billion House measure is about one-third tax cuts.
22) Collins said last week she won't vote for any final bill exceeding $800 billion in spending and tax cuts. Specter warned that the Senate bill must stay "virtually intact."
23) House leaders are tempering expectations that they'll restore many of the cuts.
24) "You cannot allow the perfect to be the enemy of the effective and of the necessary, and we will not," said House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.
25) Geithner revealed the massive financial rescue effort only moments before Obama told an audience in Fort Myers, Florida, that "the situation we face could not be more serious." The city is among the hardest-hit in the storm of home mortgage foreclosures sweeping the nation.
26) Geithner sternly warned the nation that it was facing a rough year and said the only way to turn around the economy was to use unprecedented amounts of government funds.
27) "This strategy will cost money, it will involve risk and it will take time," Geithner said in announcing the plan.
28) He said it would attack the financial collapse on three fronts: Working to restart the flow of credit, removing bad debt from the books of troubled banks and providing assistance for ordinary Americans and small businesses.
29) In moving on the three tracks, Geithner said the administration intended to:
30) --Ensure that banks' balance sheets are "cleaner and stronger."
31) --Establish a fund that combines the resources of the U.S. Federal Reserve, the Federal Deposit Insurance corporation and the private sector that could reach $1 trillion to stimulate spending, particularly in real estate that is "the heart of this crisis." He said the initial target total for the fund was $500 billion.
32) --Set aside $100 billion from the bailout fund to support an additional $1 trillion in lending under a Federal Reserve program that was announced in November but has yet to begin operations.


Negotiations intensify on final US stimulus plan
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1) Negotiators for Congress and the White House worked to narrow differences on a U.S. economic stimulus bill on Wednesday in hopes of clearing a bill for President Barack Obama's signature by week's end.
2) After unofficial talks stretching into the late evening on Tuesday, officials announced a formal meeting of negotiators.
3) Obama's negotiating team insisted on restoring some lost funding for school construction projects as talks began Tuesday in hopes of striking a quick agreement, but by late in the day it appeared resigned to losing up to $40 billion in aid to state governments.
4) Earlier Tuesday, the Senate sailed to approval of its $838 billion economic stimulus bill, but with only three moderate Republicans signing on and then demanding the bill's cost go down when the final version emerges from negotiations.
5) Negotiators were working with a target of about $800 billion for the final bill, lawmakers said.
6) "That's in the ballpark," Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus, a Democrat, said of the $800 billion figure late Tuesday.
7) Baucus had said earlier that $35.5 billion to provide a $15,000 homebuyer tax credit, approved in the Senate last week, would be cut back. There was also pressure to reduce a Senate-passed tax break for new car buyers, according to Democratic officials.
8) Asked about the timing of a final deal, White House press secretary Robert Gibbs on Wednesday cautiously said "I don't want to disrupt the delicateness by laying down anything or predicting." But he told The Associated Press that negotiators were "making good progress."
9) Within hours of the 61-37 Senate vote, White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel and other top Obama aides met in the Capitol with Democratic leaders as well as moderate senators from both parties whose support looms as crucial for any eventual agreement.
10) House Democratic leaders promised to fight to restore some of $16 billion for school construction cut by the Senate. Those funds could create more than 100,000 jobs, according to Will Straw, an economist at the liberal Center for American Progress.
11) House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, a Democrat, acknowledged Wednesday that finding an agreement on differences over tax cuts and aid to states and localities will be difficult.
12) "We're going to have to resolve those differences. Simply talking about what we need to do is not going to be very effective if we don't do it," he said in an interview on the Fox News Channel.
13) The moderate senators -- Olympia Snowe and Susan Collins and Arlen Specter -- are demanding that the final House-Senate compromise resemble the Senate measure, which devotes about 42 percent of its $838 billion in debt-financed costs to tax cuts, including Obama's signature $500 tax credit for 95 percent of workers, with $1,000 going to couples.
14) The $820 billion House measure is about one-third tax cuts.
15) Collins said last week she will not vote for any final bill exceeding $800 billion in spending and tax cuts. Specter warned that the Senate bill must stay "virtually intact."


Negotiators aim for agreement on stimulus plan
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1) Congressional leaders announced agreement Wednesday on a $789 billion economic stimulus package that President Barack Obama says is needed to create millions of jobs and to pull the economy out of recession.
2) Obama could sign the bill within days.
3) In announcing the deal, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said marathon talks starting Tuesday produced a compromise between the differing bills passed earlier in the Senate and the House of Representatives. The talks often were joined by White House officials.
4) "The middle ground we've reached creates more jobs than the original Senate bill and costs less than the original House bill," Reid said.
5) The bill includes help for victims of the recession in the form of unemployment benefits, food stamps, health coverage and more, as well as billions for states that face the prospect of making deep cuts in their own programs.
6) It also preserves Obama's signature tax cut -- a break for millions of lower and middle income taxpayers, including those who don't earn enough to pay income taxes.
7) Sen. Max Baucus, a Democrat from Montana and one of the negotiators, said earlier that 35 percent of the total would be in the form of tax cuts.
8) The negotiations on the economic stimulus package were necessary because different versions of the bill were passed by the House of Representatives and the Senate. The process was complicated by the need to accommodate three moderate Republican senators, whose votes have become crucial.
9) One change reduced Obama's tax credit for workers to $400 from $500, with couples eligible for an $800 credit, instead of $1,000, said a Democratic aide close to the talks. This aide spoke on condition of anonymity because the negotiations are private.
10) Work on the stimulus bill came as the Obama administration continued to work on details of the other part of its strategy to revive the economy: a bailout plan, costing up to $2 trillion, to rescue the American banking system. That unprecedented figure would include a mixture of government and private sector money designed to rid bank balance sheets of toxic investments and thaw frozen credit markets.
11) But a lack of detail about the bailout program, which was announced by Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner, and questions about whether the private sector would sign on sent major U.S. stocks indexes tumbling about 4.5 percent on Tuesday. Stocks rebounded some on Wednesday, mainly on word of compromise on the stimulus bill.
12) Obama's chief spokesman, Robert Gibbs, downplayed Tuesday's 382-point drop in the Dow Jones industrial average.
13) He said the administration's bailout plan that sent Wall Street tumbling was not designed for a "one-day market reaction." Gibbs said previous economic plans sent the markets up but ended up being failures and that the Obama administration was looking at a broader fix.
14) Lawmakers from both parties have been critical of the initial $700 billion bank rescue plan, started under former President George W. Bush. Questions remain about how the money was spent and there is little sign it has loosened credit markets.
15) At a hearing Wednesday, Geithner said it was too early to say how much taxpayer money the Obama administration's bank rescue plan ultimately will cost, but he told the Senate Budget Committee that further requests are possible.
16) At a separate hearing, eight chief executives of U.S. banks told the House Financial Services Committee they would try to cooperate more closely with Congress.
17) "Both our firm and our industry have far to go to regain the trust of taxpayers, investors and public officials," John J. Mack, head of Morgan Stanley, told the committee.
18) Added JPMorgan Chase & Co.'s Jamie Dimon: "We stand ready to do our part going forward."


Obama caps legislative victory with Gala
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1) President Barack Obama praised Abraham Lincoln for his conviction that a divided nation could be made whole at a gala Wednesday night, capping a day when congressional leaders agreed on a compromise $789 billion economic stimulus package.
2) The agreement marks a major legislative victory for the young Obama administration.
3) Saying the package is essential for pulling the U.S. out of its economic tailspin, he has pressured Congress by taking his case to the American people, arguing that it is essential in order to avert catastrophe.
4) On Wednesday night, the president and first lady Michelle Obama joined a crowd of Hollywood stars and Washington heavy-hitters celebrating the $25 million renovation of Ford's Theatre where Lincoln was assassinated.
5) Calling the theater "hallowed space" where Lincoln's legacy thrives, Obama praised him for restoring a sense of unity to the country.
6) "For despite all that divided us -- North and South, black and white -- he had an unyielding belief that we were, at heart, one nation, and one people," Obama said. "And because of Abraham Lincoln, and all who've carried on his work in the generations since, that is what we remain today."
7) Earlier in the day, Obama called the final deal on the stimulus package a "hard-fought compromise," and he expressed gratitude in a statement to Congress for its work.
8) "I want to thank the Democrats and Republicans in Congress who came together around a hard-fought compromise that will save or create more than 3.5 million jobs," the president said. Obama said the tax help and investments in health care, energy, education and construction projects will fuel the economy.
9) The emerging legislation is at the core of Obama's economic recovery program, and includes help for victims of the recession in the form of expanded unemployment benefits, food stamps, health coverage and more, as well as billions for states that face the prospect of making deep cuts in school aid and other programs.
10) In announcing Wednesday's deal, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, a Democrat, said marathon talks starting Tuesday produced a compromise between the differing bills passed earlier by the Senate and House. The talks often were joined by White House officials.
11) "The middle ground we've reached creates more jobs than the original Senate bill and costs less than the original House bill," Reid said.
12) The bill preserves Obama's signature tax cut -- a break for millions of lower and middle income taxpayers, including those who don't earn enough to pay income taxes.
13) The president also won money for two other administration priorities -- information technology in health care, and "green jobs" to make buildings more energy-efficient and reduce the nation's reliance on foreign oil.
14) The bill "will be the beginning of the turnaround for the American economy," predicted Sen. Joseph Lieberman, the independent from Connecticut.
15) Republicans have continued to express opposition to the bill, despite Obama's goal of bipartisan support. The events capped a frenzied 24-plus hours that began at midday Tuesday when the Senate approved its original version of the bill on a party-line vote of 61-37.
16) "It appears that Democrats have made a bad bill worse by reducing the tax relief for working families in order to pay for more wasteful government spending," said Republican Rep. John Boehner.
17) But, public support for the stimulus may be growing. A new USA Today-Gallup poll put backing at 59 percent this week, up from 52 percent in early January.
18) Work on the stimulus bill came as the Obama administration continued to work on details of the other part of its strategy to revive the economy: a bailout plan, costing up to $2 trillion, to rescue the American banking system. That unprecedented figure would include a mixture of government and private sector money designed to rid bank balance sheets of toxic investments and thaw frozen credit markets.
19) Early reviews from Wall Street and Capitol Hill could complicate winning public and market confidence along the way. A lack of detail about the bailout program, which was announced by Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner, and questions about whether the private sector would sign on sent major U.S. stocks indexes tumbling about 4.5 percent on Tuesday. Stocks rebounded weakly on Wednesday despite announcement of the compromise on the stimulus bill.


Obama ' s stimulus plan on track for final votes
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1) President Barack Obama's prized economic stimulus legislation sailed toward victory just a few weeks into his term, but with the final congressional votes still pending, he continued his campaign to convince Americans that his $789 billion plan will work.
2) Lawmakers reached a deal on the stimulus bill Wednesday after 24 intense hours of negotiations, cutting the cost from more than $800 billion. It now goes back to both chambers of Congress, and was on track for final votes Friday.
3) The agreement was a huge victory for Obama, who had been pushing for approval of a stimulus package even before taking office Jan. 20. But he failed to win the Republican support he courted as part of his campaign pledge to work with the opposition even though his Democratic Party has a majority in both chambers of Congress.
4) Republicans complained that the bill included wasteful spending and that greater tax cuts would be more effective in lifting the United States out of its biggest economic crisis in 80 years. Obama is not expected to pick up more Republican support than he had in earlier votes, when only three Republican senators and no Republican House members backed the plan.
5) The president was headed Thursday to Peoria, Illinois, as he continued his campaign to promote the plan. Earlier this week he held town hall rallies in Florida and Indiana to build public support for the stimulus. He also is planning stops in Denver and Phoenix next Tuesday and Wednesday.
6) A day earlier, Obama used Peoria-based Caterpillar Inc. as an example of how his stimulus plan can help produce jobs. During a visit in Virginia, Obama said the heavy equipment manufacturer plans to rehire some of its laid-off workers if Congress approves a sweeping stimulus bill. The company hasn't commented on that assertion.
7) Obama approved of the stimulus compromise reached Wednesday, saying it would "save or create more than 3.5 million jobs and get our economy back on track."
8) But the top Republican in the House of Representatives, John Boenher, said "it appears that Democrats have made a bad bill worse by reducing the tax relief for working families in order to pay for more wasteful government spending."
9) The stimulus plan includes spending on infrastructure projects, expanded unemployment benefits, aid for small businesses and billions for states that face the prospect of making deep cuts in education and other programs. Obama's much touted tax break for middle- and working-class Americans survived but was scaled back. To tamp down costs, several tax provisions were dropped or sharply cut back.
10) The president also won money for two other administration priorities -- information technology in health care, and "green jobs" to make buildings more energy-efficient and reduce the nation's reliance on foreign oil.
11) After final agreements were sealed Wednesday afternoon, staff aides worked into the night drafting and double-checking in hopes of officially unveiling the measure Thursday.
12) The compromise bill now goes back to both chambers, and congressional aides said final votes are likely in the House of Representatives and Senate on Friday.
13) Obama's other plan to help the economy, the bank bailout, has not been well received.
14) Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner announced a plan that could send as much as $2 trillion in public and private funding coursing through the banking system and the broader economy and stressed the government would act to stop "catastrophic failure" of financial institutions.
15) However, there were doubts about whether the private sector would sign on and criticism that the proposal was short on details. U.S. stocks plummeted shortly after Geithner's announcement.
16) The bailout is built upon the $700 bank bailout fund established under former President George W. Bush last year. Bush's administration has already allocated half the fund, leaving the rest for the Obama administration.


Obama stimulus victory overshadowed by resignation
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1) President Barack Obama is nearing a big victory in Congress on his $790 billion stimulus package, but the fight for the plan set back his attempts at bipartisanship as his Republican choice for commerce secretary withdrew his nomination Thursday.
2) In a surprise announcement, Sen. Judd Gregg cited in part "irresolvable conflicts" with Obama's handling of the stimulus package the president has pushed as necessary to turning around the collapsing U.S. economy.
3) Gregg became the third Cabinet-level Obama nominee -- and the second choice for commerce secretary -- to drop out, further drawing out the president's attempts to complete a Cabinet. Gregg's decision still leaves Obama with two Republicans in his administration, an unusual move across party lines.
4) Lawmakers reached a tentative deal on the stimulus bill Wednesday after 24 intense hours of negotiations, cutting the cost from more than $800 billion. But key lawmakers were reluctant to call it quits and bargained into overtime Thursday on the legislation before all issues were reported settled.
5) Gregg's reference to the stimulus underscored the partisan divide over the centerpiece of Obama's economic recovery plan. Conservatives in both houses have been relentless critics of the plan, arguing it is filled with wasteful spending and that greater tax cuts would be more effective in creating jobs.
6) The Democratic-controlled Senate and House of Representatives are nearing a vote on the reworked bill, though Obama is not expected to pick up more Republican support than he had in votes on an earlier version of plan, when only three Republican senators and no Republican House members backed it. House leaders announced a vote for Friday, with the Senate to follow later in the day or over the weekend.
7) Obama, meanwhile, delivered what has become a daily call for congressional action, this time from America's industrial heartland at a Caterpillar Inc. plant in East Peoria, Illinois. His message was blunted when the company's chairman warned that it may be up to a year before the multibillion-dollar program has a positive impact the economy.
8) "It is time for Congress to act, and I hope they act in a bipartisan fashion," Obama said, arguing his plan would unleash a wave of construction, innovation and job growth once he signed it into law.
9) "It's about giving people a way to make a living, support their families and live out their dreams," Obama said. "Americans aren't looking for a handout. They just want to work."
10) The stimulus plan includes spending on infrastructure projects, expanded unemployment benefits, aid for small businesses and billions for states that face the prospect of making deep cuts in education and other programs. Obama's much touted tax break for middle- and working-class Americans survived but was scaled back. To tamp down costs, several tax provisions were dropped or sharply cut back.
11) The president also won money for two other administration priorities -- information technology in health care, and "green jobs" to make buildings more energy-efficient and reduce the nation's reliance on foreign oil.
12) Negotiators dropped a House provision targeting illegal immigrant workers. The House wanted to require anyone getting a contract paid for with stimulus money to use a government program to ensure employees are citizens or immigrants permitted to work.
13) Many businesses, civil liberties groups and immigration advocates say the program in question is flawed. Others say the tool is needed to control illegal immigration.
14) Final details included the drafting of precise language on trade. The House included a Buy America restriction forbidding the use of foreign steel and other products on infrastructure projects funded in the bill. Negotiators were largely going with a Senate version that is much less restrictive, saying the U.S. would abide by its international trade commitments.
15) One last-minute addition was a $3.2 billion tax break for General Motors Corp. that would allow the ailing auto giant to use current losses to claim refunds for taxes paid when times were good. GM got a $13.4 billion federal bailout late last year -- and is expected to receive more in 2009 -- and argued that without the provision, its government-financed turnaround plan could force the company to pay higher taxes.
16) The legislation does not mention GM specifically, but the company has been lobbying hard for the provision for months.
17) Lingering controversy over school-modernization money, a scaled-back tax break for businesses and other issues had forced the delay in final votes on the legislation.
18) Obama's other plan to help the economy, the bank bailout, has not been well received. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner announced a plan that could send as much as $2 trillion in public and private funding coursing through the banking system and the broader economy. However, there were doubts about whether the private sector would sign on and criticism that the proposal was short on details.
19) The bailout is built upon the $700 bank bailout fund established under former President George W. Bush last year. Bush's administration has already allocated half the fund, leaving the rest for the Obama administration.


US House passes Obama ' s economic stimulus bill
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1) The U.S. House of Representatives has passed a $787 billion plan to resuscitate the economy, handing President Barack Obama a big victory.
2) The measure was passed on a 246-183, with no Republican "yes" votes. It will now go to the Senate, where a vote was expected later Friday.
3) The eight-inch-thick (20-centimeters-thick) stimulus bill combines tax cuts for individuals and businesses with a half-trillion dollars in government spending for infrastructure, health care and help for cash-starved state governments. Older Americans would get a $250 bonus Social Security check.
4) Seven Democrats voted against the bill.
5) Obama claims that the plan will save or create 3.5 million jobs. But Republicans said it will not work because it has too little in tax cuts and spreads too much money around to everyday projects like computer upgrades for federal agencies.


Savoring win, Obama celebrates `major milestone '
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1) President Barack Obama will sign the newly passed $787 billion economic stimulus package on Tuesday in Denver, Colorado, officials said Saturday.
2) The measure, aimed at combating the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression of the 1930s, marks Obama's first major victory in Congress, less than a month after taking office.
3) Obama described the bill's passage as a "major milestone on our road to recovery."
4) Speaking in his weekly radio and Internet address, Obama said, "I will sign this legislation into law shortly, and we'll begin making the immediate investments necessary to put people back to work doing the work America needs done."
5) At the same time, he cautioned, "The problems that led us into this crisis are deep and widespread, and our response must be equal to the task."
6) The bill passed Friday with lawmakers largely voting along party lines, allowing Democratic leaders to deliver on their promise of clearing the legislation by mid-February.
7) The Senate approved the measure 60-38 with three Republican moderates providing crucial support. Hours earlier, the House vote was 246-183, with all Republicans opposed to the package of tax cuts and federal spending that Obama has made the centerpiece of his plan for economic recovery.
8) Obama "now has a bill to sign that will create millions of good-paying jobs and help families and businesses stay afloat financially," said Sen. Max Baucus, a Democrat who was a leading architect of the measure.
9) "It will shore up our schools and roads and bridges, and infuse cash into new sectors like green energy and technology that will sustain our economy for the long term," he added in a statement.
10) Despite Obama's early bipartisan goals, Republican opposition was nearly unanimous to the $787 billion package. Conservatives in both houses have been relentless critics, arguing the plan is filled with wasteful spending and that greater tax cuts would be more effective in creating jobs.
11) "A stimulus bill that was supposed to be timely, targeted and temporary is none of the above," Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell said in remarks Friday on the Senate floor. "And this means Congress is about to approve a stimulus that's unlikely to have much stimulative effect."
12) Sen. Lisa Murkowski, in the Republicans' radio address Saturday, contended Democrats settled "on a random dollar amount in the neighborhood of $1 trillion and then set out to fill the bucket."
13) Told that no House Republican backed the measure Friday, White House press secretary Robert Gibbs reacted by citing another number: "3.5 million jobs that we look forward to saving or creating."
14) Obama gave a thumbs-up sign upon hearing of the package's passage in the House. He hailed the massive bill and the "spirited debate" that accompanied it, but warned that "it's only the beginning of what we must do to turn our economy around."
15) He said those things include implementing the separate, newly reconfigured $700 billion financial industry bailout program, stemming home foreclosures, reforming financial sector regulations and crafting what he called a "responsible" federal budget.
16) The legislation, among the costliest ever considered in Congress, provides billions of dollars to victims of the recession through expanded unemployment benefits, food stamps, medical care, job retraining and more. Tens of billions are ticketed for financially strapped states to offset cuts they might otherwise have to make in aid to schools and local governments, and there is more than $48 billion for transportation projects such as road and bridge construction, mass transit and high-speed rail.
17) Obama's much touted tax break for middle- and working-class Americans survived but was scaled back. To tamp down costs, several tax provisions were dropped or sharply cut back.
18) The president also won billions of dollars for two other administration priorities -- the expansion of computerized information technology in the health care industry, and "green jobs" to make buildings more energy-efficient and reduce the nation's reliance on foreign oil.
19) Final details included the drafting of precise language on trade. The House included a "Buy America" restriction forbidding the use of foreign steel and other products on infrastructure projects funded in the bill. Negotiators were largely going with a Senate version that is much less restrictive, saying the U.S. would abide by its international trade commitments.
20) The approval caps an early period of accomplishment for the Democrats, who won control of the White House and expanded their majorities in Congress in last fall's elections.
21) Since taking office on Jan. 20, the president has signed legislation extending government-financed health care to millions of lower-income children who lack it, a bill that President George W. Bush twice vetoed. He also has placed his signature on a measure making it easier for workers to sue their employers for alleged job discrimination, effectively overturning a ruling by the Supreme Court's conservative majority.
22) After the Senate passed the stimulus package, Obama took his first significant break since taking office on Jan. 20.
23) Obama and his family are spending the President's Day holiday weekend at their Chicago home. Aides say they have no public events, and the first couple plans to go out for a Valentine's Day dinner Saturday night.


Obama launches economic offensive
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1) President Barack Obama launches an economic offensive this week, signing the newly passed $787 billion stimulus package in Colorado, before moving to Arizona to tackle the home mortgage foreclosure crisis.
2) As he struggles to lift the country out of its worst economic downturn since the Great Depression of the 1930s, Obama termed passage of the stimulus package a "major milestone on our road to recovery."
3) Of perhaps equal importance will be his effort to reverse the collapsing U.S. housing market that triggered a financial crisis of still-unknown proportions.
4) The stimulus package, which found no Republican support in the House of Representatives and gained only three opposition votes to assure passage in the Senate, aims to save or create as many as 3.5 million jobs through massive government investment while boosting consumer spending through modest tax cuts.
5) The mortgage plan, its details still under wraps, marks a counteroffensive against the housing collapse that has seen millions of Americans default on mortgages and lose their homes. As that crisis rippled through the financial industry, lending seized up as banks and investment houses realized they were holding trillions of dollars in bad assets.
6) Under an emergency $700 billion program passed late last year, the former Bush administration used half of that fund to forestall a financial collapse. But the flow of credit did not ease and use of the money was highly criticized because it was poorly administered and allowed banks and investment houses to spend the money recklessly.
7) Obama is now working to leverage the second portion of the bailout money into a program that could result in $2 trillion in government and private sector cash infusions to help banks and investment houses clear away some of their so-called "toxic" holdings and thereby spur lending. The part of his plan to help homeowners facing foreclosure is designed not only as succor to the public but to boost confidence in the financial community.
8) Obama's senior White House adviser said Sunday that Americans will soon see positive effects of the stimulus plan. Speaking on Fox television, David Axelrod said signs that the $787 billion economic stimulus program is working will be obvious as work begins on infrastructure and other programs that are ready to begin around the country.
9) Yet, Axelrod warned, it's going to take time for the effects to register in employment statistics and the economy is likely to get even worse before it begins to rebound. He said he expects the rise of unemployment to be slowed by the bill's passage and implementation.
10) The president has been crisscrossing the country in recent days selling his plans to the public. Polls show his support among Americans running well above his nearly 53-percent victory margin in the November election, a fact that he has used effectively against Republican recalcitrance in Congress to support his economic stimulus plans.
11) By signing the stimulus bill into law Tuesday in Denver, the Colorado capital, and detailing his mortgage rescue proposal the next day in Phoenix, Arizona, Obama continues taking his message directly to the American public. Both actions show he is pointedly sidestepping the partisanship still gripping Washington despite his efforts to soften the Republican opposition.
12) Speaking in his weekly radio and Internet address, Obama said, "I will sign this legislation into law shortly, and we'll begin making the immediate investments necessary to put people back to work doing the work America needs done."
13) At the same time, he cautioned, "The problems that led us into this crisis are deep and widespread, and our response must be equal to the task."
14) Conservatives in both houses have been relentless critics, arguing the $787 billion stimulus measure is filled with wasteful spending and that greater tax cuts would be more effective in creating jobs.
15) Alaska Sen. Lisa Murkowski, in the Republicans' radio address Saturday, contended Democrats settled "on a random dollar amount in the neighborhood of $1 trillion and then set out to fill the bucket."
16) The legislation, among the costliest ever considered in Congress, provides billions of dollars to victims of the recession through expanded unemployment benefits, food stamps, medical care, job retraining and more.
17) Tens of billions are ticketed for financially strapped states to offset cuts they might otherwise have to make in aid to schools and local governments, and there is more than $48 billion for transportation projects such as road and bridge construction, mass transit and high-speed rail.
18) Obama's campaign promise of tax breaks for middle- and working-class Americans survived but was scaled back. To tamp down costs, several tax provisions were dropped or sharply cut back.
19) Final details included the drafting of precise language on trade. The House included a "Buy America" restriction forbidding the use of foreign steel and other products on infrastructure projects funded in the bill. Negotiators were largely going with a Senate version that is much less restrictive, saying the U.S. would abide by its international trade commitments.
20) The approval caps an early period of accomplishment for the Democrats, who won control of the White House and expanded their majorities in Congress in last fall's elections.
21) Since taking office on Jan. 20, the president has signed legislation extending government-financed health care to millions of lower-income children who lack it and a measure making it easier for workers to sue their employers for alleged job discrimination.
22) Obama and his wife, Michelle, were spending a long weekend in Chicago for their first real break since he became president on Jan. 20. Aides say they have no public events.


Republicans stress fiscal discipline
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1) Seeking political traction, Republicans are using the Obama administration's massive economic stimulus package to try to restore an image of fiscal discipline tarnished by a free-spending Republican Congress under former President George W. Bush.
2) The return to what many Republicans consider their small-government, tax-cut roots is driving unity in a party that now lacks power in the White House and in the Democratic-controlled House of Representatives and Senate.
3) Only three Republicans -- Senate moderates -- voted for the $787 billion measure aimed at pulling the United States out of a severe recession. The rest assailed it as filled with pet projects, too light on tax cuts, and too quickly pushed through Congress.
4) It's "a long wish list of big government spending that won't work. It won't create jobs. It won't stimulate this economy. And it may do more harm than good," Republican Rep. Mike Pence declared after opposing the bill.
5) Democratic Rep. Chris Van Hollen was quick to pounce, saying: "It is sending an entirely wrong signal to the American people to be banking on failure."
6) President Barack Obama plans to sign the legislation -- an unprecedented blend of government spending and tax cuts -- on Tuesday in Colorado. His action is sure to spark another round of outcry from Republicans.
7) The Republican strategy of emphasizing its so-called bedrock principles -- restrained spending, limited government and deep tax cuts -- comes as the party works to rehabilitate itself after eight years of Bush's leadership and rebound from back-to-back elections that saw Republicans lose their grip on Congress and the White House.
8) It carries both potential opportunities and risks.
9) A message of fiscal discipline is a surefire energizer for the party's long dispirited conservative base, party faithful who will be critical foot soldiers for the Republican fundraising and organizing efforts in next year's midterm congressional elections and beyond.
10) In normal times, it also can be a relatively simple sell to voters: who doesn't want more money in their pockets and less in the government's hands?
11) But, once the economy turns around, Republicans easily could be cast as modern-day Herbert Hoovers who wanted to do nothing -- even though the party presented its own stimulus plans that were heavier on tax cuts and lighter on government spending.
12) Republicans also leave themselves vulnerable to criticism that tax cuts on the party's watch contributed to the recession. And, they could invite charges of hypocrisy given that government spending ballooned when Bush and his party were at the helm.
13) Nevertheless, House Republican leader John Boehner of Ohio downplays any notion of a political risk.
14) "Standing on principle and doing the right things for the right reasons, on behalf of your constituents, will never get you in trouble," he said.
15) But Democratic Rep. Charlie Rangel predicted the Republicans will be punished.
16) "I really don't think that the position that they've taken politically is good for the nation -- and I think the nation will speak out against it," he said.
17) As the legislation wound its way through Congress and to the president's desk, Republicans coalesced around opposition to the plan.
18) They banged the drum of limited government, deep tax cuts and restrained spending. They cast the Democratic measure as a big-spending bill packed with political pork that wouldn't create jobs or jump start the economy. And, they argued it was a raw deal for taxpayers that would hurt generations to come.
19) Sen. John McCain of Arizona -- the Republican presidential nominee in 2008 -- used his disgust with the legislation to reassert himself among his Republican colleagues. And, potential presidential candidates in 2012, like former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, made the TV news and talk radio rounds blasting the plan as a big-government boondoggle.
20) Initially, Obama aggressively and personally courted Republicans in hopes of bipartisan support. He signed off on changes to the plan, like tax breaks for small businesses, in hopes of winning some Republican votes.
21) But then Boehner got all House Republicans to oppose the original bill. Instead, they offered an alternative measure. It was defeated.
22) In the Senate, Republicans dropped off of bipartisan discussions as it became clear that the price tag would remain in the ballpark of $800 billion. They, too, offered their own measure. But it, too, went nowhere.
23) In the end, Obama dropped his bipartisan talk and pushed hard for a final approval -- without Republicans if necessary.
24) Three moderate Republican senators broke ranks -- Susan Collins and Olympia Snowe of Maine and Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania -- and voted with Democrats.


Republicans poised to leap on spending abuses
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1) Republicans are preparing to pounce on any wasteful spending in the $787 billion stimulus package as they refocus their criticisms of a measure whose success could hurt their 2010 election prospects.
2) President Barack Obama and congressional Democrats also promise rigorous oversight, including a new Web site to help people track various projects funded by the massive bill. But the two parties will reap different political rewards if they find waste or abuse, which is virtually inevitable when the government tries to spend so much money so fast, authorities say.
3) Democrats want the plan to unfold as smoothly as possible, because voters see it as the product of their party and Obama. Congressional Republicans, however, opposed the bill almost unanimously, and any embarrassing examples of misused funds or other shortcomings will let them say, "I told you so."
4) House Republicans are setting up "a stimulus-watch program" that will allow watchdog groups and private citizens to report findings as contractors and agencies start spending billions of dollars on roads, schools, renewable energy projects and other initiatives, said House Republican Whip Eric Cantor.
5) "We'll be taking a look in detail" and "really providing accountability and transparency," Cantor said in an interview Wednesday.
6) House Minority Leader John Boehner of Ohio said in a statement: "House Republicans are concerned about the potential for abuse of taxpayer funds in the massive trillion-dollar spending bill that the president signed into law this week. ... We will remain vigilant in our oversight efforts."
7) Some Republican lawmakers and aides say that even relatively small examples of spending abuse will feed conservative talk shows and fuel criticism of the plan's implementation, just as a handful of dubious items in the bill helped House Republicans mock it and stay united against it. Only three Senate Republicans voted for the bill, giving it the minimum needed for passage.
8) Democratic leaders say Republicans have painted themselves into a corner, and they can convince voters of their wisdom only if the stimulus package fails to stabilize the economy. In other words, the Democrats' thinking goes, Republican lawmakers have every incentive to find fault, fraud and failure in a plan the White House touts as Americans' best hope for saving jobs, homes and retirement accounts.
9) "It's one thing to do everything you can to hold people accountable," said Democratic Rep. Chris Van Hollen, who chairs the Democrats' House campaign committee. "It's another thing for your strategy to bank on cronyism and abuse. It is a very cynical approach."
10) Republican Rep. Darrell Issa said Republicans want the economy to improve as much as anyone does, even if it allows Democrats to claim credit. But as the top Republican on the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, he is trying to exceed Democrats in holding the government accountable for the stimulus bill's spending.
11) If the much-maligned financial sector bailout is a guide, then "unchecked efforts to rapidly spend billions of dollars involve significant risks of waste, fraud and abuse," Issa said in a letter to the inspectors general of the major federal agencies. The letter asks several questions, including, "Is the Office of Inspector General implementing any initiative to preemptively combat waste, fraud and abuse?"
12) The Defense Department, which spends huge amounts of money at home and abroad, has been accused of numerous lapses over the years, although the infamous $600 hammer was more myth than reality, officials say.
13) The self-described watchdog group Taxpayers for Common Sense says that under the new stimulus bill, "some federal agencies are seeing their budgets doubled or more. Coupled with the demand for speed, it is easy to foresee billions of dollars being wasted."
14) In many places the federal government lacks the resources it needs to prepare the way for efficient contracts, said Stan Z. Soloway, president of the Professional Services Council, a trade group for government contractors.
15) "We have a shortage of engineering skills, a shortage of cost-and-pricing skills," said Soloway, a former deputy undersecretary of defense. The Obama administration is taking well-meaning steps to oversee the spending, but some irregularities are inevitable, he said, and people should try to learn details before jumping to conclusions of fraud.
16) The White House has established a Web site, Recovery.gov, designed to help Americans track projects funded by the stimulus bill. Obama says in a video: "The size and scale of this plan demand unprecedented efforts to root out waste, inefficiency and unnecessary spending. Recovery.gov will be the online portal for these efforts, publishing information about how the funding secured by the legislation will be spent in a timely, targeted and transparent manner."
17) His oversight efforts are off to a slow start elsewhere, however. The stimulus spending is to be monitored by an oversight board of high-ranking officials and chaired by the newly created post of chief performance officer. Obama is trying to fill the job after his first choice, Nancy Killefer, withdrew because of tax problems.


US Senate votes to boost aid to Pakistan
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1) The Senate on Wednesday voted to boost aid to Pakistan and increase funds for security along the U.S.-Mexico border, but rejected a Republican attempt to freeze spending on domestic programs.
2) As lawmakers continued work on a $3.5 trillion budget blueprint for the upcoming fiscal year, the Senate was poised to vote on whether to move quickly on President Barack Obama's controversial "cap-and-trade" plan to combat global warming. The so-called fast-track procedure would allow Democrats to move the measure through the Senate without Republican votes.
3) The Senate was expected to reject the process.
4) By voice vote, the Senate approved a plan by Sen. Joe Lieberman, an independent, to add $550 million to the homeland security budget to protect areas along the U.S.-Mexico border from violent drug cartels. Democratic Sen. John Kerry restored $4 billion in foreign aid that had been cut from Obama's budget, and Sen. Jack Reed, also a Democrat, added almost $2 billion to heating subsidies for the poor.
5) But Democrats easily rejected a bid by Sen. Jeff Sessions, a Republican, to freeze domestic spending at 2008 levels. The vote was 58-40.
6) On the global warming effort, Republicans fear that Democrats will use parliamentary rules to push through the cap-and-trade legislation later this year. Under cap-and-trade, the government would auction permits to emit heat-trapping gases, with the costs being passed on to consumers via higher gasoline and electric bills.
7) Several moderate Democrats oppose the plan.
8) Despite spending reductions, the House Republican plan projects permanent deficits exceeding $500 billion into the future, fueled largely by big tax cuts.
9) The Republican has no chance of becoming law, but offers voters a contrast between the rival parties. Republicans have complained that Obama's $3.6 trillion budget for next year taxes, borrows and spends way too much. The White House and Democrats have labeled the Republicans the "party of no."


US Congress back to deal with big issues
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1) So far this year, Congress has done what it does best -- spend a lot of money and make a lot of promises.
2) Now, as lawmakers return from a two-week spring break, comes the hard part, the actual crafting of legislation that will change how banks are regulated, health care is delivered and the United States consumes energy.
3) Over the next five weeks, leading up to a holiday break, much of the action will come not in the full House of Representatives or Senate, but in committee rooms.
4) Over the first months of this session, the first in 14 years with Democrats controlling the White House and both chambers of Congress, Democrats gave President Barack Obama a $787 billion economic stimulus, package and a $410 billion spending bill for this budget year. The House and Senate approved slightly different versions of a $3.6 trillion spending outline for the next budget year, which begins Oct. 1.
5) The Senate Finance Committee on Tuesday holds the first of several public discussions on the seminal issue of this congressional session, overhauling the health care system. The House Energy Committee is expected to vote soon on climate change legislation that could include a cap-and-trade system for carbon emissions.
6) The House Financial Services Committee could vote in early May on far-reaching new rules aimed at averting a repeat of the financial meltdown, according to the chairman, Rep. Barney Frank.
7) "We're laying the groundwork for the expected battles to come on energy, education and health care," said Jim Manley, spokesman for Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid.
8) In the weeks ahead, lawmakers must reach a compromise on the budget plan and take up a separate big-money item: a White House request for $83 billion to finance military and diplomatic operations in Iraq and Afghanistan through the fall. Congress probably will give Obama the money, but with grumbling from anti-war Democrats seeking a quicker reduction of the U.S. military presence in Iraq.
9) Military spending will come into the spotlight as summer nears and Congress turns to the Pentagon budget, which includes Defense Secretary Robert Gates' proposals to scale back or eliminate some high-cost weapons programs affecting jobs in hundreds of congressional districts.
10) The recession will be front and center when the Senate tackles legislation Monday that would strengthen the ability of the Justice Department and FBI to fight those who are taking advantage of the mortgage crisis to defraud homeowners.
11) The Senate could act soon on a bill backed by Obama that would let cash-strapped homeowners seek mortgage relief through bankruptcy. The Senate must first resolve differences with the House, which voted to let bankruptcy judges lower a homeowner's interest rate and principal. The banking industry opposes this idea.
12) In another gesture to vulnerable consumers, the House and Senate could take up a credit card bill of rights. The aim is to limit the ability of credit card companies to raise interest rates on existing balances and to require greater disclosure.
13) The Senate's legislative calendar, never predictable because of the minority's powers to delay bills, could be slowed by Republican opposition to several Obama administration nominees.
14) A showdown could come this week over Christopher Hill, Obama's choice to be ambassador to Iraq. Republican Sen. Sam Brownback was critical of Hill's performance when the diplomat was the Bush administration's top negotiator with North Korea, and has pledged to slow down the process leading up to a vote on the nomination. A first procedural vote is set for Monday.
15) Obama's nominee to be health secretary, Democratic Gov. Kathleen Sebelius of Kansas, could face a rocky road to confirmation because of her abortion rights views. The Senate Finance Committee scheduled a Tuesday vote on whether to send her nomination to the full Senate. Republicans are also expected to mount resistance to Indiana University law professor Dawn Johnsen, nominated to be assistance attorney general for the office of legal counsel, over her work for a national abortion rights group and her sharp criticisms of the Bush administration.
16) Senate Democrats could get a little help if Minnesota finally declares Democrat Al Franken, ahead by about 300 votes, the winner in his long disputed race with incumbent Republican Norm Coleman. That would give Democrats 59 votes, just one short of the 60 needed to break filibusters.
17) Also on the Senate's plate are House-passed bills to restrict bonuses at companies receiving federal bailout money and give the Food and Drug Administration authority to regulate tobacco products. The Senate is scheduled to take up a railroad antitrust bill aimed at removing freight rail practices that drive up shipping costs.
18) Pending in the House is a Senate-passed bill giving the District of Columbia a voting representative in the House. The House is still trying to figure out how to deal with a Senate provision that effectively eliminates gun control regulations in the nation's capital.


Democrats announce agreement on budget pact
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1) Congressional Democrats sealed an agreement Monday night on a budget plan that would help President Barack Obama overhaul the health care system but allows his signature tax cut for most workers to expire after next year.
2) Senate Budget Committee Chairman Kent Conrad announced the agreement and key details in a statement.
3) Most importantly, the congressional budget plan would prevent Senate Republicans from delaying or blocking Obama's plan to vastly expand government-subsidized health care when it advances this fall.
4) The $3.5 trillion plan for the budget year starting Oct. 1 embraces several of Obama's key goals besides health care reform, including funds for domestic programs and clean energy, and a tax increase for individuals making more than $200,000 a year or couples making more than $250,000.
5) But the plan would allow Obama's signature $400 tax cut for most workers and $800 for couples to expire at the end of next year. Even after squeezing the defense and war budgets to levels that are probably unrealistic, the plan would cause a deficit of $523 billion in five years.
6) "I think this is a good budget," Conrad said. But, he added, "much more will have to be done to get us on a more sustainable course," including slowing the growth of benefit programs like Medicare and overhauling the tax code.
7) Conrad forced cuts of $10 billion from Obama's $50 billion boost for non-defense programs funded by Congress each year -- not much in the grand scheme but strongly resisted by House Appropriations Committee Chairman David Obey. Future increases for non-defense operating budgets would be far less generous than Obama's budget, averaging 2.9 percent, though history would suggest that Congress won't follow through on the long-term promises.
8) While endorsing Obama initiatives, Democrats focused a lot of attention to preserving President George W. Bush's tax cuts for middle-class workers, investors and families with children.
9) The budget plan would patch the alternative minimum tax for three years to prevent more than 20 million taxpayers from getting socked with increases averaging $2,000 or so. The estate tax would be kept at current levels and allow for estates up to $7 million to be exempt from the tax with a 45 percent rate applying to inheritances above that.
10) Under Capitol Hill's arcane rules, the annual congressional budget produces an outline for follow-up tax and spending legislation. Most importantly, the measure would allow Obama's health plan to pass the Senate by a simple majority instead of the 60 votes that are needed for plenty of other legislation.
11) Democrats and independent allies control 58 Senate seats.
12) Democrats hope the House will adopt the budget on Tuesday and the Senate on Wednesday, which marks Obama's 100 days in office.
13) Obama and his Democratic allies say they still want support from Republicans for health care legislation but need the option of expedited action in case the debate becomes overly partisan.
14) "For this bipartisan process to take root, Republicans must demonstrate a sincere interest in legislating," Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid wrote in a letter Monday to Republican Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky. "Rather than just saying no, you must be willing to offer concrete and constructive proposals."
15) The fast-track rules also would apply to Obama's plan to eliminate lender subsidies on banks and other lenders presently participating in the federal student loan program. Direct lending by the government would replace the program, with the savings dedicated to boosting Pell Grants for lower-income college students.
16) While handing Obama a victory, there is still an extraordinary amount of work before Obama's vision of health care reform becomes a reality, including raising taxes and cutting spending to generate $1 trillion or more over the next decade to fund the health care initiative.
17) The budget plan also anticipates the expiration of former President George W. Bush's tax cuts on wealthier people's income and investments at the end of next year. But it ignores Obama's calls for raising taxes to help pay for his health care initiative by reducing the benefits wealthier people take on itemized deductions like charitable gifts and mortgage interest.
18) Moderate Democrats successfully pressed for Obama to endorse their call for a pay-as-you-go law that would require taxes and new spending on benefit programs to be offset with tax increases or spending cuts elsewhere in the budget.
19) The obstacle for the pay-go extension is the Senate, but the moderate gang of "Blue Dog" Democrats won a promise from House Speaker Nancy Pelosi that she would exert leverage over the Senate aimed at winning enactment of a pay-go statute. The existing pay-as-you-go provision is simply a rule that has been waived on key occasions.


US Congress adopts budget plan backing Obama goals
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1) Democrats in Congress capped President Barack Obama's 100th day in office by advancing a $3.4 trillion federal budget for next year, one-third of which is borrowed, that prevents Republicans from blocking his proposed trillion-dollar expansion of government-provided health care during the next decade.
2) House of Representatives and Senate votes to adopt the nonbinding budget blueprint are only a first step toward Obama's goal of providing health care coverage for all Americans. The budget plan sets the parameters for subsequent tax and spending bills expected to boost clean energy programs and student aid and extend many of President George W. Bush's tax cuts.
3) "It's a budget that reduces taxes, lowers the deficit and creates jobs," said House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, like Obama a Democrat. "It honors the three pillars of the Obama initiatives: energy, health care and education."
4) It also makes it plain that Democrats will not let a mountain of deficits and debt interfere with advancing Obama's ambitious but costly agenda.
5) The plan gives Democrats the option of advancing Obama's health care plan through Congress without the threat of Republican stalling tactics, although Democrats promise to try to find bipartisan agreement.
6) The Senate adopted the plan by a 53-43 vote just hours after a 233-193 House tally.
7) Newly turned Democrat Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania voted against the measure as he did previously this month when it initially passed the Senate. Three other Democrats also voted no: Ben Nelson, Robert Byrd and Evan Bayh.
8) Seventeen House Democrats, mostly from Republican-leaning districts, voted against the budget.
9) Not a single Republican in the House or Senate voted for the measure.
10) Obama inherited an economy in deep recession and a financial bailout costing hundreds of billions of dollars, and even some Republicans did not fault him for deficits rocketing to $1.7 trillion for the current budget year and a still-stunning $1.2 trillion in 2010.
11) "We inherited a colossal mess," said Senate Budget Committee Chairman Kent Conrad, a Democrat. "Colossal."
12) As a result, Democrats opted against extending Obama's signature $400 tax cut for most workers and cut $10 billion from his budget for nondefense programs passed by Congress each year. Also gone are revenues from Obama's "cap-and-trade" plan for curbing global warming by auctioning permits to emit greenhouse gases.
13) Republicans assaulted the plan as just the latest example of a spending spree by Democrats that started with Obama's $787 billion economic stimulus bill. It was followed by an omnibus appropriations bill that rewarded domestic programs with generous increases and included 8,000 pet projects for lawmakers' districts and states.
14) "It spends money we don't have, piles unprecedented debt on our children and grandchildren, and raises taxes on families and small businesses, while taking away the middle-class tax cut the president promised during the campaign," said House Republican leader John Boehner.
15) Under the plan, the deficit would drop to $523 billion in 2014, but even that figure depends on several unrealistic assumptions, notably that Congress will devote only $50 billion a year for operations in Iraq and Afghanistan for 2011 and beyond, and unrealistic projections of costs for core Pentagon operations.
16) There is considerable accounting legerdemain in the Democratic plan as well, reflecting a struggle by Democrats to cut the budget deficit to 3 percent of the size of the economy within five years, which economists say is sustainable without adding crippling debt to the nation's books.


Republicans attack on cost of health overhaul
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1) The top Republican in the Senate said Saturday that Democratic efforts to overhaul health care will bury America in debt, an argument that could resonate with the voters still worried about an economy in recession.
2) Sen. Mitch McConnell accused the Obama administration and congressional Democrats of rushing expensive and flawed plans that would result in rationing of care.
3) McConnell's criticism, in the weekly Republican radio and Internet address, came after a rocky start for legislation to revamp the system, with eye-popping cost estimates, partisan anger and divisions within the Democratic ranks.
4) "Throughout this debate, the administration's central argument has been that America needs health care reform for the sake of the economy," McConnell said. "Yet according to independent estimates, every health care proposal Democrats on Capitol Hill have offered would only hurt the economy."
5) Polls show that Obama remains personally popular even as public skepticism grows over his agenda, and McConnell never mentioned the president by name.
6) But he did refer to recent setbacks dealt to Obama's goal of overhauling the U.S. health care system to bring down costs and extend coverage to 50 million uninsured Americans.
7) Two estimates from the Congressional Budget Office this past week -- both pricing Democratic health plans at $1 trillion-plus over 10 years -- sent Senate Democrats scrambling to pare costs. Committee work in the Senate got off to a slow start, with plenty of partisan bickering but scant progress to show for it.
8) "They say a new government health plan will keep costs low. Well, expecting a government-run system to help the economy is like praying for rain in the middle of a flood," McConnell said. "The thing you're asking for is the last thing you need."
9) House Democrats stepped into the breach Friday with a sweeping plan that would require all Americans to have health insurance and create a new public plan to compete with private insurance. But they didn't say how much it would cost or how it would be paid for, sparking more Republican backlash.
10) Even with trillion-dollar price tags, McConnell argued, "The total cost would be much higher, burying us in deeper and deeper debt."
11) McConnell compared Democrats' approach on health care to passage of the $787 billion economic stimulus bill earlier this year, which Republicans contend was rammed through Congress before anyone got a good look at it. The Republicans also claim the stimulus bill isn't producing the results the administration advertised.
12) "Against Republican advice, they rushed the stimulus. We shouldn't rush again on something as important, and costly, as health care," McConnell said.


Analysis: New US senator no guarantee to Democrats
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1) Al Franken's victory in the marathon race to elect Minnesota's second senator gives Democrats control of 60 seats, the number needed to overcome any Republican delaying tactic aimed at blocking elements of President Barack Obama's ambitious agenda.
2) But numbers are not the same as votes in the Senate. And to enact administration priorities on health care, energy and other issues, Democrats will have to remain as united in support of legislation as Republicans are in opposition, no easy task in an institution where lawmakers weigh regional concerns, ideology and narrow political self-interest as well as party loyalty.
3) The delaying tactic, called a filibuster, requires three-fifths of the Senate to close debate and bring legislation to a vote. The Senate has 100 members, meaning 60 are required to stop a filibuster.
4) "At 60, every member has a veto," says Eric Ueland, who was chief of staff to former Senate Republican Majority Leader Bill Frist. Meaning that any of the 60 senators -- 58 Democrats and two Democratic-leaning independents -- gain added leverage in negotiations with the White House or even their own leaders.
5) In the current lineup, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid can be certain of success only to the extent that he can hold together Sen. Bernard Sanders, a Vermont liberal, and Sen. Ben Nelson, a Nebraska conservative, along with 57 other strong-minded, senators of varying views and priorities.
6) Pragmatically, there are other complications confronting Senate Democrats, in the form of prolonged illnesses of two Senate veterans. Sen. Robert C. Byrd, 91, of West Virginia, was released from the hospital Tuesday after treatment for a staph infection, and Sen. Edward M. Kennedy of Massachusetts was operated on more than a year ago for brain cancer.
7) Neither man has been in the Capitol for weeks, and it is not known when, or even whether, either or both will return. Without them, Democrats can count only 58 votes in their own ranks.
8) Franken's victory was sealed on Tuesday when the Minnesota Supreme Court rejected former Sen. Norm Coleman's challenge to last fall's election. Franken, a former "Saturday Night Live" comedian, said he was "thrilled and honored" with the outcome. The loser e-mailed his supporters as he was conceding publicly, a possible step toward a gubernatorial race next year.
9) "Sen.-elect Franken's presence will not mean that Democrats will just be able to jam through our agenda. Nor does it make it any less critical for Democrats and Republicans to work together," said Jim Manley, spokesman for Reid.
10) He added that the Democratic caucus is diverse. "No one's vote is ever automatic, and of course, up until now we have gotten very little to no help from Republicans, who are simply saying no to everything and betting on this president to fail," he said.
11) Republicans argue the opposite, that Democrats have made little attempt to seek common ground and look only for a small number of converts, as they did in passing the $787 billion economic stimulus legislation last winter.
12) Sen. Mitch McConnell, the Republican leader, warned of the impact of a 60-vote majority when Sen. Arlen Specter, a former Republican, switched parties in April, leaving Democrats with control of 59.
13) "What this means, if we are not successful in Minnesota, as you know, is that the Democrats, at least on paper, will have 60 votes. I think the danger of that for the country is that there won't automatically be an ability to restrain the excess that is typically associated with big majorities and single-party rule," he said.
14) "So I think the threat to the country presented by this defection really relates to the issue of whether or not in the United States of America our people want the majority to have whatever it wants without restraint, without a check or a balance."
15) If that sounds like a theme for the 2010 congressional campaign, so be it.
16) In fact, to the extent that individual Democrats believe they will be judged at the polls in 2010 on how well they can govern, the 60th vote is of significant advantage. But to the extent that any one of them fear being attacked as the deciding vote for legislation that is intensely controversial -- a health care bill that taxes some medical benefits, for example, or an energy bill that Republicans allege includes a new tax on consumers -- it will be anything but that.
17) An early test may come next month, when Democrats hope to have health care legislation on the floor of the Senate. Democratic Sen. Max Baucus, chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, has been seeking agreement on a bipartisan plan with a handful of Republicans. If those talks falter, Democrats may need 60 votes to advance one of the administration's highest priorities.
18) Which may explain why the White House said in a statement on Tuesday that Obama looks "forward to working with Senator-elect Franken to build a new foundation for growth and prosperity by lowering health care costs and investing in the kind of clean energy jobs and industries that will help America lead in the 21st century."


Republicans against any more stimulus spending
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1) Republicans lined up Sunday in opposition to a second economic stimulus package, a rare demonstration of unity from an out-of-power political party in search of a rallying cry against President Barack Obama.
2) Republicans called Obama's initial $787 billion spending plan a "flop" and said it hasn't fulfilled its hype. They criticized the White House for increasing the federal deficit and doing little to combat an unemployment rate that hit 9.5 percent in June.
3) "The reality is it hasn't helped yet," said Sen. Jon Kyl, an Arizona Republican. "Only about 6.8 percent of the money has actually been spent. What I proposed is, after you complete the contracts that are already committed, the things that are in the pipeline, stop it."
4) Obama urged patience with his spending program, which administration officials acknowledge was designed with incorrect or incomplete economic data.
5) "The stimulus package is working exactly as we had anticipated," Obama told CNN in an interview from Ghana that aired on Sunday.
6) "We always anticipated that a big chunk of that money then would be spent not only in the second half of the year, but also next year. This was designed to be a two-year plan and not a six-month plan," he said.
7) In an op-ed piece posted early Sunday on The Washington Post's Web site Obama wrote that his stimulus program was not expected to return the economy to full health, but to provide a boost that would stop the free fall.
8) He appealed to Americans, who are increasingly uneasy with rising unemployment and ballooning budget deficits, to let his plan "work the way it's supposed to, with the understanding that in any recession, unemployment tends to recover more slowly than other measures of economic activity."
9) Republicans, though, were not willing to sit by idly.
10) "I do think it is fair to say that the stimulus is a flop," said Rep. Eric Cantor, a Virginia Republican. "The goal that was set when we passed it was unemployment wouldn't rise past 8.5 percent, and what we see now is businesses just aren't hiring. Even the best projections have us losing 750,000 more jobs this year."
11) Congress passed Obama's economic stimulus plan over the objection of out-of-power Republican lawmakers. Since then, Republican aides on Capitol Hill and officials alike have seized on the spending's shortcomings and unfilled promises.
12) "A lot of it has been spent on ridiculous projects," said Sen. John McCain, the Arizona Republican who was his party's presidential nominee last year.
13) Obama's allies defended the spending they helped usher into law.
14) "It's a two-year plan and we're four months into it," said Sen. Dick Durbin, an Illinois Democrat.
15) Some, including billionaire Warren Buffet, have called for a second round of spending to steady the economy. Obama and his allies have said it's too early to make that decision; his critics, though, pledged to redouble their opposition to any second spending bill.
16) "I think that would be the biggest mistake we could ever make," McCain said.
17) Kyl and Durbin appeared on ABC television's "This Week." Cantor spoke with "Fox News Sunday." McCain was interviewed on NBC's "Meet the Press."


Analysis: Tough decision time for Obama on health
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1) After months of talk, decision time is nearing for President Barack Obama on health care.
2) Bipartisan Senate negotiators are weakening some of his top priorities, leaving the president with a difficult choice: He can give ground, and implore disappointed liberals to go along with him. Or he can try to ram through a Democratic bill with his wishes intact, infuriating Republicans.
3) His eventual decision could be a pivotal moment in his presidency. Remaking health care is Obama's top domestic priority. He wants to expand coverage, contain costs, make insurance more competitive and change the way doctors and hospitals are compensated.
4) Liberals, noting that Democrats control the House, Senate and White House, see no need for serious compromises. Some moderates and independents, however, say a one-party solution would undermine public confidence in the plan and poison the atmosphere in Congress for the rest of Obama's term.
5) For now, the president continues to hold his cards close, giving lawmakers more time to seek a compromise that could attract some Republican votes. But many Democrats are impatient, ready for Obama to insist that Republicans either endorse the main elements of his proposal or step aside as a Democrats-only bill is enacted.
6) "He's going to have to choose pretty soon," Sen. Lindsey Graham, a South Carolina Republican, said Tuesday.
7) If Obama decides to run roughshod over the Republicans, Graham said, "he'll ruin his administration" by destroying his image as a political healer under a big tent.
8) But many Democrats want Obama to stand firm on his campaign proposals.
9) "Because we want three Republicans to come along on this, we betray what the American people want?" said Sen. Sherrod Brown, an Ohio Democrat. "I don't think so."
10) The outlines of Obama's approaching choice are taking shape. Bipartisan negotiators on the Senate Finance Committee -- the panel making the biggest effort to gain support from both parties -- are starting to show details of their thinking. In several crucial respects, they fall well short of Obama's health care proposals.
11) For instance, Obama's campaign called for large employers either to provide their workers with health insurance or pay into a national fund to subsidize insurance for low-income people. The Senate Finance plan would require "a much more modest" contribution from employers than would Obama's "pay or play" scenario, said Democratic Sen. Kent Conrad of North Dakota, one of the key negotiators.
12) Obama also proposed to help pay for health care by trimming tax deductions taken by high-income earners. Lawmakers rejected the idea months ago, and the Senate Finance plan offers no alternative means of extracting new revenue from wealthy people.
13) Most troubling to many liberal Democrats, the Senate Finance plan does not call for a robust government-run option for buying health insurance. It calls for an insurance cooperative, but liberals such as Sen. Bernard Sanders, a Vermont Independent, say that's unacceptable.
14) "I think we have the votes to pass a strong bill," he said, which would include a public option for health insurance that is comparable to Medicare in its reach and cost controls. If Republicans don't agree, Sanders said, then Senate Democrats can use a strong-arm tactic called "reconciliation" to pass major elements of Obama's plan without any Republican votes. Medicare is the government program that provides health coverage to the elderly.
15) Asked if he would like Obama to speak out more forcefully for his campaign proposals, Sanders answered: "Yeah."
16) White House adviser David Axelrod said it's too early for Obama to fully endorse the Senate Finance Committee's bipartisan approach or the liberals' call to stand firm.
17) "This is the legislative process," Axelrod said Tuesday. "The important thing is to keep the process moving forward."
18) "There's no doubt that what we'll have at the end of the day will not fully satisfy any major player in this process," he said. The most important goal, he said, is to improve the nation's health care system.
19) "Everyone is going to have to give a little to get there," Axelrod said.
20) But in a political system dominated by Democrats, some liberals say a down-the-middle approach will give conservatives and Republicans more influence than they have earned. Instead of everyone giving a little, they wonder if either Republican lawmakers or liberal activists will have to give a lot.
21) Obama has more power to answer that question than anyone. Decision time is coming.


Obama pushing health bill in Capitol stop
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1) President Barack Obama rallied Senate Democrats to stand together on his sweeping health care overhaul Sunday amid signs of progress on the divisive issue of whether the government can compete with private industry in selling insurance.
2) At the request of Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, Obama made a trip to the Capitol to appeal to rank-and-file Democrats to work out a compromise and do it quickly, according to Reid spokesman Jim Manley. Vice President Joe Biden joined Obama for the closed-door meeting.
3) Reid called the unusual weekend session as he races to pass the 10-year, nearly $1 trillion bill by Christmas. The legislation would provide coverage to more than 30 million additional people over the next decade with a new requirement for nearly everyone to purchase insurance. There would be new marketplaces where people could shop for and compare insurance plans, and lower-income people would get subsidies to help them afford coverage.
4) The federal-state Medicaid program for the poor would grow, and there would be a ban on unpopular insurance company practices such as denying coverage based on medical history.
5) "This is an historic opportunity," said Illinois Sen. Richard Durbin, the No. 2 Senate Democrat.
6) Obama and Reid must unite liberals and moderates in the 60-member caucus, even as moderates balk over abortion and the option of government-run health insurance. Sixty is the precise number needed to overcome Republican stalling tactics in the 100-member Senate, so Reid doesn't have a vote to spare.
7) "I think if we don't deliver, we've got a problem," said Sen. Dianne Feinstein, a California Democrat, when asked on a Sunday television talk show about the political consquences for Democrats should they fail to produce a bill with congressional midterm elections next year.
8) Moderate and liberal lawmakers met throughout the day Saturday to try to find a compromise on the government insurance plan, or public option, that they could all support and that could also potentially attract Sen. Olympia Snowe of Maine, the one Republican to vote for the Democrats' health overhaul bill in committee.
9) Republican Sen. Jon Kyl of Arizona, the second-ranking Senate Republican leader, said that right now his party remained united against the Democratic bill, which he complained would "get the government very deeply involved into health care at an enormous expense."
10) A new idea being discussed was national nonprofit insurance plans that would be administered by the Office of Personnel Management, which oversees the well-liked Federal Employees Health Benefits Program.
11) Sen. Blanche Lincoln of Arkansas, a key centrist Democrat, was enthusiastic about the idea, which she's proposed in different forms in the past. "I think it bodes well for being able to do what we want to do, which is to create greater choice and options in the marketplace," she said.
12) Liberal Democratic senators were cool to the proposal, holding out for a fully government-run plan.
13) "I'm willing to talk to anybody about anything but they haven't sold it yet," said Sen. Sherrod Brown of Ohio. "We have compromised enough on the public option."
14) Someone will have to give. But despite the apparent divide, lawmakers and White House officials sounded increasingly optimistic.
15) "It's going really well. They're having a lot of really productive meetings," Nancy-Ann DeParle, director of the White House Office of Health Reform, told reporters in the Capitol Saturday. "It's about where it should be at this point in the legislative process."
16) While negotiations continued behind the scenes, the Senate began a seventh day of debate on the legislation. A vote was expected on a Lincoln-sponsored amendment to limit the tax deductions insurance companies take for what they pay their top executives. Lawmakers also were debating a measure to limit plaintiff lawyers' fees in medical malpractice cases, a politically fraught issue that pits Republicans against Democrats.
17) Tens of millions of Americans lack health insurance or are underinsured, either because their employers do not provide it or they are out of work. The United States is the only developed industrialized nation that does not have a comprehensive national health care plan.
18) The House of Representatives passed its version of health care reform legislation last month. Assuming the Senate passes some version of health care overhaul, a House-Senate conference committee would try to resolve the differences. Then both chambers would vote on the final product and, if they approve it, send it to Obama's desk for signing.
19) A busy schedule limited Obama's opportunities to speak directly to senators as they work to complete the legislation. The president will be in Oslo on Dec. 10 to accept the Nobel Peace Prize and then plans to attend climate change talks in Copenhagen shortly thereafter. Obama heads to Hawaii on Dec. 23 for a Christmas holiday.
20) Durbin spoke on "Fox News Sunday," while Feinstein and Kyl were on CNN's "State of the Union."


Senate to vote on $1.1 trillion spending bill
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1) Senate Democrats have cleared the way for a vote Sunday on a huge end-of-year $1.1 trillion spending bill that includes money to run much of the government and pay for health care benefits for the poor and elderly.
2) The Democratic-controlled Senate voted 60-34 on Saturday to end the Republican attempt to use a legislative maneuver known as a filibuster to hold up the legislation. The final vote would send the measure to President Barack Obama for his signature.
3) The 1,000-plus-page bill brings together six of the 12 annual spending bills that Congress had been unable to pass separately because of partisan roadblocks even though the current budget year began Oct. 1.
4) The measure pays for Medicare and Medicaid benefits for the elderly, disabled and poor, and boosts spending for the Education Department, the State Department, the Department of Health and Human Services and others.
5) Right after the vote Sunday, the Senate planned to return to legislation to overhaul the health care system, an issue that Democrats hope to reach consensus on in the final days of this year.
6) In the coming week, Congress may try to take a defense spending bill and attach a measure that would raise the $12.1 trillion debt ceiling and initiate new spending and tax cut efforts to stimulate jobs.
7) "We are in a very special kind of economic situation, and frankly, jobs have to be the top priority, and every bill is going to be a jobs bill going forward," Obama's top economic adviser, Larry Summers, said on ABC television's "This Week."
8) The Senate Budget Committee's senior Republican, Sen. Judd Gregg of New Hampshire, pushed the creation of a bipartisan deficit reduction task force as a condition for raising the debt ceiling to near $14 trillion. "If we don't do this, we'll be passing on to our kids an insolvent country, which basically means they're going to confront massive inflation or massive tax increases," he said on "Fox News Sunday."
9) Democrats held Saturday's vote open for an hour to accommodate independent Sen. Joe Lieberman of Connecticut, an Orthodox Jew who walked more than three miles (five kilometers) to the Capitol to vote on the Sabbath after attending services at his synagogue. Lieberman, wearing a black wool overcoat and bright orange scarf, finally provided the crucial 60th vote.
10) The bill includes $447 billion in operating budgets with about $650 billion in mandatory payments for federal benefit programs such as Medicare and Medicaid, as well as an estimated $3.9 billion for more than 5,000 home-state projects sought by individual lawmakers in both parties.
11) The bill increases spending by an average of about 10 percent to programs under immediate control of Congress, blending increases for veterans' programs, the NASA space agency and the FBI with a pay raise for federal workers and help for car dealers.
12) Republicans who fought the bill said it provides too much money at a time when the government is running astronomical deficits. "Obviously we need to run the government, but do you suppose the government could be a little bit like families and be just a little bit prudent in how much it spends?" said Sen. Jon Kyl, an Arizona Republican.
13) But the second-ranking Senate Democrat, Dick Durbin of Illinois, said the measure restores money for programs cut under former President George W. Bush such as popular grant programs for local police departments to purchase equipment and put more officers on the beat.
14) The legislation also:
15) --Includes an improved binding arbitration process to challenge the decision by General Motors Corp. and Chrysler LLC to close more than 2,000 dealerships.
16) --Renews a federal loan guarantee program for steel companies.
17) --Permits detainees held at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, to be transferred to the U.S. for trial, but not to be released.
18) --Calls for federal worker pay increases averaging 2 percent.


Senate sends $1.1 trillion spending bill to Obama
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1) The Senate on Sunday passed a $1.1 trillion spending bill with increased budgets for vast areas of the federal government including health, education, law enforcement and veterans' programs.
2) The 1,000-page-plus package, one of the last essential chores of Congress this year, passed 57-35 and now goes to President Barack Obama for his signature.
3) The weekend action underlined the legislative crush faced by Congress as it tries to wind up the year. After the vote, the Senate immediately returned to debate on health care legislation that has consumed its time and energy for weeks. Senate Democrats hope to reach a consensus in the coming days on Obama's chief domestic priority.
4) The spending bill combines six of the 12 annual appropriation bills for the 2010 budget year that began on Oct. 1. Obama has signed into law five others.
5) The final one, a $626 billion defense bill, will be used as the base bill for another catch-all package of measures that Congress must deal with in the coming days. Those include action to raise the $12.1 trillion debt ceiling and proposals to stimulate the job market.
6) The spending bill passed Sunday includes $447 billion for departments' operating budgets and about $650 billion in mandatory payments for federal benefit programs such as Medicare and Medicaid, which provide health care benefits to the elderly, disabled and poor. Those programs under immediate control of Congress would see increases of about 10 percent.
7) The FBI gets $7.9 billion, a $680 million increase over 2009; the Veterans Health Administration budget goes from $41 billion to $45.1 billion; the National Institutes of Health receives $31 billion, a $692 million increase.
8) All but three Democrats voted for the bill, while all but three Republicans opposed it.
9) Democrats said the spending was critical to meet the needs of a recession-battered economy. "Every bill that is passed, every project that is funded and every job that is created helps America take another step forward on the road of economic recovery," Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said after the vote.
10) Republicans decried what they called out-of control spending and pointed to an estimated $3.9 billion in the bill for more than 5,000 local projects sought by individual lawmakers from both parties.
11) The Citizens Against Government Waste said those projects included construction of a county farmer's market in Kentucky, renovation of a historic theater in New York and restoration of a mill in Rhode Island.
12) Arizona Republican Sen. John McCain, a longtime critic of such projects, said it was "shameful" that so many had found their way into the legislation. Most Americans, he said, were watching football and not the Senate debate, adding, "If they knew what we are about to pass ...."
13) The legislation also contains numerous items not directly related to spending. It provides help for auto dealers facing closure, ends a ban on funding by the District of Columbia government for abortions and allows the district to permit medical marijuana, lets Amtrak passengers carry unloaded handguns in their checked baggage and permits detainees held at Guantanamo Bay to be transferred to the United States to stand trial, but not to be released.
14) The bill also approves a 2 percent pay increase for federal workers.
15) With the Senate concentrating on health care, attention on the upcoming jobs plan shifts to the House.
16) The defense bill that will be the basis for the package normally enjoys wide bipartisan support, but Republicans, and some fiscally conservative Democrats, are unhappy with the prospect of another jolt of deficit-swelling spending.
17) Proposals to put people back to work include tax breaks for new company hires, small business tax breaks, public works spending and federal aid to states.
18) Congress is also likely to extend measures, included in the $787 billion stimulus act last February, that provide jobless payments and health insurance subsidies for the unemployed.
19) Congress must soon raise the debt ceiling, now at $12.1 trillion, so the Treasury can continue to borrow, and Democratic leaders are eyeing a new figure close to $14 trillion, pushing the issue past next November's election.
20) But a bipartisan group in the Senate says a higher ceiling should be tied to creation of a task force on deficit reduction, and House Democratic moderates say their votes could depend on winning a "pay-as-you-go" law requiring that new tax cuts or spending programs don't add to the deficit.


Senate Dems look to close deal on health overhaul
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1) Senate Democrats pushed Sunday toward a critical vote to advance historic health care reform legislation as outnumbered Republicans pledged a fight to the end against President Barack Obama's top domestic policy priority.
2) Senators were set to resume debate Sunday afternoon a day after jubilant Democrats announced they had locked in the 60th and decisive vote needed to overcome Republican stalling tactics. That came from moderate Democratic Sen. Ben Nelson of Nebraska, the last holdout in their caucus, who declared his support after negotiations with Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid.
3) That put the bill firmly on a path for Christmas Eve passage. To keep the process moving under Senate rules, Democrats will need to show 60 votes in a series of votes. The first -- and most critical -- test vote on a cloture motion to end debate on the bill was set for about 1 a.m. (0600 GMT) Monday.
4) Republican Sen. John McCain of Arizona, Obama's opponent in last year's election, said there was probably nothing to keep Democrats from passing the bill by Christmas Eve.
5) Still, he said, Republicans would not relent in the battle for public opinion.
6) "We'll fight the good fight. We will fight until the last vote," said McCain. He said the political climate under Obama has become more partisan than ever.
7) A senior adviser to Obama criticized Republican senators on Sunday for trying to halt final action.
8) "I think the American people are entitled to a vote," said the adviser David Axelrod, as the Senate bill moved toward passage.
9) At its core, the legislation would create a new insurance exchange where consumers could shop for affordable coverage that complies with new federal guidelines. Most Americans would be required to purchase insurance, with subsidies available to help defray the cost for lower and middle income individuals and families. New protections would be offered to ensure people don't lose coverage because of health problems.
10) Obama welcomed the breakthrough on health care legislation on Saturday, saying in a statement at the White House, "After a nearly century-long struggle, we are on the cusp of making health care reform a reality in the United States of America."
11) The Congressional Budget Office said the Senate bill would extend coverage to more than 30 million Americans who lack it. It also imposes new regulations to curb abuses of the insurance industry, and Obama noted one last-minute addition would impose penalties on companies that "arbitrarily jack up prices" in advance of the legislation taking effect.
12) CBO analysts also said the legislation would cut federal deficits by $132 billion over 10 years and possibly much more in the subsequent decade.
13) Major differences remain between the Senate version and the bill the House of Representatives passed last month, ranging from abortion restrictions to the new taxes that would help pay for the legislation.
14) In a concession to Nelson and other moderates, the Senate bill lacks a government-run insurance option of the type that House Democrats inserted into their version.
15) Signs of difficult House-Senate negotiations to meld the two versions into one bill that could be passed and sent to Obama for his signature were already becoming apparent.
16) The House must stick close to the Senate's version of health care reform or risk losing the 60-vote coalition needed to overcome Republican opposition in the Senate, North Dakota Sen. Kent Conrad, the chairman of the Senate Budget Committee, said Sunday.
17) To get Nelson's deciding vote, Reid also agreed to a series of concessions on abortion and other issues.
18) The compromise on abortion tries to maintain a strict separation between taxpayer funds and private premiums that would pay for abortion coverage. It would also allow states to restrict coverage for abortion in new insurance marketplaces.
19) The Senate bill has not drawn support from a single Republican.
20) One moderate Republican lawmaker who had been in talks with the White House, Sen. Olympia Snowe of Maine, said the bill was being pushed through without a chance for meaningful debate or change.
21) She said the "beat the clock" approach "is really overruling legislative sanity."
22) Axelrod defended the bill against criticism that Obama had given up too much ground and angered core liberal supporters from his own party in an effort to get a deal done this year. He said the bill offers more choices and security for Americans and savings for the government.
23) "There is no major piece of legislation that's ever been passed in this country that doesn't include compromise," Axelrod said. "That's the legislative process. But the question is, in the main, does it achieve what we want it to achieve? It's not perfect."
24) Vice President Joe Biden wrote in The New York Times Sunday that senators should support the bill because "it represents the culmination of a struggle begun by (President) Theodore Roosevelt nearly a century ago" to improve health care.
25) "I would vote yes for this bill certain that it includes the fundamental, essential change that opponents of reform have resisted for generations," he wrote.
26) The United States is the only wealthy industrialized nation that does not have universal coverage. Health insurance in the U.S. is provided primarily by employers, but the ranks of the uninsured have been growing due to job losses in the recent recession.


Senate Dems clear hurdle on health care
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1) Senate Democrats won a crucial test vote on President Barack Obama's health care overhaul, putting them on track for passage before Christmas of the historic legislation to remake the United States' medical system and cover 30 million uninsured.
2) All 58 Democrats and the Senate's two independents held together early Monday against unanimous Republican opposition, providing the exact 60-40 margin needed to shut down a threatened Republican filibuster.
3) The vote came shortly after 1 a.m. with the nation's capital blanketed in snow, the unusual timing made necessary in order to get to a final vote by Christmas Eve presuming Republicans stretch out the debate as much as the rules allow. Despite the late hour and a harshly partisan atmosphere, Democrats' spirits were high.
4) "Today we are closer than we've ever been to making Sen. Ted Kennedy's dream of universal health insurance coverage a reality," Sen. Tom Harkin said ahead of the vote, alluding to the late Massachusetts senator who died of brain cancer in August.
5) "Vote your hopes, not your fears. Seize the moment," Harkin urged colleagues.
6) Kennedy's widow, Vicki, watched the vote from the visitors' gallery along with administration officials who have worked intensely on the issue. Senators cast their votes from their desks, a practice reserved for issues of particular importance.
7) The outcome was preordained after Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid wrangled his fractious caucus into line over the course of the past several months, culminating in a frenzy of last-minute deals and concessions to win over the final holdouts, independent Joe Lieberman of Connecticut and conservative Democrat Ben Nelson of Nebraska.
8) Obama's oft-stated goal of a bipartisan health bill was not met, despite the president's extensive courtship of moderate Sen. Olympia Snowe of Maine, the only Republican to support the bill in committee. Obama called Snowe to the White House for lengthy in-person meetings both before he left for climate talks in Copenhagen and after his return on Saturday. In the end Snowe said she was "extremely disappointed" in what she called a rushed process that left scant time for her to review, much less amend, the bill.
9) Even so, the vote represented a major victory for Democrats and Obama, who's now clearly in reach of passing legislation extending health coverage to nearly all Americans, a goal that's eluded a succession of past presidents. The legislation would make health insurance mandatory for the first time for nearly everyone, provide subsidies to help lower-income people buy it, and induce employers to provide it with tax breaks for small businesses and penalties for larger ones.
10) Two more procedural votes await the Senate, each requiring 60 votes, the first of these set for Tuesday morning. Final passage of the bill requires a simple majority, and that vote could come as late as 7 p.m. on Thursday, Christmas Eve, or the day before if Republicans agree.
11) Although Democrats are expected to prevail in the votes over the next several days, the final outcome remains unpredictable, because the Senate measure must be harmonized with the health care bill passed by the House of Representatives in November before final legislation can be sent to Obama's desk.
12) There are significant differences between the two measures, including stricter abortion language in the House bill, a new government-run insurance plan in the House bill that's missing from the Senate version, and a tax on high-value insurance plans embraced by the Senate but strongly opposed by many House Democrats.
13) After Monday's vote a number of Senate Democrats warned that the legislation could not change much and expect to maintain support from 60 senators. House Democrats are sure to want to alter it but may have to swallow it mostly whole.
14) "It took a lot of work to bring this 60 together and this 60 is delicately balanced," Lieberman said.
15) Republicans are determined to give Democrats no help, eager to deny Obama a political victory and speculating openly that the health care issue will hurt Democrats in the 2010 midterm elections.
16) "There will be a day of accounting," warned Texas Republican John Cornyn, accusing Democrats of pushing a health overhaul opposed by the public. "Perhaps the first day of accounting will be Election Day 2010."
17) At their core the bills passed by the House and pending in the Senate are similar. Each costs around $1 trillion over 10 years and is paid for by a combination of tax and fee increases and cuts in projected Medicare spending. Each sets up new insurance marketplaces called exchanges where uninsured or self-employed people and small businesses can compare prices and plans designed to meet some basic requirements. Unpopular insurance practices such as denying people coverage based on pre-existing conditions would be banned, and young adults could retain coverage longer under their parents' insurance plans -- through age 25 in the Senate bill and through age 26 in the House version.
18) Reid cut numerous last-minute deals to get the votes he needed and powerful Democrats also inserted home-state provisions in a 383-page package of amendments Reid filed this weekend to the 2,074-page bill.


Senate votes nudge health care bill forward
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1) President Barack Obama's health care overhaul easily cleared its second critical Senate hurdle on Tuesday morning, moving it a step closer to passage by Christmas.
2) Democrats remained united in their goal of passing the legislation by the holiday, while Republicans were steadfast in opposition.
3) Tuesday's vote involved a procedural move -- a motion to shut off debate on a package put together by Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid. It passed 60-39. Sixty out of the Senate's total 100 votes are needed to shut off debate; the Democrats have 58 members plus two independent allies.
4) The final 60-vote hurdle, which would end debate on the bill itself, is expected Wednesday afternoon, starting a 30-hour countdown to a night-before-Christmas vote on the bill, which needs only a simple majority to pass.
5) Still, the final outcome remains unpredictable because the Senate measure must be reconciled with a starkly different -- and more liberal -- bill already passed by the House of Representatives. That is likely the most difficult step before Obama can sign the legislation into law.
6) Health care reform is Obama's top domestic priority. He has said that he could delay his holiday trip to Hawaii if he is needed in Washington to deal with last-minute issues.
7) There are significant differences between the Senate and House bills, including stricter abortion language in the House bill, a new government-run insurance plan in the House bill that's missing from the Senate version, and a tax on high-value insurance plans embraced by the Senate but strongly opposed by many House Democrats.
8) Senate moderates have served notice they won't support a final deal if government-run insurance comes back. And Democratic abortion opponents in the House say a Senate compromise on the volatile issue is unacceptable.
9) The 10-year, nearly $1 trillion plan before the Senate would extend coverage to some 30 million uninsured Americans, with a new requirement for almost everyone to purchase insurance.
10) Subsidies would be provided to help lower-income people do so, and businesses would be encouraged to cover their employees through a combination of tax breaks and penalties.
11) The Senate has been voting at odd hours because Republicans have insisted on using all the time allowed them under Senate rules to delay the bill. On Tuesday, senators started voting at sunrise.
12) Reid appealed to his colleagues Tuesday to set aside acrimony and reach for some holiday spirit.
13) "I would hope everybody will keep in mind that this is a time when we reflect on peace and good things," he said. If Republicans agree, the schedule of votes could be shortened and senators would go home earlier.
14) There was still no sign partisan fires had cooled.
15) Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham denounced concessions won by conservative Democratic Sen. Ben Nelson, whose support gave Democrats the 60th and final vote they need. Among other things, Nelson got an agreement that the federal government will pay to expand health services for needy families in Nebraska.
16) Medicaid services in Nebraska.
17) Said Graham: "That's not change you can believe in. That's sleazy." He was interviewed on NBC's "Today" show.


Obama health plan set to advance in US Senate
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1) The Senate was poised to hand Barack Obama a huge Christmas Eve victory by approving an $871 billion overhaul of U.S. health care, capping months of struggle in the face of solid Republican opposition.
2) The vote Thursday on the bill extending health care coverage to 30 million uninsured Americans brings Obama's closer to achieving his top domestic priority. But the final step may be the hardest: reconciling the Senate bill with a significantly different version already approved by the House of Representatives.
3) A compromise would have to be approved by both chambers -- and could collapse if Obama loses the support of any Democrat in the Senate or a handful in the House.
4) Passage of the bill Thursday was all but inevitable. On Wednesday, Democrats prevailed on the last of three procedural votes requiring the support of all 58 of its members, plus two allied independents. Thursday's vote will require only a simple majority of the 100-member body.
5) "It has been a long time coming," said a leading Democratic senator, Max Baucus. "I thank God that I have lived to see this day."
6) The bill's passage will offer Obama a bright end to an often rocky year that began with huge hopes following his election victory. His public approval level now hovers around 50 percent as he copes with high unemployment, increasing violence in Afghanistan and the divisive health care debate.
7) Obama delayed his Christmas vacation in Hawaii until the Senate vote, a sign of its importance to his presidency. The legislation will likely shape the 2010 congressional elections and possibly Obama's 2012 re-election bid.
8) Republicans have been almost unanimously against it, saying it will lead to higher taxes, greater deficits and government meddling in health care decisions.
9) "This bill slid rapidly down the slippery slope to more and more government control of health care," Republican Charles Grassley said on the Senate floor.
10) Some liberal Democrats also have not been enthusiastic. The Senate bill would leave about 24 million people uninsured. There are no plans for a government-run national health care system that would cover all Americans. Even a more modest proposal to have a government-run health plan compete with private insurers had to be stripped from the Senate bill in the face of opposition from moderate Democrats.
11) Instead, Obama's plan would build on the current system, in which health insurance is provided primarily by employers. Americans would be required to get coverage and subsidies would be available to lower- and middle-income families. Unpopular insurance company practices such as denying coverage to people with pre-existing health conditions would be banned.
12) Whatever their reservations, most Democratic lawmakers backed Obama, recognizing they may never get a better opportunity to change a health care system that leaves nearly 50 million people uninsured. Democrats are in the rare position of controlling the White House while having strong majorities in both chambers of Congress.
13) That could change after the November midterm elections, when opposition parties frequently pick up seats. The health care bill itself could deepen Democratic losses. Republicans are targeting moderate Democrats from conservative states who supported the bill.
14) Obama and Democratic leaders have had to offer concessions and political favors to keep those moderate Democrats on board. In the House, Democratic leaders made compromises on abortion to win a narrow 220-215 vote on its health bill, with 39 of their own members opposing the bill. Crafting the Senate bill was even more difficult because Democrats needed the votes of all 60 of its members and allies to overcome Republican procedural hurdles.
15) The abortion provisions that clinched the House vote could prove a major obstacle to reconciling the two chambers' bills. The Senate has already rejected including that language in its version. Senators may also balk at the House's income tax increase for high-earning Americans.


Senate faces Christmas Eve vote on health care
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1) Senate Democrats are poised to pass a landmark health care bill that could define President Barack Obama's legacy and usher in near-universal medical coverage for the first time in U.S. history.
2) Ahead lie complex talks with the House to reach final legislation in the new year.
3) "We stand on the doorstep of history," said Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, a Nevada Democrat. "We recognize that, but much more importantly, we stand so close to making so many individual lives better."
4) The vote Thursday on the bill extending health care coverage to some 31 million uninsured Americans brings Obama's closer to achieving his top domestic priority. The White House and Congress have now come farther toward the goal of a comprehensive overhaul of the U.S. health care system than any of their predecessors.
5) But the final step may be the hardest: reconciling the Senate bill with a significantly different version already approved in November by the House of Representatives.
6) A compromise would have to be approved by both chambers -- and could collapse if Obama loses the support of any Democrat in the Senate or a handful in the House.
7) After 24 consecutive days of debate -- the Senate's second-longest such stretch ever -- passage of the Democrats' 10-year, nearly $1 trillion bill is all but inevitable Thursday. It will be the Senate's first vote on the day of Christmas Eve since 1895, when the matter at hand was a military affairs bill concerning employment of former Confederate officers, according to the Senate Historical Office.
8) Democrats have demonstrated their hard-won unity by clearing three 60-vote procedural hurdles this week, the last one Wednesday afternoon, with all 58 Democrats and two independents holding together against unanimous Republican opposition.
9) "We will always remember this day," said Democratic Sen. Christopher Dodd of Connecticut.
10) Negotiations with the House probably will stretch into February, but though the two chambers differ on tricky issues like abortion and the reach of government into the health system, Democrats say they've come too far to fail now.
11) The Senate measure, in addition to extending coverage to millions of people who lack it, would also ban the insurance industry from denying benefits or charging higher premiums on the basis of pre-existing medical conditions. The Congressional Budget Office predicts the bill will reduce deficits by $130 billion over the next 10 years, an estimate that assumes lawmakers carry through on hundreds of billions of dollars in planned cuts to insurance companies and doctors, hospitals and others who treat Medicare patients.
12) For the first time the government would require nearly every American to carry insurance, and subsidies would be provided to help low-income people do so. Employers would be induced to cover their employees through a combination of tax credits and penalties.
13) Unlike the House, the Senate measure omits a government-run insurance option, which liberals favored to apply pressure on private insurers but Democratic moderates opposed as an unwarranted federal intrusion.
14) In an interview with PBS, Obama signaled he would sign a bill even if it lacks the provision.
15) "Would I like one of those options to be the public option? Yes. Do I think that it makes sense, as some have argued, that, without the public option, we dump all these other extraordinary reforms and we say to the 30 million people who don't have coverage: 'You know, sorry. We didn't get exactly what we wanted?' I don't think that makes sense," Obama said.
16) Outnumbered Senate Republicans stubbornly played out a losing hand. They launched several last-minute constitutional challenges that Democrats swatted aside, then rejected calls to move the final vote up a day in deference to a snowstorm that threatened to prevent lawmakers from reaching home on Christmas Eve.
17) Republicans took to the floor to lambaste the bill as a budget-busting government takeover. Sen. Orrin Hatch, a Utah Republican, contended that it "just might wind up being the most widely hated legislation of the decade."


Obama prods Congress to pass health bill quickly
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1) President Barack Obama is prodding House and Senate Democrats to get him a final health care bill as soon as possible, encouraging them to bypass the usual negotiations between the two chambers in the interest of speed.
2) The Democratic-controlled White House and Congress are now closer to achieving near-universal health care than any of their predecessors despite near unanimous Republican opposition. Obama has made health care reform his top domestic priority.
3) Obama delivered the message at an Oval Office meeting Tuesday evening with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and his No. 2, Sen. Dick Durbin joined in by phone.
4) They agreed that rather than setting up a formal conference committee to resolve differences between health bills passed last year by the House and Senate, the House will work off the Senate's version, amend it and send it back to the Senate for final passage, according to a House leadership aide, speaking on condition of anonymity in order to discuss the private meeting.
5) Obama himself will take a hands-on role, convening another meeting with congressional leaders at the White House on Wednesday, the aide said.
6) The aim is to get a final bill to Obama's desk before the State of the Union policy address sometime in early February.
7) Facing the need to maintain a tenuous 60-vote coalition in the Senate, House Democrats likely will have to give up on starting a new government insurance plan to compete with the private market, something that's a nonstarter with Senate moderates. In its place they hope for more generous subsidies for lower-income families to buy health insurance.
8) Obama agreed at Tuesday evening's meeting to help strengthen affordability measures beyond what's in the Senate bill, the aide said.
9) Pelosi suggested Tuesday that House members wouldn't insist on the government plan as long as the final bill provides "affordability for the middle class, accountability for the insurance companies ... accessibility by lowering cost at every stage."
10) "There are other ways to do that, and we look forward to having those discussions," she said.
11) House Democrats want the Senate to agree to language revoking insurers' antitrust exemption as a way to hold insurance companies accountable in absence of direct government competition, said Rep. Chris Van Hollen, a member of the House leadership.
12) The bills passed by the House and Senate both would require nearly all Americans to get health insurance coverage and would provide subsidies for many who can't afford the cost, but they differ on hundreds of details. Among them are whom to tax, how many people to cover, how to restrict taxpayer funding for abortion and whether illegal immigrants should be allowed to buy coverage in the new markets with their own money.
13) Concerns about affordability are paramount. Major subsidies under the bills wouldn't start flowing to consumers until 2013 at the earliest. Even with federal aid, many families still would face substantial costs.
14) The House bill would provide $602 billion in subsidies from 2013-2019, covering an additional 36 million people.
15) The Senate bill would start the aid a year later, providing $436 billion in subsidies from 2014-2019, and reducing the number of uninsured by 31 million.
16) "Affordability is a critical issue," Van Hollen said.
17) But sweetening the deal for low- and middle-income households could require more taxes to pay for additional subsidies. And the House and Senate are also at odds over whom to tax. The House wants to raise income taxes on individuals making more than $500,000 and couples over $1 million. The Senate would slap a new tax on high-cost insurance plans. Although the Obama administration supports the Senate's insurance tax as a cost-saver, labor unions, which contribute heavily to Democratic candidates, are against it.
18) The House may end up accepting the insurance tax if it hits fewer people than the Senate's design now calls for. There also could be common ground in a Senate proposal to raise Medicare payroll taxes on individuals making more than $200,000 and married couples over $250,000.
19) Democrats reacted defensively to criticism that they are taking the final, most crucial stage of the debate behind closed doors, contending they've conducted a transparent process with hundreds of public meetings and legislation posted online. Republicans seized on a newly released letter from the head of the C-SPAN network calling on congressional leaders to open the final talks to the public, and cited Obama's campaign trail pledge to do just that.
20) Asked about that promise, Pelosi remarked, without elaboration: "There are a number of things he was for on the campaign trail."


Dems look at bypassing Senate health care vote
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1) A panicky White House and congressional Democrats are scrambling to salvage their health care bill if a Republican wins Tuesday's Senate race in Massachusetts.
2) A victory by Scott Brown over Democrat Martha Coakley would give Senate Republicans enough votes to block the bill from coming to a final vote.
3) A newly discussed fallback would require House Democrats to approve the Senate-passed bill without changes. President Barack Obama could sign it into law without another Senate vote. House leaders would urge the Senate to make changes later under a complex plan that would require only a simple majority.


Analysis: Democrats ' health care quest has soured
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1) Democratic lawmakers who once saw health care overhaul as a historic quest are now anxious to get the debate behind them, with Tuesday's Massachusetts Senate race underscoring how hard and joyless the effort has become.
2) Regardless of whether Democrat Martha Coakley squeaks past Republican Scott Brown, their down-to-the-wire campaign has shaken some Democrats' belief that most Americans will see the proposed health delivery changes as worthwhile. Emboldened Republicans, meanwhile, see the Democrat's struggle in liberal Massachusetts -- where health care was a central issue -- as a harbinger of Republican gains in November's midterm elections when control of Congress will be at stake.
3) Even if the health legislation survives, the Massachusetts experience may erode congressional support for other priorities of President Barack Obama, such as energy and climate-change bills.
4) A Brown victory on Tuesday could quickly kill Obama's chief domestic priority, because Republicans could block further Senate action on health care with a filibuster, a legislative maneuver to block a final vote on a bill. That would leave the White House and Democratic lawmakers with options ranging from bad to horrible.
5) Democrats could try a strong-arm tactic, such as rushing to hold a final Senate vote before Brown is sworn in, knowing it would ignite a ferocious public outcry.
6) If Brown wins, health care's fate will turn on the Democrats' answer to a wrenching question: Which is worse, enduring such a firestorm of criticism at the start of an election year, or admitting defeat on their top agenda item despite controlling the House, Senate and White House?
7) "I think Democrats fully understand they have to pass this legislation," said Ron Pollack, head of the Families USA advocacy group which supports health care reform. "The alternative is an absolute disaster."
8) Others are less sure, and opponents have made it clear that they will interpret a Brown victory as a verdict against the Democrats' entire health care agenda.
9) "If Obama's plan doesn't fly in the most liberal state in this nation, the plan should be forever grounded," said Phil Kerpen of Patients First, a group opposed to the legislation.
10) Even if Coakley wins, her struggles have shaken some congressional Democrats who expect tough races in November. Colleagues are trying to reassure them, saying there will be time to explain to voters the benefits of the proposed health care package. The public will forget the parliamentary tactics that were used to pass it, no matter how ugly, these Democrats say.
11) Former president Bill Clinton urged House Democrats last week to do a better job of telling voters how the legislation would help them, such as expanding coverage to the uninsured and establishing networks to offer more insurance options.
12) "Put the corn where the hogs can get it," Clinton said, using a colorful phrase for making something clear and accessible, according to an aide who took notes at the speech.
13) Some are urging moderate Democrats not to view a razor-thin Coakley victory as a troubling sign, even in heavily Democratic Massachusetts.
14) "A win is a win," said Democratic Rep. Frank Pallone of New Jersey. "It's a wakeup call" for tough campaigning this fall, he said.
15) If Coakley loses, the White House's best hope of saving the health package may lie in trying to persuade the House to accept the bill the Senate passed last month. Obama could sign it into law without further Senate action.
16) That could be a tough sell. Many House Democrats already are furious at cuts to the original health care proposals demanded by the Senate, where rules give the minority Republicans considerable power. Accepting every comma of the Senate-passed bill, while dropping their own bill, could be more than some liberal House Democrats will swallow.
17) Some moderate Democrats might abandon the health bill for other reasons as they brace for tough Republican challenges this fall, although they could open themselves to charges of flip-flopping if they supported the legislation last month.
18) Liberals oppose the tax on high-cost insurance plans in the Senate bill, while anti-abortion Democrats have termed the Senate's approach to restricting taxpayer funding "unacceptable."
19) Catholic bishops adamantly oppose the Senate language restricting the use of taxpayer funds to pay for abortion. They support the House's harder line. Liberals, for their part, say the House bill would deny access to a legal medical procedure to millions of privately insured women.
20) As the clock ticks down on the Massachusetts election results, Democrats ponder a cruel irony: the death of Sen. Edward Kennedy, a lifelong champion of health care reform, has triggered the events that have put the effort at the verge of a last-minute demise.


Obama, Democrats need to reconsider
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1) It is reassessment time for President Barack Obama and congressional Democrats on their health care overhaul.
2) A stinging loss Tuesday in a Senate election in the state of Massachusetts cost Obama the 60-vote Senate majority he was counting on to pass the far-reaching legislation, his top domestic priority. The outcome splintered the rank and file on how to salvage the bill, energized congressional Republicans and left Obama and the Democrats with fallback options that range from bad to worse.
3) A leading idea involves persuading House Democrats to pass a Senate bill that many of them have serious problems with. Another alternative calls for Senate Democrats to promise to make changes to the bill later on. Some Democrats said their big hopes would have to be scaled back.
4) The leader of the House, Speaker Nancy Pelosi, refused to acknowledge that as a possibility as she left Congress near midnight Tuesday after meeting with her top lieutenants to discuss the way forward. Pelosi and others contend that because Massachusetts already has near-universal health coverage under a state law, the upset victory by Republican state Sen. Scott Brown to take Edward M. Kennedy's old seat could not be seen as a referendum on the issue.
5) "Massachusetts has health care. ... The rest of the country would like to have that too," Pelosi, a Democrat, said. "So we don't say a state that already has health care should determine whether the rest of the country should."
6) "We will get the job done. I'm very confident. I've always been confident," she added.
7) Before Senate Democrats gathered Wednesday to discuss their next moves, Majority Leader Harry Reid held out hope for the bill, saying, "There are a lot of different options out there."
8) Others saw miles (kilometers) of bad road in any direction and suggested that regrouping was in order.
9) "We shouldn't show the arrogance of not getting the message here," said liberal Rep. Anthony Weiner, a Democrat, contending independents had turned against the bill and the Democratic base had lost its enthusiasm. "I don't think it would be the worst thing to take a step back" and turn the focus to jobs, in conjunction with scaled-back health care goals.
10) Republicans said do not even bother: The election of Brown over the once-favored Democrat Martha Coakley in the Democratic stronghold of Massachusetts sent a message that the health legislation should be scrapped altogether. Losing the Massachusetts seat will cost the Democrats the 60th vote needed to overcome Republican efforts to block legislation in the 100-member Senate.
11) Republican Party Chairman Michael Steele said Americans were breathing "a sigh of relief" over the potential derailing of the health care bill.
12) "People across the country are saying, 'Slow it down," Steele said Wednesday on ABC television's "Good Morning America."
13) But David Plouffe, who led Obama's presidential campaign, rejected calls to scrap the bill. "We have a good health care plan," he said on ABC. "We need to pass that. We have to lead."
14) Senate Democrats were scheduled to meet at midday Wednesday, and a sign of their intentions could emerge then. Obama will have to exert a mighty influence to keep jittery moderates from giving up on the effort.
15) Democrats do not appear to have enough time to resolve differences between the two bills passed by the House and Senate -- and get cost and coverage estimate evaluations back from the Congressional Budget Office -- before Brown is sworn in.
16) Moderate Sen. Jim Webb, a Democrat, said the Senate should not hold any further votes on health care until Brown is seated.
17) The legislation would expand coverage to more than 30 million Americans now uninsured, while attempting to rein in the growth of health care costs. Democratic lawmakers will have to move in virtual lockstep to enact the bill now, even as Republican opposition intensifies.
18) That could be too much to ask from rank-and-file Democrats demoralized by losing a seat held in an almost unbroken line by a Kennedy since 1953. Efforts to woo Republican Sen. Olympia Snowe as a convert could increase. But with polls showing voters souring on health care legislation, the president could be abandoned by lawmakers of his own party.


Obama urges Democrats not to rush on health care
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1) President Barack Obama advised fellow Democrats against trying to jam a health care bill through Congress after taking a devastating hit from the loss of a Senate seat. He said Wednesday it is time to come together around a bill that can draw Republican support, too.
2) When Massachusetts Republican Scott Brown takes office he will hand the Republicans power to block the Democratic agenda, including Obama's top domestic priority of extending health coverage to millions of uninsured.
3) "The people of Massachusetts spoke. He's got to be part of that process," Obama said.
4) Now Democrats need to reach across the aisle on popular health care provisions such as cost controls and aid to small businesses, he said.
5) Earlier Wednesday, Obama political adviser David Axelrod said administration officials will take into account the message voters delivered Tuesday in electing Brown, but he declined to go further.
6) "It's not an option simply to walk away from a problem that's only going to get worse," Axelrod said.
7) Asked if the Democrats' bill, as currently written, is dead, Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell responded: "I sure hope so."
8) But senior Democrats echoed Axelrod's determination to press ahead, even as they acknowledged it is not clear just how they will do that.
9) The quickest route is for the House to approve the Senate-passed bill and send it to Obama. But it is not clear Democrats in the House have the votes -- or the White House's support. Another alternative calls for the Senate Democrats to promise changes later on, part of a deal to get the House to pass the bill. But Senate Democrats may not be able to deliver on such a promise.
10) A third option emerged Wednesday -- a scaled-back bill that would keep centrist Democrats in line and perhaps attract the support of moderate Republicans.
11) That appeared to be Obama's preferred approach.
12) "I would advise that we try to move quickly to coalesce around those elements in the package that people agree on," he said in an interview with ABC News.
13) Lawmakers said the party would be looking to Obama for his ideas about what to do next since expanding health coverage to millions of uninsured Americans and reining in rising medical costs have been his top domestic initiative.
14) "I do believe this really does present the president of the United States a golden opportunity to say here's what we're doing, here's how I want to lead the country in health care," said Rep. Bart Stupak, a Democrat, who added that Obama and Democrats would have to move within 4-6 weeks or "we've lost it for this year."
15) The stinging loss Tuesday cost Obama the 60-vote Senate majority he was counting on to block Republican delaying tactics aimed at defeating the measure and pass the far-reaching legislation.
16) The outcome splintered the Democrats' rank and file on how to salvage the bill, energized congressional Republicans and left Obama and the Democrats with fallback options that range from bad to worse.
17) White House press secretary Robert Gibbs declined to say how the White House would proceed now that Obama has lost the minimum 60 votes needed to push health care legislation through the Senate.
18) "There are a number of different ways to do this," Gibbs said. He said the path would become clearer in the "hours and days" ahead.
19) Obama will address the election results' impact during his State of the Union address on Jan. 27, Gibbs said. The spokesman said Obama was not expecting Democrats to lose the Senate seat long held by the late Edward M. Kennedy.
20) "There's no doubt we are frustrated by that," Gibbs said. "I think everybody bears some responsibility, certainly including the White House."
21) During his daily meeting with reporters, Gibbs spoke repeatedly of the election as a signal of voters' anger and frustration about a struggling economy.


US election message: Jobs, jobs, jobs
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1) President Barack Obama and his Democratic Party raced to re-evaluate their health care plans and electoral strategy following their stunning loss of a Senate seat in Massachusetts long held by Edward M. Kennedy.
2) The embarrassing defeat to Republican Scott Brown in a Democratic stronghold was a bitter end to the president's first year in office Wednesday, and it triggered furious party soul-searching.
3) Frustrated Democrats urged the White House to focus on jobs and the economy -- not the health care overhaul that's now at risk -- and pressed Obama to more forcefully make their case against Republicans ahead of potentially disastrous Congressional elections this fall.
4) "We need a jobs bill. We need short-term, focused strategies to create jobs, real fast," said Sen. Bob Casey. "If the dominant message isn't about jobs and spending, we'll be making a difficult challenge exponentially more difficult."
5) Obama himself owned up to a failure to communicate.
6) In a year of hopping from crisis to crisis, he told ABC News, "we lost some of that sense of speaking directly to the American people about what their core values are and why we have to make sure those institutions are matching up with those values."
7) Obama has started laying out a sharper contrast with Republicans by hammering them for opposing his proposed bank bailout tax. He's sought to paint Democrats on the side of taxpayers and Republicans on the side of special interests and Wall Street, trying out that pitch when he rushed to Boston in an effort to save Democrat Martha Coakley. It didn't work in just two days.
8) Despite the loss that gave Republicans a crucial 41st vote in the 100-seat Senate, ending the Democrats' 60-vote supermajority needed to pass legislation along party lines, neither Democrats nor most Republicans said they thought control of Congress could be up for grabs. But both parties expect big Republican gains, and fewer Democratic seats would make it more difficult for Obama to pass his agenda.
9) Democrats still have majority control of both the House and Senate. But Tuesday's Republican upset -- following Republican victories in two governor's faces last fall for Democratic-held offices -- was a sign of serious trouble this fall. Even when the economy is strong, the party holding the White House historically loses seats in midterms.
10) At the Capitol, Democratic Sen. Claire McCaskill declared, "If there's anybody in this building that doesn't tell you they are more worried about elections today, you should absolutely slap them."
11) Indeed, there was a grim sense among Democrats that if the Republicans could win in a traditionally deeply liberal state, Massachusetts, they could probably win anywhere.
12) On the anniversary of his inauguration, Obama faced a need to reevaluate both his policy -- specifically his endangered health care plan -- and his politics in a White House stunned by a shift in the mood of the electorate from just a year earlier. Voters were hopeful and supportive then. They are cranky and belligerent now. Of utmost concern: independent voters who have fled to the Republicans after a year of Wall Street bailouts, enormous budget deficits and partisan wrangling over health care.
13) Obama told ABC in an interview, "The same thing that swept Scott Brown into office swept me into office. People are angry, and they're frustrated. Not just because of what's happened in the last year or two years, but what's happened over the last eight years."
14) Democrats appeared more determined than devastated after the Massachusetts outcome as they huddled to chart a new way forward.
15) Obama's sweeping health care overhaul was the most urgent matter at hand.
16) The president and his fellow Democrats wrestled with options now that they were one vote shy of the 60-vote Senate supermajority they were counting on to block Republican delaying tactics.
17) Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell declared the overall measure dead and added: "The president ought to take this as a message to recalibrate how he wants to govern, and if he wants to govern from the middle we'll meet him there."
18) In light of Brown's victory, Obama said it's time to come together around a bill that can draw Republican support, too.
19) In the longer term, Democrats said the White House should do more to reduce unemployment, given that economists expect joblessness to remain near 10 percent through November.
20) Several Democratic officials characterized the party rank-and-file lawmakers as frustrated by a seeming White House hesitation to get involved in high-stakes races until it's too late.
21) These Democrats, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to avoid angering the White House, say there's a sense that Obama and his advisers are too cautious and more focused on his re-election fortunes than on helping Democratic candidates get elected in 2010.
22) Republicans, for their part, reveled in Brown's victory. They have found what they believe is a surefire recipe for Republican candidates to win against a popular president -- focus on opposition to his policies, downplay overtly political Republican ties, and embrace voter anger with populist appeals to ride an antiestablishment wave.


Obama urges pared-back US health care bill
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1) President Barack Obama and congressional allies signaled Wednesday they may try to scale back his sweeping health care overhaul to keep parts of it alive in the wake of a stinging rebuke in the Senate race in Massachusetts.
2) A simpler, less ambitious bill emerged as an alternative only hours after the loss of the party's crucial 60th Senate seat forced the Democrats to slow their all-out drive to pass Obama's top domestic priority and reconsider all options.
3) The 60-vote Senate Democratic majority is needed to overcome Republican procedural obstacles aimed at defeating the legislation.
4) No decisions have been made, lawmakers said, but they laid out a new approach that could still include these provisions: limiting the ability of insurance companies to deny coverage to people with medical problems, allowing young adults to stay on their parents' policies, helping small businesses and low-income people pay insurance premiums and changing government health care for the elderly to encourage payment for quality care instead of sheer volume of services.
5) Obama said the election results wouldn't sour his interest in passing a health care bill.
6) "Now, I could have said, 'Well, we'll just do what's safe, we'll just take on those things that are completely non-controversial,'" Obama said in an interview with ABC News. "The problem is: the things that are non-controversial end up being the things that don't solve the problem."
7) Yet, the goal of trying to cover nearly all Americans would be put off further into the future.
8) Obama urged lawmakers not to try to jam a bill through, but scale the proposal down to what he called "those elements of the package that people agree on."
9) Another option, which called for the House to try to quickly pass the Senate version of the broader bill -- bypassing the Senate problem created by the loss of the Massachusetts seat to Republican Scott Brown -- appeared to be losing favor.
10) "That's a bitter pill for the House to swallow," said the No. 2 Senate Democrat, Dick Durbin.
11) Nevertheless, the option remained on the table and administration officials were working behind the scenes on the approach that would be the fastest and cleanest route to getting a bill to Obama, said a senior administration official, who spoke on condition of anonymity to more freely describe private talks.
12) In the House, Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Democratic leaders were gauging support for the idea among liberals and moderates. The initial reaction was not encouraging.
13) It takes 218 votes to pass legislation. A majority of House Democrats oppose a tax on high-cost insurance plans in the Senate bill that labor unions, a core Democratic party constituency, see as a direct hit on their members. Stupak and other abortion opponents, backed by U.S. Roman Catholic bishops, say the Senate bill falls short in restricting taxpayer dollars for abortion.
14) A week ago, House and Senate Democrats were working out the differences in their respective bills, and a quick resolution seemed likely. But after Brown's upset victory secured the seat held by the late Sen. Edward M. Kennedy for the Republicans, feuding broke out.
15) Some Democratic senators suggested it was up to the House to save the day by passing the Senate bill.
16) Republicans said that would make their day.
17) Trying to push through the Senate bill through would be a desperate ploy seen as such by voters, said Sen. John McCain, a leading Republican and Obama's 2008 presidential rival. "If they try to jam it through the House, they'll pay a very heavy price," McCain said.


Pelosi: House lacks votes to OK Senate health bill
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1) The leader of the House of Representatives said Thursday she lacks the votes to push the Senate's sweeping health overhaul bill through the House, a potentially devastating blow to President Barack Obama's top domestic priority issue.
2) Speaker Nancy Pelosi made the comment to reporters after her House Democrats held a closed-door meeting at which participants said lawmakers vented frustration with the massive version of the legislation.
3) House and Senate Democrats had been trying to reconcile different health care bills passed by both chambers. They hoped to reach a compromise that the House and Senate would vote on again.
4) Those plans were upended by their surprise loss of a Massachusetts Senate seat this week. That cost them the 60-vote supermajority needed to overcome Republican procedural obstacles, meaning they would be unlikely to get a health care compromise through the Senate.
5) Democrats could avoid another Senate vote by having the House agree to accept the Senate's bill. But some House Democrats object to some of its provisions. Many House members now prefer a more modest health bill in light of the Massachusetts vote. The winner of the race, Republican Scott Brown, had campaigned against the health bill.
6) Pelosi said, "In its present form without any changes I don't think it's possible to pass the Senate bill in the House. ... I don't see the votes for it at this time."


Analysis: Bad news just piling up for Democrats
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1) In only a week, the already difficult political situation facing Democrats ahead of this fall's midterm elections grew even more troubling. And the bloodletting may not be over.
2) The latest blows: Vice President Joe Biden's son opted out of a Senate run in Delaware, giving Republicans better-than-even odds of taking over the seat Biden held 36 years, and a moderate Democrat in an Arkansas swing-voting district announced his retirement, the second in as many weeks.
3) All that comes atop Democrats' loss of Edward M. Kennedy's Senate seat to Republican Scott Brown in Massachusetts, and as the White House builds up its political team to prevent defeats up and down ballots nationwide come November.
4) "We had a little bit of a buzz saw this week," President Barack Obama said at the end of the most politically problematic week of his presidency. That comment was about his endangered health care overhaul plan, but it could extend to electoral politics ahead of his first midterm elections as president.
5) Just a year ago, Democrats were boasting about the launch of a new era. Obama's party was salivating at the thought of padding its comfortable majorities after several Republicans announced they would retire rather than run again.
6) Now, Democrats are on defense over big-government, big-spending policies. An anti-Washington wave is sweeping the country. And people are furious over a 10 percent unemployment rate and Wall Street bailouts.
7) Failed recruitments and growing retirements make it more likely that Democrats will emerge from the 2010 midterms with fewer numbers in Congress, which would pose challenges for Obama's agenda. However, Democrats still are likely to retain control of the Senate, and probably the House, too.
8) To stanch the bleeding, Obama has turned to his 2008 campaign manager to oversee the White House's midterm efforts from the Democratic National Committee.
9) "This past week has definitely been a hard one, for all of us," David Plouffe wrote Monday in an e-mail meant to rally Obama backers. "It's at moments like these when we need you most."
10) Republicans have their problems, too. Cash is one. Others include primary challenges from conservative "tea party" candidates against establishment candidates. And voters still don't have a high opinion of the Republicans.
11) But Republicans have momentum in the wake of Brown's Massachusetts victory. The Republican Party reports a recruitment windfall in the House and Senate, with on-the-fence candidates emboldened by the more friendly environment.
12) With Brown's win, Democrats control the Senate 59-41. Republicans would need to pick up 10 seats, and not lose any, to gain control. It's not impossible. In January alone, they've found two other ripe opportunities to win Democratic-held seats in the Senate
13) Beau Biden's decision to pass up a Senate run to run for re-election as Delaware's attorney general automatically made Republican Rep. Mike Castle, a popular former governor, favored to win. In bowing out, Biden cited not the thorny political environment but a need to focus on prosecution of high-profile child molestation case.
14) Also at risk is Democratic Sen. Byron Dorgan's seat in conservative-tilting North Dakota. Stunning Democrats, Dorgan said just after the new year that he would not seek re-election. North Dakota's Republican governor, John Hoeven, quickly jumped into the race. Democrats haven't fielded a candidate yet.
15) Democrats' woes in the Senate are partly of Obama's own making. He plucked several Democrats from the Senate to fill his administration, and those seats also are now vulnerable.
16) Sen. Michael Bennet of Colorado, appointed to fill Interior Secretary Ken Salazar's term, is in a primary, and Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, appointed to fill Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton's seat, also may face a primary challenge. The Republican Party is competing hard for Obama's old seat; Sen. Roland Burris, who was appointed to the seat, is not running.
17) Following Connecticut Sen. Chris Dodd's retirement, Washington insiders have been on high alert for hints that other troubled Senate Democrats will bow out to make way for stronger candidates.
18) Among the most vulnerable incumbents: Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid of Nevada and Blanche Lincoln of Arkansas. Given a political environment tipping its way, the Republicans are also keeping an eye on Sens. Barbara Boxer in California and Arlen Specter in Pennsylvania.
19) In the House, Republicans need a net gain of 40 seats to take back control. That's a long shot, but less of one than it was at the start of 2010.
20) Two moderate Democrats in as many weeks in Arkansas' swing districts have chosen to retire rather than face re-election in a problematic political environment. The retirements of Reps. Vic Snyder and Marion Berry bring to 12 the number of Democratic House retirements, compared with 14 for Republicans.
21) Democrats, however, fear privately that they are just the first ripples in what could become a flood of House retirements creating pickup opportunities for Republicans.


Congress slows down on health care reform
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1) Congressional leaders are taking health care legislation off the fast track as Democratic lawmakers, wary of unhappy voters ahead of November elections, look to President Barack Obama for guidance in his State of the Union address.
2) House and Senate leaders say they need time to determine the best way forward on health care in the wake of last week's special election loss in Massachusetts that cost Democrats their 60-vote Senate supermajority needed to bypass Republican tactics to stall legislation.
3) Obama is not expected to offer a specific prescription in Wednesday night's speech, but Democrats want to hear him renew his commitment to the health care overhaul he's spent the past year promoting as his top domestic priority.
4) It is now badly adrift, and lawmakers are yearning to stop talking about the divisive topic and move on to jobs and the economy, the issues they say preoccupy their constituents.
5) "The president effectively will hit the reset button (Wednesday) night, after which we'll have a matter of weeks, not months to get this right," said Rep. Anthony Weiner, a Democrat.
6) "We're reaching the point where our momentum is clearly stopped already," Weiner said Tuesday. "If we're going to do this, I think we have to do this soon."
7) Not so, according to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid.
8) "We're going to find out how to proceed," Reid told reporters Tuesday. "But there is no rush."
9) The House and Senate separately passed 10-year, nearly $1 trillion bills last year to remake the U.S. medical system and provide coverage to most of the nearly 50 million uninsured Americans. Both bills included new requirements for nearly everyone to carry health insurance and new regulations on insurers' practices. Negotiators were in the final stages of reconciling the differences between the two measures before last week's Republican upset for the Senate seat long held by the late Edward M. Kennedy, a champion of health care reform.
10) Democrats acknowledge that opposition to the health care remake in Washington helped spark the Massachusetts revolution.
11) Democrats now have four options for moving forward, said House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer: no bill, a scaled-back measure designed to attract some Republican support, the House passing the Senate bill or the House passing the Senate bill with both chambers making changes to bridge their differences.
12) House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has ruled out passing the Senate bill with no changes, and no Democrats are publicly advocating abandoning the effort altogether. However, Rep. Stephanie Herseth Sandlin, a leader of conservative House Democrats, said some conservative Democrats would prefer to do just that.
13) The option attracting the most attention is for the House to pass the Senate bill with changes. Rep. Jim Clyburn, the No. 3 Democrat, told reporters Tuesday he thinks the House could do so if lawmakers get rid of some special provisions.
14) But two centrist Democratic senators threw up a roadblock to the approach, because it would require using a special budget-related procedure to go around Republican opponents in the Senate, a calculated risk sure to inflame critics on the political right. Sens. Evan Bayh and Blanche Lincoln -- who both face re-election this year in Republican-leaning states -- said they would oppose taking that step.
15) The strategy requires only 51 votes to advance, but Senate leaders may not be able to round up the support. Even if they do, final action could stretch into late next month or beyond.


Obama meeting with Republicans on jobs plan
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1) President Barack Obama is facing the toughest of audiences -- Republican lawmakers -- as he tries to win support Friday for a job-creation plan.
2) Obama's appearance before a meeting of Republican members of the House of Representatives in Baltimore comes two days after he appealed in his State of the Union speech for an end to Washington's sharp partisan rift. That divide has prevented him from passing his health care overhaul and other major legislation.
3) Obama is proposing a tax credit for companies that hire new workers. Republicans generally embrace almost any tax cut proposal, but Obama might receive a lukewarm reception on Friday, as some Republicans have expressed reservations about how the plan would work.
4) Republicans have political momentum after last week's Massachusetts special election, in which they captured the Senate seat long held by a Democrat, the late Edward M. Kennedy. They view that election as a referendum on Obama's policies, giving them little incentive to cooperate with Democrats ahead of the November congressional elections.
5) "We're going to hear from the president for a few minutes, but he's going to hear for quite a while about our proposals," a top House Republican, Rep. Mike Pence, said on ABC television.
6) Asked if Republicans were ready to meet Obama halfway on the economy, health care, energy and other issues, Pence said, "Republicans are going to continue to stand on the principles that we were elected to advance. We're going to articulate this to the president."
7) Obama also is scheduled to visit a small business during his visit Friday to Baltimore, which is about 40 miles (65 kilometers) outside Washington.
8) With polls showing that jobs are Americans' top priority, Obama cited the retooled jobs plan in his State of the Union address Wednesday night.
9) Obama's proposal, which would need congressional approval, would give companies a $5,000 tax credit for each net new worker they hire in 2010 and provide other incentives for businesses to increase workers' hours and wages. A cap would be set on the amount a company could reap from the program, a feature intended to tailor it more to small businesses than large corporations.
10) Obama first promoted the idea of a tax credit for adding workers late last year. But House Democrats omitted it from a jobs bill they passed in December because of doubts about how to make the credit work.
11) Some Republicans said they have similar concerns.
12) "From a policy perspective, it's very difficult to make it work," said House Minority Leader John Boehner, a Republican.
13) Pence said he understands why a tax break for adding jobs would be popular. But, he said, businesses won't hire new employees until there is increased demand for their products.
14) "These targeted tax cuts, while individually appealing, are no substitute for the kind of broad-based tax relief that will release the entrepreneurial energy of the American people," he said.


Face to face, Obama urges Republicans to cooperate
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1) In a sometimes barbed face-to-face encounter, President Barack Obama chastised Republican lawmakers Friday for opposing him on health care, economic stimulus and other major issues.
2) Republicans pushed back on taxes and spending, and accused Obama of not taking their ideas seriously.
3) Obama, attending the House Republicans' retreat in Baltimore, began with conciliatory remarks but soon became more pointed. He said a Republican-driven "politics of no" was blocking action on bills that could help Americans obtain jobs and health care.
4) He said major elements of the bills were based on proposals from former lawmakers in the political middle, including some Republicans.
5) "That's not a radical bunch, but if you were to listen to the debate ... you'd think this was some Bolshevik plot." Obama's most strident critics have accused him of supporting what they consider socialist policies they say would lead to government control of personal health care decisions.
6) Obama's meeting with the Republicans came two days after he appealed in his State of the Union speech for an end to Washington's sharp partisan rift.
7) But Republicans may have little incentive to cooperate with Obama. They have political momentum after last week's Massachusetts special election, in which they captured the Senate seat long held by a Democrat, the late Edward M. Kennedy. They view that vote as a referendum on Obama's policies, giving them hope for big gains in November congressional elections.
8) The Republicans sat attentively throughout Obama's speech and the discussion. There was some grumbling when he remarked -- after being pressed about closed-door health care negotiations -- that most of the legislation was developed in congressional committees in front of television cameras.
9) "That was a messy process," he acknowledged.
10) Several Republicans challenged Obama with lengthy complaints and sharp questions.
11) "What should we tell our constituents who know that Republicans have offered positive solutions" for health care, "and yet continue to hear out of the administration that we've offered nothing?" asked Republican Rep. Tom Price.
12) Obama showed little sympathy, disputing Price's claim that a Republican plan would cover nearly all Americans without raising taxes.
13) "That's just not true," said Obama. He called such claims "boilerplate" meant to score political points.
14) Republican Rep. Peter Roskam complained that some House Democrats have "stiff-armed" their Republican colleagues, leaving them out of the decision-making process. Obama says both sides are to blame for a "sour climate on Capitol Hill" and he's willing to help bring Republican and Democratic leaders together.
15) Obama also defended his economic stimulus plan, saying some in the audience have attended ribbon-cutting ceremonies for projects funded by the stimulus package they voted against. Obama also questioned why Republicans have overwhelmingly opposed his tax-cut policies, which he said have benefited 95 percent of American families.
16) "The notion that this was a radical package is just not true," Obama said. "I am not an ideologue."
17) The president acknowledged that Republicans have joined Democrats in some efforts, such as sending more U.S. troops to Afghanistan. But he said he was disappointed and perplexed by virtually unanimous Republican opposition to other programs, such as the $787 billion economic stimulus bill enacted a year ago.
18) He also noted overwhelming Republican opposition to his plan to overhaul the U.S. health care system, a proposal that is now in legislative peril. Obama said he would gladly look at better ideas, but he urged Republicans to acknowledge the difficulties that many Americans face in obtaining good health care.
19) Obama said it makes ideological sense for Democrats and Republicans to work together on some issues such as charging fees to banks that benefited from a federal bailout, temporarily freezing some government spending, keeping jobs from being exported and paying for new government programs when they are created.
20) Republicans have sharply criticized Obama's approach to most of these issues.


Analysis: Can Republicans take over US Congress?
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1) Just weeks ago, it seemed inconceivable the Republicans might win control of Congress this November. But not anymore.
2) A Republican takeover of Congress remains a long shot. But strategists in both parties now see at least narrow paths by which the Republicans could win the House of Representatives and, if the troubled environment for Democrats deteriorates further, possibly even the Senate.
3) With nine months to go, 2010 is shaping up in one sense to be a traditional midterm election for a new president: The out-of-power party is poised to gain seats in both houses. The question now is whether it will be a historic election with Republicans actually seizing power in Congress.
4) The Republicans would have to gain 40 seats in the 435-member House, 10 in the 100-member Senate -- a tall order no matter how upset voters are.
5) To understand why incumbents are nervous, look no further than the persistent 10 percent unemployment rate, the country's bitterness over Wall Street bailouts and voters' anti-Washington fervor.
6) Obama's party, controlling both the White House and Congress, is likely to feel that fury the most. And it is defending far more seats than the Republicans.
7) The Democrats already have faced one monumental setback this year, the Republican Senate victory in the Democratic bastion of Massachusetts. That outcome further energized Republicans and demoralized Democrats.
8) In the House of Representatives, Democrats hold a 256-178 advantage with one vacancy. But 49 Democrats are in districts that Republican presidential candidate John McCain won in 2008. And many are freshmen who rode into power on Obama's coattails in an election that saw a voting surge by minorities and youths. Obama will not be on the ballot this time, and he has a poor track record so far when it comes to turning out his 2008 backers for fellow Democrats.
9) Almost by the day, Republicans are sensing fresh opportunities to pick up ground.
10) On Wednesday, former Indiana Sen. Dan Coats announced he would try to reclaim his old seat from Democrat Evan Bayh, who barely a year ago had been a finalist to be Barack Obama's vice presidential running mate. Republicans nationwide still are celebrating Scott Brown's January upset to take the late Sen. Edward Kennedy's former seat in Massachusetts.
11) "Democrats have got their hands full trying to navigate through unprecedented economic turmoil and two wars," says Democratic former Sen. Bob Kerrey. He suggests the gloomy talk within the party is overstated and the Democrats are still likely to retain control, but he adds: "There's no question that there's anger out there."
12) In the Senate, two Democratic seats are all but gone.
13) North Dakota's Byron Dorgan is retiring, and the Democrats do not have anyone to challenge the Republican, Gov. John Hoeven. Democrats also failed to recruit their top candidate in Delaware. Vice President Joe Biden's son eschewed a run against Republican Mike Castle. New Castle County executive Chris Coons, a Democrat, got in the race Wednesday but he is expected to face an uphill battle.
14) For a Republican takeover, incumbent Democrats also would have to lose in Colorado, where appointed Sen. Michael Bennet has not run statewide and faces a primary; Nevada, where Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid is unpopular but has a hefty bank account; Arkansas, where Sen. Blanche Lincoln suffers from representing a Republican-leaning state; Pennsylvania, where party-switching Sen. Arlen Specter is extraordinarily vulnerable, and Illinois, where a dogfight is certain for Obama's old seat.
15) Republicans would have to hold on to all the Senate seats they have now, hardly a sure thing. And the party also would have to beat incumbents in New York, where no Republican has emerged to challenge appointed Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, and Connecticut, where Democrat Richard Blumenthal is comfortably leading all Republican contenders in polls.
16) If all that somehow should happen, the tipping point could be either in Indiana or in California.
17) "Every state is now in play," California Sen. Barbara Boxer said one day after the Massachusetts election. It was a frank recognition that no Democrat is safe -- not even a three-term liberal with bunches of money in a solidly Democratic state.
18) Not coincidentally, when Obama had a televised question-and-answer session with Democrats on Wednesday, the senators given prominent face time included Boxer, Reid, Bayh, Bennet, Lincoln, Gillibrand and Specter.
19) House Republicans have their own challenges.
20) In more than 50 districts, divisive Republican primaries are certain to drain bank accounts and force Republicans into taking positions that could be troublesome come the general election. In many cases, "tea party" candidates are running to the right of establishment-endorsed Republicans, casting them as too moderate for the party and too cozy with Washington. The "tea party" movement began as a conservative reaction to what its members consider profligate spending in Washington.
21) In other races, Republican candidates are dropping out to run as third-party candidates who could siphon votes from the eventual Republican nominee.
22) Indeed, Republicans dramatically trail Democrats in fundraising. They also lack a charismatic leader to rally around and are enmeshed in a bitter debate over their party's future. And, like their Democratic counterparts, Republican incumbents face an electorate inclined to topple lawmakers of all political stripes.


Obama invites Republicans to health care talks
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1) In the first major step to revive his health care agenda after his party's loss of its super-majority in the Senate, President Barack Obama on Sunday invited Republican and Democratic leaders to discuss possible compromises later this month.
2) Obama's move came amid widespread complaints that efforts so far by him and his Democratic allies in Congress have been too partisan and secretive.
3) The Feb. 25 meeting's prospects for success are far from clear. Republican leaders on Sunday demanded that Democrats start from scratch, and White House aides said Obama had no plans to do so.
4) "If we are to reach a bipartisan consensus, the White House can start by shelving the current health spending bill," said Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, a Republican from Kentucky.
5) House Republican leader John Boehner of Ohio also threw some jabs while accepting Obama's invitation. He said he was glad the White House "finally seems interested in a real, bipartisan conversation," adding that Americans have rejected "the job-killing, trillion-dollar government takeover of health care bills passed by the House and Senate."
6) Obama made health care reform a centerpiece of his presidency, but so far has failed to get a new law enacted. The issue is of critical importance to the United States, which is among the few industrialized nations that doesn't provide universal health care. The private system in the U.S. has left more than 40 million without health insurance coverage.
7) Obama is reaching out again to Republicans, despite their unanimous opposition to previous Democratic proposals and the election of a new Republican senator who broke the Democrat's hold on the Senate.
8) Under Senate rules, contentious legislation often requires a three-fifths vote for passage, or 60 in the 100-member body.
9) When Republican Scott Brown took over the seat of the late Massachusetts Sen. Edward Kennedy last week, he gave the minority Republicans 41 votes they can use to block Obama's agenda.
10) Obama told CBS's Katie Couric that he and the leaders of both parties will "go through systematically all the best ideas that are out there and move it forward."
11) Asked if he was willing to start from square one, the president said he wants "to look at the Republican ideas that are out there."
12) He added: "And I want to be very specific: 'How do you guys want to lower costs? How do you guys intend to reform the insurance markets so people with preexisting conditions, for example, can get health care?'"
13) "If we can go step by step through a series of these issues and arrive at some agreements," Obama said, "then procedurally, there's no reason why we can't do it a lot faster than the process took last year."
14) Congress' Democratic and Republican leaders have differed sharply on most major questions in the long-running health care debate. Only one Republican voted for the House health care bill approved in December, and no Republicans voted for a similar Senate version.
15) White House officials said Sunday that Obama does not intend to restart the health care legislative process from scratch. Many liberal groups and lawmakers want congressional Democrats to use all the parliamentary muscle they have to enact the measure that the Senate passed on Christmas Eve, employing rules that could bypass Republican filibusters to make changes demanded by House Democrats.
16) The White House has not ruled out such a strategy. But Obama's recent talk of inviting Republican input and extending the debate for several weeks has caused uncertainty about his plans.
17) A White House statement Sunday said Obama repeatedly has made it clear "that he's adamant about passing comprehensive reform similar to the bills passed by the House and the Senate."
18) "He hopes to have Republican support in doing so, but he is going to move forward on health reform," the statement said.
19) Polls show that many Americans feel Obama and his congressional allies have not sought enough Republican input, although Democrats say Republicans have shown virtually no interest in seeking a realistic agreement.


Dems offer smaller jobs bill in bid for support
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1) Senate Democrats on Thursday proposed a new, stripped-down version of a bipartisan jobs bill that they hope will still get support from both Republicans and Democrats, after critics said an earlier version wouldn't create many jobs.
2) Republicans, however, accused Democrats of reneging on their deal, putting in jeopardy a short-lived attempt at bipartisan lawmaking.
3) Democratic Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid's latest bill focuses on several popular provisions aimed at boosting job creation, including a new tax break negotiated with Republicans for companies that hire unemployed workers and for small businesses that purchase new equipment. It also would renew highway programs and help states and local governments finance large infrastructure projects.
4) Reid unveiled the pared-back plan after Senate Democrats balked at a broader bill stuffed with unrelated provisions sought by lobbyists for business groups and doctors. The surprise blew apart an agreement with key Republicans like Chuck Grassley of Iowa, who worked with Democratic Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus, for weeks to produce a bill containing the extra provisions.
5) The original bill had won support from across the political spectrum, from President Barack Obama as well as conservative Republicans in the Senate, offering the promise of a rare bipartisan package in a Congress that has been gripped by partisan fights. To get that support, however, the package had morphed into a 361-page grab bag of provisions that included extending benefits to the unemployed and tax breaks for businesses.
6) The bipartisan agreement is off. But Democrats say they now have a package focused solely on creating jobs, and they're all but daring Republicans to vote against it.
7) "Our side isn't sure that the Republicans are real interested in developing good policy and to move forward together," said Democratic Sen. Thomas Carper. "Instead, they are more inclined to play rope-a-dope again. My own view is, let's test them."
8) Said Reid: "Republicans are going to have to make a choice. I don't know in logic what they could say to oppose this."
9) Reid officially put the measure before the Senate on Thursday evening, setting up a key test vote when the chamber returns the week of Feb. 22. He'll need at least one Republican vote to get the bill past Republican blocking measures.
10) Republicans said they were blind-sided by Reid's about-face.
11) Grassley spokeswoman Jill Kozeny said in an e-mail that Reid "pulled the rug out from work to build broad-based support for tax relief and other efforts to help the private sector recover from the economic crisis."
12) The bigger bill got a decidedly mixed reception at a luncheon meeting of Democrats, many of whom were uncomfortable with supporting a bill containing so many provisions unrelated to creating jobs, including loans for chicken producers and aid to catfish farmers.
13) The provisions also included a $31 billion package of tax breaks for individuals and businesses, an extension of several parts of the counterterrorism USA Patriot Act and higher payments for doctors facing payment cuts for the federal Medicaire program.
14) The surprise move appears to insulate Democrats from criticism that greeted the earlier, lobbyist-backed legislation first leaked on Tuesday and officially unveiled by Baucus and Grassley -- to praise from the White House -- only hours before Reid's announcement.
15) The centerpiece of Reid's new bill is a $13 billion payroll tax credit for companies that hire unemployed workers. The idea, by democratic Sen. Chuck Schumer and Republican Sen. Orrin Hatch would exempt businesses hiring unemployed workers in 2010 from the 6.2 percent Social Security payroll tax for those hires.
16) It also would provide an additional $1,000 tax credit for workers retained for a full year and deposit an additional $20 billion into the federal highway trust fund -- money that would have to be borrowed. There's also $2 billion to subsidize bond issues by state and local governments for large infrastructure projects
17) But Republicans are irate at the strong-arm tactics and said Reid had gone back on a deal reached with some of the Senate's heaviest hitters, including Minority Leader Mitch McConnell.
18) Still, a number of the provisions dropped on Thursday -- including help for the unemployed, the business tax breaks and a renewal of soon-to-expire provisions of the Patriot Act -- are sure to return soon since they expire at the end of the month.
19) At the same time, some Democrats want other items added in, especially Obama's $25 billion proposal to help cash-strapped states with their Medicaid burdens.
20) Both the administration and Democrats controlling Congress have been pushing to find new ways to ease the country's chronically high unemployment rate, which now stands at 9.7 percent of the labor force.


Obama version of health reform expected Monday
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1) The White House readied its last-ditch effort to salvage health care legislation Sunday while the Senate's Republican leader warned Democrats against the go-it-alone approach.
2) The White House was expected to post a version of President Barack Obama's plan for overhauling health care on its Web site on Monday, ahead of his critical and daring summit at Blair House on Thursday. The plan, which was likely to be opposed by the Republicans, is expected to require most Americans to carry health insurance coverage, with federal subsidies to help many afford the premiums.
3) Obama campaigned on the promise to reform the U.S. health care system, but he has so far failed to get a new law enacted. The issue is of critical importance to the United States, which is among the few industrialized nations that doesn't provide universal health care and where more than 40 million people are uninsured.
4) Hewing close to a stalled Senate bill, it would bar insurance companies from denying coverage to people with medical problems or charging them more. The expected price tag is around $1 trillion over 10 years.
5) The conference at the White House guest residence is to be televised live on C-SPAN and perhaps on cable news networks. It represents a gamble by the administration that Obama can save his embattled overhaul through persuasion -- a risky and unusual step.
6) It was forced on the administration by the Senate special election victory of Massachusetts Republican Scott Brown in January. He captured the seat long held by Democrat Edward M. Kennedy, who died last year. Brown's victory reduced the Democrats' majority in the Senate to 59 votes, one shy of the number needed to knock down Republican delaying tactics.
7) Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell said Sunday he would participate, but that Obama and congressional Democrats would be wrong to push the bills they wrote in the House and Senate.
8) "The fundamental point I want to make is the arrogance of all of this. You know, they are saying, `Ignore the wishes of the American people. We know more about this than you do. And we're going to jam it down your throats no matter what.' That is why the public is so angry at this Congress and this administration over this issue," said McConnell.
9) While the House and Senate had passed its own version of a health overhaul, lawmakers had yet to settle their differences and produce a single bill acceptable to both chambers when Brown won.
10) California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, a Republican, hoped a compromise -- "sweet spot," he called it -- was possible.
11) "If you really want to serve the people and not just your party, I think you will find that sweet spot and you can get it done," he said.
12) Democratic Gov. Ed Rendell of Pennsylvania appealed to Republicans to offer their own proposals. "You take some of our ideas. We'll take some of your ideas. We may not love your ideas, but we'll take them. If they don't do that, I think this whole dynamic of this political year could turn around," he said.
13) Rendell and Schwarzenegger spoke from the sidelines of the National Governors Association meeting. Four leaders of the group, two Republicans and two Democrats, later summoned the media to a news conference and offered to strike a compromise between the warring factions in Washington.
14) "We are making an offer to help and are very willing to roll up our sleeves and help if that's what Congress and the president decided," said Tennessee Gov. Phil Bredesen, a Democrat.
15) The governors' plea was an implicit acknowledgment that Obama and the Democratic-led Congress have frozen governors out of the process.
16) The Blair House meeting takes place nearly a year after Obama launched his drive to remake health care -- a Democratic agenda item for decades -- at an earlier summit he infused with a bipartisan spirit. The president will point out that Republicans have supported individual elements of the Democratic bills.
17) Under the expected Obama plan, regulators would create a competitive marketplace for small businesses and people buying their own coverage. The plan would be paid for with a mix of Medicare cuts and tax increases. It would also strip out special Medicaid deals for certain states, while moving to close the Medicare prescription coverage gap and making newly available coverage for working families more affordable. The changes would cost about $200 billion over 10 years. It's unclear what the total price tag for the legislation would be; the Senate bill was originally under $900 billion.
18) McConnell spoke on "Fox News Sunday." The governors appeared on ABC's "This Week."


Live from Washington: Obama ' s health care summit
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1) President Barack Obama and his Democratic allies are pleading their case for health care overhaul in an extraordinary summit with Republicans, broadcast live to a divided American public on daytime TV.
2) But Democrats are already looking beyond Thursday's meeting at Blair House, the presidential guest quarters across from the White House. With Republican lawmakers remaining steadfast in their opposition, the president and his party are preparing to move on alone.
3) At stake in the high-risk strategy is the Democrats' stalemated legislation to extend coverage to more than 30 million people who are now uninsured. Politically, it's an all-or-nothing gamble in a congressional election year for Democrats bent on achieving a goal that has eluded lawmakers for a half-century.
4) Polls show Americans want their elected leaders to address the problems of high medical costs, eroding access to coverage and uneven quality. But the public is split over the merits of the Democrats' sweeping legislation, with its $1 trillion, 10-year price tag and many complex provisions, including some that wouldn't take effect for another eight years -- after Obama has packed up and left the White House.
5) And a USA Today/Gallup survey released Thursday found Americans tilt 49-42 against Democrats forging ahead by themselves without any Republican support. Opposition was even stronger to the idea of Senate Democrats using special budget rules that would bar Republicans from mounting a procedural maneuver to stop the bill. Using the special procedure would be key to the Democrats-only strategy, but 52 percent opposed it, with 39 percent in favor.
6) For Obama, the summit is his chance to make a compelling closing argument to the American people. If he succeeds, Democrats will push ahead to pass the legislation with a package of revisions he's proposed. If Obama falters, another Democratic president will have been humbled by health care. He will have to appeal to both sides to at least give him a modest bill smoothing some of the rough edges from the current system.
7) Obama's chief spokesman, Robert Gibbs, said hours in advance of the session that he thinks the talks can be productive if participants "put aside this notion of kabuki theater, put aside this notion of six-hour photo ops."
8) He said Thursday on ABC television's "Good Morning America" that he understands "why the American people don't think Washington can get anything done."
9) Rep. Eric Cantor, the No. 2 House Republican, said he was hopeful there would be "a productive session."
10) "We're going in because Republicans do care about improving health care for the American people and their families," the Virginia Republican said on CBS's "The Early Show."
11) On Wednesday, the statements of two congressional leaders Hill illustrated the chasm between the parties, however.
12) "We'll have that meeting," said Sen. Chris Dodd, a Democrat, who helped write the Senate bill. "But far more important, after that meeting, you can either join us or get out of the way."
13) "I think it's nearly impossible to imagine a scenario under which we could reach an agreement," said Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell. "Because we don't think we ought to pass a 2,700-page bill that seeks to restructure one-sixth of our economy." Both men will be at the summit.
14) "Not only are lawmakers polarized, the parties' constituencies are far apart," said Robert Blendon, a Harvard University professor who follows public opinion trends on health care. "The president is going to use it as a launching pad for what will be the last effort to get a big bill passed. He will say that he tried to get a bipartisan compromise and it wasn't possible."
15) Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius, who will have a place next to Obama at the talks, said, "I'm hoping that Leader McConnell and his colleagues in the House and Senate are coming with open minds."
16) She said in a CNN television interview shortly before the start of the meeting that the legislation the administration seeks already embraces several Republican proposals, including "going after fraud, creating new marketplaces, assisting small business owners and families to get coverage ... focusing on wellness and prevention."
17) In an eleventh-hour move, the White House invited Maine Sen. Olympia Snowe, one of the few Republican moderates the White House courted throughout last year in hopes of winning her support for the legislation. She declined since she wasn't chosen under the long-standing rules for the event.
18) Democrats say no decision on legislative strategy will be made until after the summit.
19) Three dozen lawmakers, plus several administration officials, were to sit at a hollow square table with name placards. Leaders of both parties planned to speak. Topics were to include controlling health care costs and expanding coverage, deficit reduction and insurance reform.


Obama, Republicans clash in health debate
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1) President Barack Obama and Republicans clashed over his plan to overhaul U.S. health care in an extraordinary daylong televised debate that offered little hope for a compromise on an issue that could shape Obama's legacy.
2) The lack of consensus could prompt Democrats to attempt politically risky parliamentary maneuvers to try to get a bill through Congress without any Republican support. That could make health care an even more volatile issue going into the November congressional elections.
3) Despite calls for bipartisanship, neither side gave ground. From the beginning, Obama implored participants not to merely trade talking points. But that is largely what they -- and he -- did over 7 1/2 hours in Blair House, the presidential guest house across from the White House.
4) Still, it was remarkable political theater. Obama and his top aides, packed around a table with 38 leading lawmakers. They were mostly polite, but ardently exchanged their views with each other and before a television audience of millions.
5) Obama acted as both moderator for the meeting and chief advocate for the plan. He was conciliatory at times, testy at others. When a top Republican congressional leader, Eric Cantor, sat in front of a stack of 2,400 pages representing the Senate health care bill, Obama denounced the use of props "that prevent us from having a conversation."
6) He had a barbed exchange with his former Republican rival, John McCain, who complained that Obama reneged on a campaign promise to bring change to Washington. Obama bluntly told McCain that "we're not campaigning any more. The election is over." McCain retorted that he's "reminded of that every day."
7) Obama has called for revamping the U.S. health care system to provide coverage to the more 30 million people who are now uninsured. His plan is aimed at making private insurance more affordable and barring companies from excluding high-risk customers, while requiring all Americans to obtain coverage.
8) Both chambers in the Democratic-controlled Congress had approved separate health bills last year. As they were working out details of a final version of the legislation, Republicans unexpectedly won a Senate seat in a special election in Massachusetts. That cost the Democrats their 60-vote supermajority needed to overcome Republican procedural obstacles.
9) After the vote, some Democrats were ready to abandon health care as a top issue. Public support was weak and the issue was seen as contributing to the Republican victory. But the White House is making what is seen as one last push before congressional campaigns begin in earnest.
10) "We cannot have another yearlong debate about this," Obama said at the end of the session.
11) Thursday's meeting allowed Obama to carry out a 2008 campaign promise to hold health care negotiations in public. He had been criticized for breaking that pledge, with the back-room dealmaking contributing to public wariness of the plan.
12) Democrats argued at Thursday's meeting that a broad overhaul is vital for America's future. Obama described health care as "one of the biggest drags on our economy."
13) Republicans denounced the Democratic plan as too costly and intrusive, giving the government control over personal health care choices. They have called on Democrats to scrap their bill and work on a small-scale effort, aimed at cutting costs and eliminating waste and fraud.
14) Obama acknowledged agreement may not be possible. "I don't know that those gaps can be bridged," he said.
15) Democratic leaders had little illusion that the meeting would win over Republicans at Thursday's meeting. But they hoped to boost support from wavering moderates from their own party. That would be essential if Democrats try to use a controversial procedure known as reconciliation that would allow them to pass the bill with only a simple majority.
16) Republicans repeatedly warned Democrats not to attempt it, but Obama defended the practice. "I think most Americans think that a majority vote makes sense," he said.
17) A USA Today/Gallup survey released Thursday found Americans tilt 49-42 percent against Democrats forging ahead by themselves without Republican support. Opposition was even stronger to the idea of Senate Democrats using the special rules, with 52 percent opposed and 39 percent in favor.
18) Even if they can get health care legislation through the Senate, Democrats are not assured of winning simple majority in the House of Representatives. The health bill passed there last year 220-215, with 39 Democrats opposing it. Democrats have lost some members since that vote, and more might abandon the bill if they are not satisfied with anti-abortion provisions. Democratic leaders will press for the support of the 39 opponents, but many are from conservative districts where a vote for the health plan could damage their re-election prospects.


Bottom line on health care summit: Dems push ahead
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1) President Barack Obama strongly signaled that Democrats will move forward on a health care overhaul with or without Republicans, preparing his party for a fight whose political outcome will rest with voters in November.
2) Delivering his closing argument at a 7-1/2-hour televised policy marathon Thursday, Obama told Republicans he welcomes their ideas -- even ones Democrats don't like -- but they must fit into his framework for a broad health care remake that would cover tens of millions of uninsured Americans.
3) It's a gamble for Obama and his party, and it's far from certain that Democratic congressional leaders can rally their members to muscle a bill through on their own. At stake are Democrats' political fortunes in the November congressional elections and the fate of Obama's domestic agenda pitted against Republicans emboldened by their win last month of a key Senate seat.
4) "The truth of the matter is that politically speaking, there may not be any reason for Republicans to want to do anything," Obama said, summing up. "I don't need a poll to know that most Republican voters are opposed to this bill and might be opposed to the kind of compromise we could craft.
5) "And if we can't," he added, "I think we've got to go ahead and some make decisions, and then that's what elections are for. "
6) To the nearly 40 lawmakers in the room with him, the message was unmistakable.
7) "Frankly, I was discouraged by the outcome," said Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell. "I do not believe there will be any Republican support for this 2,700-page bill."
8) Democratic leaders -- who preside over majorities in both chambers -- were having none of that.
9) "It's time to do something, and we're going to do it," said Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid.
10) Still, no participant publicly called the daylong exercise a waste of time. Despite flare-ups now and then, they had a remarkably civil debate on an issue that has divided Americans and polarized political partisans.
11) Sen. John McCain said Friday that Republicans are still willing to negotiate changes in the health care system with Obama, but only on a "step-by-step" basis.
12) McCain said on ABC television that he believes the White House summit on the medical care system was beneficial and many people learned a lot from it.
13) But he also said it is time "to start over. What we're saying is, let's start out on the areas we agree upon." said the longtime senator, who was Obama's opponent in the 2008 presidential election.
14) Obama's plan would require most Americans to get health insurance, while providing subsidies for many in the form of a new tax credit. It would set up a competitive insurance market for small businesses and people buying coverage on their own. The plan would be funded through tax increases and cuts in an existing health care program for the elderly.
15) At the summit, there were some areas of agreement, including barring insurers from dropping policyholders who become sick, ending annual and lifetime monetary limits on health insurance benefits and letting young adults stay on their parents' health policies into their mid-20s or so.
16) Yet on the core issues of how to expand coverage and pay for it, the divide was as wide as ever. Democrats argue a stronger government role is essential, and with it higher taxes and new rules for private companies.
17) A Democrats-only strategy will not be an easy task. The House of Representatives would have to pass a Senate bill that many House Democrats find unacceptable. Indeed, House Democrats appear to hold the key to the success of Obama's gambit.
18) To make the Senate bill more palatable to the House, both chambers would pass a package of changes. In the Senate, that would be done under special budget rules allowing majority Democrats to get around the requirement for 60 votes to shut off delaying tactics. Democrats are one vote shy of that margin after losing a seat in a special election in Massachusetts last month to a Republican.
19) If the effort fails, Democrats may try a scaled-back plan to insure about 15 million more Americans, rather than the 30 million covered under the congressional bills. Nearly 50 million people lack health insurance in the U.S.


House Democrats, White House push on health care
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1) Democratic leaders from Congress to the White House vowed Friday to resurrect their long-stalled health care legislation, with or without Republican suggestions or votes.
2) It is a gamble for President Barack Obama and his party, and it is far from certain that Democratic congressional leaders can rally their members to muscle a bill through on their own. At stake are Democrats' political fortunes in the November congressional elections and the fate of Obama's top domestic agenda item pitted against emboldened Republicans.
3) "We know what happens if we do nothing: more and more people pay more," White House press secretary Robert Gibbs said. "The president believes we still have to act."
4) Nearly a year after Obama set the overhaul effort in motion, Gibbs said the president would make an announcement, probably on Wednesday, about "where he sees a path moving forward."
5) Gibbs said the next few days would be a "fairly dynamic process" as the administration and Democratic congressional leaders decide how best to proceed. The White House believes the most likely route to passage by Congress is a controversial one known as "reconciliation," which involves special budget rules allowing majority Democrats to avoid any Republican delaying tactics, said a senior administration official.
6) But there are other options for a Democratic-only solution, said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because of the political sensitivity of the issue. Less likely, at this point, is settling for a more modest fallback bill.
7) One day after an unprecedented health care summit that brought together Obama and lawmakers of both parties, House the Democratic leader of the House, Speaker Nancy Pelosi, said the nationally televised event showed Republican lawmakers are "accepting of the status quo" in which insurance companies mistreat consumers.
8) She told reporters at a news conference there are "good prospects for passing" health care legislation along the lines Obama has outlined, even if Republicans refuse their support.
9) The Senate's second-ranking Democrat, Richard Durbin, seconded the determination to move ahead. "We are not going to wait," he said.
10) Both Pelosi and Durbin said Democrats would consider Republican suggestions for changes. They are not likely to get much. Spokesmen for the House and Senate Republican leaders said Friday their party does not plan a formal response to Obama, having made clear a belief that Democrats should scrap their bills.
11) The House and Senate both passed sweeping bills late last year, and had appeared on the cusp of reaching agreement on a final compromise that could remake the U.S. health care system early last month. In general, the bills would have expanded coverage to tens of millions who lack it, while curbing insurance industry abuses such as banning the denial of coverage on the basis of pre-existing medical conditions.
12) Those efforts buckled when Republicans won a special election for a Senate seat in Massachusetts, depriving Democrats of the 60 votes they need to block Republican delaying tactics.
13) Now Democratic leaders are attempting a complicated rescue mission that could involve having the House pass the bill the Senate has already cleared -- on the condition that a second measure would remove or alter provisions that are objectionable to numerous House Democrats.
14) Sen. John McCain said Republicans are still willing to negotiate changes in the health care system with Obama, but only on a "step-by-step" basis.
15) McCain said on ABC teleivison's "Good Morning America" he believes the White House summit on the medical care system was beneficial and many people learned a lot from it.
16) But he also said it is time "to start over. What we're saying is, let's start out on the areas we agree upon." The Arizona Republican said the GOP would be "seriously interested" in negotiating a less complex, less sweeping health care bill with the Obama administration.
17) In their remarks, Durbin and Pelosi echoed Obama's closing statement on Thursday that Democrats will move forward on a health care overhaul with or without Republicans, preparing his party for a fierce fight whose political outcome will rest with voters in November.
18) Obama's plan would require most Americans to get health insurance, while providing subsidies for many in the form of a new tax credit. It would set up a competitive insurance market for small businesses and people buying coverage on their own.


Obama makes final push for health care reform
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1) President Barack Obama made what is expected to be his final push to overhaul the U.S. health care system, revising his plan in an attempt to win the support of moderate Democrats.
2) Obama's latest proposal included some ideas favored by Republicans, though he has little hope of winning over even a single Republican lawmaker. Republicans have called on him to discard his proposals and start working with them on a new one.
3) But the White House hopes that by including elements of Republican plans, Obama can win over Democratic lawmakers from conservative districts whose re-election hopes in November could be jeopardized by voting for the bill. If he can generate stronger Democratic support, congressional leaders can use parliamentary maneuvers to bypass Republican objections.
4) Appearing Wednesday before a White House audience of invited guests, many of them wearing white medical coats, Obama firmly rejected calls from Republicans to draft new legislation from scratch.
5) "I don't see how another year of negotiations would help. Moreover, the insurance companies aren't starting over," the president said, referring to a recent round of announced premium increases affecting millions who purchase individual coverage.
6) "For us to start over now could simply lead to delay that could last for another decade or more," the president said.
7) Obama's appeal came several days after he convened a televised bipartisan summit with lawmakers, then released a revised plan that he said incorporated several Republican suggestions.
8) At its core, Obama's proposal would extend health care to tens of millions of uninsured Americans, while cracking down on insurance company practices such as denying coverage on the basis of a pre-existing medical condition. The United States is the only major industrialized country without universal health care.
9) The health care legislation that appeared on the cusp of passage late last year, only to be derailed when Republicans won a Massachusetts Senate seat that gave them the ability to stop it.
10) The president endorsed a plan by Democrats to try to enact the legislation by a simple majority vote -- using a Senate procedure that would deny Republicans the right to delaying tactics, known as filibusters, meant to stall legislation. Democrats still hold a majority in the 100-seat Senate, but they are now one seat shy of the 60 needed to stop filibusters.
11) Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell that a decision by Democrats to invoke the simple majority rules would be "met with outrage" by voters, and he said Obama was pushing a sweeping bill that the public doesn't want.
12) "They've had enough of this yearlong effort to get a win for the Democratic Party at any price to the American people," McConnell said on the Senate floor.
13) The Democrats' strategy includes several steps. The House of Representatives would be required to pass the legislation the Senate passed late last year, and then both chambers would be called on to enact a companion bill making changes in the first one.
14) While Obama said he wanted action within a few weeks, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, seemed to hint a final outcome could take far longer. "We remain committed to this effort and we'll use every option available to deliver meaningful reform this year," he said.
15) Obama has already made the basics of his plan clear. He would extend health coverage to about 30 million uninsured Americans, leash the insurance industry by banning practices like denying coverage for the ill, expand drug benefits for the elderly and give lower-income people subsidies to help them afford coverage. It would be paid for by raising taxes on upper-income Americans and culling savings from a government health care plan for the elderly.
16) Next week, Obama is to travel to the states of Pennsylvania and Missouri to campaign for the legislation.


US House to vote on tax breaks for new hires
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1) Despite widespread sentiment that it will not create many jobs, a measure awarding a tax break to U.S. companies that hire unemployed workers appeared headed for House passage Thursday.
2) The measure also extends federal highway programs through the end of the year.
3) Some Democrats, especially those representing minority districts, feel the approximately $35 billion jobs bill is too puny. However, the pressure is on to create jobs and deliver a badly needed win for President Barack Obama and a Democratic Party struggling in opinion polls and facing losses in November elections. Further jobs measures are promised.
4) "If that's the only thing that I can vote on ... I'll vote for it, obviously," said Rep. Bill Pascrell, a Democrat. "We've got to get something moving. We've got to get something done."
5) "It's really not a jobs bill," said Rep. Barbara Lee, a Democrat. "It's one small piece." Lee said she instead wants money for job training and youth summer jobs.
6) The House had passed a far larger measure in December that contained almost $50 billion in infrastructure funding, $50 billion in help for cash-starved state governments, and a six-month extension of jobless aid.
7) The Senate responded last week with the far smaller measure that the House is reluctantly accepting. The House amended the measure Thursday to conform with so-called pay-as-you-go budget rules that have become an article of faith among moderate Democrats. The rules require future spending increases or tax cuts to be paid for with either cuts to other programs or equivalent tax increases.
8) The minor tweak means that the notoriously balky Senate would have to act again before Obama could sign it into law.
9) The $35 billion bill -- blending $15 billion in tax cuts and subsidies for infrastructure bonds issued by local governments with the $20 billion in transportation money -- is far smaller than the massive economic stimulus bill enacted a year ago.
10) Nearby, the Senate is debating a far more costly measure to clean up a lot of unfinished business from last year. The $100 billion-plus bill would extend unemployment assistance, revive a bevy of expired tax breaks, help states with soaring Medicaid costs and prevent doctors from having to absorb big cuts in Medicare payments. The popular initiatives are traditionally extended on a bipartisan basis for brief periods of time, which hides their long-term costs.
11) The Senate plans to act on the jobs bill after wrapping up the unfinished-business bill, which means it probably won't be sent to President Barack Obama until next week.
12) The jobs bill contains two major provisions. First, it would exempt businesses hiring the unemployed from the 6.2 percent payroll tax through December and give them an additional $1,000 credit if new workers stay on the job a full year. The government pension trust fund would be reimbursed for the lost revenue.
13) Second, it would extend highway and mass transit programs through the end of the year and pump in $20 billion for the spring construction season. The money would make up for lower-than-expected gasoline tax revenues.


Obama ' s health care pitch to Democrats: Trust me
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1) In private pitches to Democrats, President Barack Obama says he will persuade Congress to pass his health care overhaul even if it kills him and even if he has to ask deeply distrustful lawmakers to trust him on a promise the White House doesn't have the power to keep.
2) That, in a sometimes darkly joking way, is what the president is telling Democratic House members as he begins an all-out push to coax Congress into passing his proposals despite voters' misgivings and Republicans' dire warnings.
3) "He made the case, 'Listen, we put in a very hard year working on health care reform and the time for action is now,'" said Rep. Ron Kind of Wisconsin, one of several Democrats who met with Obama at the White House on Thursday.
4) Obama joked that the political battle has contributed to the recent rise in his cholesterol, Kind said, and the president noted how ironic it would be if health care drove him to his grave.
5) But Obama is anything but sickly these days, making health care pitches Monday in Philadelphia and Wednesday in St. Louis, and instructing aides to address every question or concern Democratic lawmakers possibly can raise.
6) Some answers, however, rely more on faith than fact. Confronting party unrest on his left and right, Obama is calling for political courage, citing historic opportunities and essentially saying "trust me" in areas inherently murky, uncertain and out of his control. The process for getting health care legislation through Congress is tough enough already, and Republicans are determined to derail it.
7) Obama told House liberals last week that he understands their frustration in seeing priorities -- such as allowing the government to sell insurance in competition with private companies -- dropped from the revised legislation. He promised to work with them in the future to improve health care laws, said Rep. Barbara Lee of California, who leads the Congressional Black Caucus.
8) "He said, `This is the first step, a foundation that we can build upon,'" she said. "He made a commitment to work with us on all the issues that are outstanding, and there are many."
9) It's unclear whether Obama can keep such promises, especially with Republicans expecting to gain House and Senate seats this fall.
10) Obama is asking his party's House moderates to have a different kind of faith. The party's strategy calls for House Democrats, despite many misgivings, to go along with a health care bill the Senate passed in December. Obama would sign it into law, but senators would promise to make numerous changes demanded by House Democrats. Because Senate Democrats no longer have the numbers to stop Republican stalling maneuvers, the changes would have to be made under Senate rules that require only simple majority votes.
11) Republicans are playing on House Democrats' suspicions of their Senate colleagues, saying Senate Democrats may not keep their end of the bargain. The taunts often hit their marks.
12) "A big issue for the House is putting suspenders with belts on the plan to ensure we don't get left holding the bag with just the Senate bill by itself," said Rep. Joe Courtney, a Connecticut Democrat.
13) "The Senate has given us a lot of reason not to trust them," Rep. Jason Altmire, a Pennsylvania Democrat, said on "Fox News Sunday." A top prospect for switching his "no" vote on the initial House bill, he added: "Certainly, that's a key component of the dynamic of getting the votes ... there has to be some certainty that the Senate is going to follow through on their part."
14) Democratic leaders are considering several ways to reassure nervous House members, who felt burned last year when they voted for climate legislation -- a vote many now regret -- and the Senate never did its part. Possibilities include a letter pledging compliance, signed by 51 or more Senate Democrats, or a parliamentary move that essentially would suspend the House-passed bill until the follow-up Senate action takes place.
15) Congressional insiders say the likeliest path involves Obama and others convincing House members that Democrats, who control 59 of the Senate's 100 seats, have more than enough votes for a simple majority, especially when Vice President Joe Biden can break a tie.
16) Even if the House does its part, Republican senators promise to use every tool they can to kill the Senate's follow-up actions with delaying tactics, such as introducing unending streams of amendments. Democrats say they believe they can grind down efforts over time, leaving Republicans exhausted and perhaps vulnerable to renewed accusations of obstructionism.
17) A bigger worry for Democrats is that a dispute over abortion restrictions could cause as many as a dozen House Democrats to switch to "no" on health care even though they voted "yes" last year. If that happens, Obama and other party leaders will press some of the 39 House Democrats who voted "no" last year to switch sides. Such a switch can be defended politically, party leaders say, because the revised bill is less costly and excludes the contentious public insurance option.
18) Republicans are working overtime to thwart such strategies by sowing doubts and fears among Democrats. They say Obama is marching his party toward political suicide in a year when he's not on the ballot.
19) Republican Sen. Lamar Alexander of Tennessee said the president and House Democratic leaders are asking their colleagues to "hold hands, jump off a cliff and hope Harry Reid catches them," a reference to the Senate Democratic leader from Nevada.
20) Even if the Senate keeps it promise to make changes that the House wants, Alexander said, Republicans will try to repeal the legislation and make it a campaign issue in every race this fall.
21) White House and Democratic leaders counter with their own warnings to nervous House Democrats who might consider switching from "yes" to "no" on health care. Why would Republicans, they ask, shout warnings if they truly believed Democrats were blundering their way to catastrophe?
22) They also say Republican challengers will heap even more scorn on a vote-switcher, reviving versions of the flip-flopping taunt used against 2004 Democratic presidential nominee John Kerry: "He was for it before he was against it."
23) It's better, these party leaders say, to pass the health care bill and spend the last few months of the 2010 campaign telling voters about the ways it will help them.
24) "You've got to go out and sell that product and stop worrying about the process," said Rep. George Miller of California, chairman of the House Education and Labor Committee. "And the president is a very powerful salesman for that product."


Obama seeks Americans ' support on health care
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1) President Barack Obama ratcheted up his attacks against insurance companies Monday in a last-ditch attempt to get a reluctant American and skittish Democrats behind his top priority health overhaul legislation.
2) Obama contended that insurers have calculated that they will make more money by denying coverage to some and hiking rates on others.
3) "And they will keep doing this for as long as they can get away with it," Obama said in excerpts of a speech he will deliver later Monday in Philadelphia. "So how much higher do premiums have to rise until we do something about it?"
4) Obama's pitch in Philadelphia, along with a stop in St. Louis Wednesday, comes as the president begins an all-out effort to pass his health care proposals. The next two weeks will prove decisive, with the White House pushing for House action by March 18, when Obama leaves for an Asia trip.
5) Obama has long made insurers a target in his drive for revamping the health care system. But administration officials have turned up the heat in recent weeks, seizing on planned rate increases in California and elsewhere, as well as comments from an insurer broker on a conference call to investors organized by Goldman Sachs. Obama cited the broker's comments that insurance companies sometimes see it as more profitable to drop or deny coverage to some and raise prices on others.
6) Insurers have blamed rising rates on the growing price tag of prescription drugs, hospital stays and other medical costs.
7) Obama is trying to persuade the American public to back his plan to remake the U.S. health care system, while also urging uneasy lawmakers to cast a "final vote" for the massive legislation in an election year. The United States is the only major industrialized nation that does not have universal health care.
8) Though his plan has received only modest public support, Obama has implored lawmakers to show political courage and not let a historic opportunity slip away.
9) Despite staunch Republican opposition, Democratic leaders are cautiously optimistic they can pass a bill without GOP votes.
10) "I think the trend is in the right direction because people see that the status quo is absolutely broken," Rep. Chris Van Hollen, a Democrat, said Sunday on CNN television's "State of the Union".
11) Party leaders are narrowing in on a strategy that calls for House Democrats to go along with a health care bill the Senate passed in December. Obama would sign it into law, but senators would promise to make numerous changes on issues that have concerned House Democrats. Because Senate Democrats lost the 60-seat majority needed to stop GOP filibusters with the Massachusetts Senate race, the changes would have to be made under rules that require only simple majority votes.
12) That strategy would put lawmakers on track to meet Obama's goal of the House passing a health care bill by March 18, when he leaves on a trip to Indonesia and Australia. White House spokesman Robert Gibbs said Obama would sign a bill "shortly thereafter."
13) But full Democratic support is far from certain. Some party moderates are uneasy about the cost of the $1 trillion bill and its language on abortion, and some House Democrats are suspicious of whether their Senate colleagues would follow through on promises to work out the differences in the bills.
14) "The Senate has given us a lot of reason not to trust them," Rep. Jason Altmire, a Democrat, said on Fox News Sunday. "There has to be some certainty that the Senate is going to follow through on their part."
15) The Democratic plan includes greater consumer protections and a ban on discriminating against customers with pre-existing conditions. Small businesses also would receive a tax credit this year. The White House hopes the immediate changes created by the bill would give Democratic candidates a strong platform on which to campaign in the fall.
16) Though Obama has included some Republican proposals in his plan, Republicans have called for the existing bills to be scratched and for the process to start anew. Party leaders insist they're on the side of an American public that doesn't want the government-controlled health care they maintain the president's plan would create.
17) "The American people are saying to us, stop this job-killing health care bill. We know it will drive taxes up and that will not be good to help us get out of the recession," Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell said Sunday on ABC television's "This Week."
18) The Obama administration and its allies are continuing to pressure the health insurance industry as it underscores the president's calls to pass a health care overhaul urgently.


Democrats near vote on Obama health care bill
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1) Democratic leaders are unveiling what is expected to be their final health care bill Thursday, setting the stage for a Sunday vote on a plan that would affect most Americans and has become the defining issue in Barack Obama's presidency.
2) The plan would cost $940 billion over 10 years and extend coverage to 32 million Americans who are uninsured, while reducing the federal deficit by $138 billion over 10 years, the impartial Congressional Budget Office said, and continue to drive down red ink thereafter.
3) Democratic leaders said the deficit would be cut $1.2 trillion in the second decade.
4) The plan would restructure one-sixth of the U.S. economy in the biggest expansion of the social safety net since Medicare, a government-run health plan for the elderly, was created in 1965.
5) Though the vote is expected Sunday, passage is still not assured. With Republicans unanimous in opposition, Obama needs to win over moderate House Democrats, some of whom are wary about the plan's costs and abortion provisions.
6) Still, Obama appears on the verge of a victory on the signature issue of his presidency, just two months after it appeared all but dead. Democrats in January lost a Senate seat in a special election, denying them the 60-vote supermajority needed to overcome Republican blocking tactics. But Democrats are using a complicated legislative strategy, over strenuous Republican objections, to get the bill through both the House and Senate.
7) Obama called it the biggest deficit reduction since the 1990, when President Bill Clinton put the federal budget on a path to surplus.
8) "This is by one virtue of a reform that would bring accountability to the insurance industry and bring greater economic security to all Americans," Obama said. "So I urge every member of Congress to consider this as they prepare for their important vote this weekend."
9) But House Republican leader John Boehner said his party's lawmakers will "do everything that we can do to make sure this bill, never, ever, ever passes."
10) The Democrats' drive took on a growing sense of inevitability this week, picking up endorsements Wednesday from a longtime liberal holdout and from a retired Roman Catholic bishop and nuns who broke with church leaders over the bill's abortion provisions.
11) "This is a magnificent bill for the American people," said the Democrat's top vote-counter, Rep. Jim Clyburn. Leaders appeared increasingly confident of getting the 216 votes they need to pass the bill.
12) The health care issue is likely to shape the November congressional election, when Republicans try to capture control of both chambers. Democrats will campaign on having overhauled a system that has made both health care and insurance unaffordable for tens of millions of Americans. Republicans will say Democrats pushed through a bill that had little public support and will ultimately increase taxes and damage the quality of health care.
13) Once the legislation is fully phased in, most Americans would be required to carry coverage -- and insurers would be forbidden from turning down people with health problems, or from charging them more.
14) The big expansion of coverage would not come until 2014, when new health insurance marketplaces open for business.
15) In the meantime, the legislation calls for a series of new consumer benefits. Insurers could not deny coverage to children because of an pre-existing health problem, nor could they place lifetime dollar caps on the amount of coverage. A new high-risk health insurance pool would provide coverage to uninsured people who can't get private coverage because of health problems.
16) Democrats are following a two-track legislative strategy for passing the bill. First, the House, despite the reservations of many Democrats, will have to endorse a bill that had been approved by the Senate last year. Then both chambers will quickly pass a package of fixes agreed to in negotiations with the White House. The Senate would use a procedure that requires only a simple majority, avoiding Republican delaying tactics.
17) Since they will vote first, House lawmakers are seeking assurances from their Senate counterparts that they have enough votes to pass the follow-up measure as well.
18) With Democrats promising 72 hours for lawmakers and the public to review the legislation once it is released, that would push a House vote on the bill until Sunday at the earliest -- the same day Obama plans to leave for a trip to the Asia-Pacific region. Obama already has delayed the trip once so he can be present for the vote and help with the 11th-hour arm-twisting that inevitably will precede it.
19) The No. 2 House Democrat, Steny Hoyer, said Obama's travel plans would not interfere with Democrats' ability to pass the bill. "I think the president's presence helps, but is it needed?" said Hoyer. "You can dial a cell phone anywhere in the world."


Obama making final health care pitch to House Dems
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1) President Barack Obama set his sights on Capitol Hill, ready to rally House Democrats on Saturday for a final health care reform push ahead of a critical vote that could make-or-break his presidency.
2) Building on Democrats' momentum, the House Rules Committee worked to set the terms for floor debate and a final vote Sunday on Obama's top priority and the focus of his first year in office.
3) Obama can rely only on Democrats to gain passage of his top domestic priority in the face of unanimous opposition from Republicans who say the plan amounts to a government takeover of health care that will lead to higher deficits and taxes.
4) The battle tilted in Obama's direction Friday as more Democrats disclosed how they would vote.
5) Victory within reach, the president decided to make a final personal appeal with a Saturday afternoon visit to the Capitol.
6) The sweeping legislation, affecting virtually every American and more than a year in the making, would extend coverage to an estimated 32 million uninsured Americans, forbid insurers to deny coverage on the basis of pre-existing medical conditions and cut federal deficits by an estimated $138 billion over a decade.
7) For the first time, most Americans would be required to purchase insurance, and they would face penalties if they refused. Billions of dollars would be set aside for subsidies to help families at incomes of up to $88,000 a year afford the cost. And the legislation also provides for an expansion of Medicaid that would give government-paid health care to millions more low-income Americans.
8) Congressional analysts estimate the cost of the two bills combined would be $940 billion over a decade. The bill would remake one-sixth of the U.S. economy. The United States is the only major industrialized country that does not have a comprehensive national health care plan.
9) Under a complex and controversial procedure Democrats have devised, a single vote will likely be held in the House to endorse a bill approved by the Senate last year as well as a second measure with a package of fixes agreed to in negotiations with the White House.
10) The Senate would then use a procedure called reconciliation to pass the fix-it measure that requires only a simple majority of 51 in the 100-member body, avoiding Republican delaying tactics.
11) "This process corrupts and prostitutes the system," said Republican Rep. Joe Barton of Texas, pleading with the Rules Committee head, Rep. Louise Slaughter of New York, to allow separate votes on the underlying Senate bill and the fixes.
12) Slaughter chastised Barton, a Republican leader on health care, and said his party had "opted out" of co-operating on the legislation. "We have to get on with it," she said.
13) Scrambling to gather the 216 votes needed for passage in the House, Democratic leaders and Obama focused last-minute lobbying efforts on two groups of Democrats: 37 who voted against an earlier bill in the House and 40 who voted for it only after first making sure it would include strict abortion limits that now have been modified.
14) Leaders worked into Friday night attempting to resolve the dispute over abortion, and Saturday morning they were increasingly confident it would not scuttle the bill.
15) Democratic Rep. Bart Stupak of Michigan, who succeeded last November in inserting strict anti-abortion language into the House bill, had hoped to do so again. But California Rep. Henry Waxman told The Associated Press that Democratic leaders are closing in on the votes to pass the bill and probably won't need Stupak's backing. "That's the likely outcome," said Waxman, chairman of the Energy and Commerce Committee, and an author of the House bill.
16) Stupak's office postponed a news conference the lawmaker had scheduled for Saturday morning.
17) Along with eight Democrats and one Republican as co-sponsors, Stupak had introduced a resolution Friday that would insert his abortion restrictions as a "correction" to the underlying bill. That would add new complications to the already complex strategy Democrats are pursuing to pass the bill, requiring additional votes on a highly charged issue. Abortion opponents are divided over whether restrictions on taxpayer funding for abortion already in the bill go far enough.
18) The vote count seemed to be breaking in Obama's favor.
19) An abortion foe, Rep. Baron Hill of Indiana, announced Saturday that he would support the bill. In addition, four Democrats said Friday they would vote "yes" after voting against an earlier version that passed the House last year, bringing the number of switches in favor of the bill to seven.
20) Republicans resorted to unusually personal criticism in their struggle against the bill, calling Rep. Suzanne Kosmas of Florida a "space cadet" for switching her vote to "yes."
21) On the other side of the ledger, Reps. Michael Arcuri of New York and Stephen Lynch of Massachusetts became the first Democratic former supporters to announce their intention to oppose the bill. Lynch said he did so despite a telephoned appeal from Vicki Kennedy, whose late husband, Sen. Edward M. Kennedy, championed health care for decades.
22) Rep. Anh Cao of Louisiana, the only Republican to support the earlier measure, has also announced his opposition.
23) Republican leaders vowed to make Democrats who support the legislationin swing districts pay a political pricefor supporting the legislation in November's national election when control of Congress will be at stake.
24) Republicans said, as they have from the outset, that Democrats were angling for a government takeover of health care. They also said the cost of the bill would be covered by $900 billion in higher taxes and cuts in future Medicare payments. Medicare is the government-run program to provide health care to the elderly.
25) "This bill requires 10 years of tax increases and 10 years of Medicare cuts just to pay for six years of supposed benefits, many of which don't even go into effect until 2014," House Republican leader John Boehner of Ohio said in the Republican's weekly radio and Internet address. "That's not reform."


Dems predict health bill will pass House
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1) House Democratic leaders predicted that a rare Sunday session will produce one of the most significant legislative triumphs in decades: passage of a landmark bill to overhaul the U.S. health care system to provide coverage to millions of people who currently lack it.
2) President Barack Obama, who campaigned on a platform of change, has made health care reform his top domestic priority and the defining issue of his first year in office, setting off a tumultuous debate that has left the country deeply divided.
3) If passed, the reform is likely to be judged alongside the boldest acts of presidents and Congress in domestic affairs. While national health care has long been a goal of presidents stretching back decades, it has proved elusive, in part because self-reliance and suspicion of a strong central government remain strong in the U.S.
4) In the hours before the vote, House Democratic leaders were still trying to nail down commitments from a handful of members, some of whom remained concerned about the abortion issue.
5) "There are still members looking at it and trying to make up their minds," House Democratic leader Steny Hoyer said on NBC television's "Meet the Press" in the hours before the vote. He added that the holdouts numbered in "the low single digits."
6) "We think there are going to be 216-plus votes when we call the roll," Hoyer said, enough to ensure the measure's passage.
7) Republicans attributed the caution to public controversy over the plan, which played out in angry protests at the doorstep of the Capitol during the House of Representatives' rare weekend session.
8) The last-minute holdouts gave the House vote scheduled Sunday a measure of suspense, despite the Democrats' optimism. House Democratic Caucus Chairman John Larson stopped just short of declaring victory.
9) "We have the votes now -- as we speak," Larson said on ABC's "This Week."
10) Republicans remain resolutely opposed to the legislation and warned they will make Democrats pay dearly in the fall elections when control of Congress is at stake if the fiercely debated measure becomes law. Republicans contend the plan amounts to a government takeover of health care that will lead to higher deficits and taxes.
11) "The American people don't want this to pass. The Republicans don't want this to pass. There will be no Republican votes for this bill," Rep. Eric Cantor, the House's second-ranking Republican, told ABC.
12) With Obama's emotional appeal from Saturday ringing in their ears, House Democratic leaders prepared for three showdown votes when they convene at 1 p.m. EDT (1700 GMT) and begin voting an hour later: on a "rule" to establish debate guidelines; on a package of changes to a Senate-passed health care bill, and on the Senate bill itself, the focus of intense national debate for months.
13) Democrats need 216 votes to pass each one. With all 178 Republicans and at least two dozen Democrats vowing to vote no, the legislation's fate lay in the hands of the few Democrats who remained uncommitted ahead of Sunday's vote.
14) The Democrats' vote-counting whip in the House, Rep. James Clyburn of South Carolina, said some in his caucus remained concerned about what the bill would mean for elective abortions.
15) Democratic Rep. Bart Stupak said he was one of about a half-dozen anti-abortion Democrats who were working out language for a presidential executive order that would provide more assurances that no public money would be used for elective abortions.
16) "Until we get matters signed, sealed and delivered ... our votes are still no," Stupak said on MSNBC. "If we get this thing resolved, then they'll have more than enough votes."
17) It was unclear whether Obama would agree to issue an executive order along those lines, but Clyburn said more would be known by Sunday afternoon. Long-standing federal policy bars U.S. aid for abortions except in cases of rape, incest or when the mother's life is in danger.
18) Another snag involved widespread distrust among House members that the Senate would be able to pass the "fixes" to the bill. Clyburn's Senate counterpart, Sen. Dick Durbin of Illinois, said on CBS' "Face the Nation" that he has commitments of support from at least a majority of the 100-member chamber, but Democratic leaders have not released a list of supporters.
19) Still, Democratic leaders appeared confident they would prevail in the House of Representatives. They pointed to Obama's emotional speech to the caucus at the Capitol on Saturday, and they cited a sense of momentum from the handful of rank-and-file Democrats who have announced their support over the past several days.
20) "I know this is a tough vote," the president told House Democrats, adding he also believes "it will end up being the smart thing to do politically."
21) "It is in your hands," Obama said, bringing lawmakers to their feet. "It is time to pass health care reform for America and I am confident that you are going to do it tomorrow."
22) If Democratic leaders prevail on all three House votes, Obama could sign the Senate version of the bill into law. The bill of "fixes" would go to the Senate, which hopes to pass it within the week under a procedure called reconciliation that requires only 50 votes in the 100-member body.
23) The parliamentary maneuvers became necessary after January's special election in Massachusetts when a Republican won the seat held for decades by the late Sen. Edward M. Kennedy, a champion of health care reform. That deprived the Democrats of their 60-vote Senate supermajority required to block Republican legislative delaying maneuvers.
24) House Democrats have long insisted that senators agree to change the bill that the Senate passed on Christmas Eve. Since then, it became deeply unpopular with many Americans, because of special deals for some states, a new tax on generous employer-provided health plans and other aspects.
25) In a sign of increasing Democratic confidence Saturday, House leaders dropped plans for a controversial parliamentary tactic. They agreed to allow a simple yes-or-no vote on the Senate bill. By planning to pass the package of fixes on the same day, Democrats hope they can persuade constituents they did not support the Senate measure as a stand-alone bill.
26) The United States is alone among developed nations in not offering its citizens comprehensive health care, with nearly 50 million Americans uninsured.
27) Although the bill before Congress does not provide universal health care, it should expand coverage to about 95 percent of Americans. It would require most Americans to carry insurance with subsidies for those who can't afford it, expand the government-run Medicaid program for the poor, and create new marketplaces where self-employed people and small businesses can pool together to buy health care.
28) The 10-year, $940 billion measure represents the biggest expansion of the social safety net since Medicare and Medicaid were enacted in the 1960s to provide government-funded health care coverage to the elderly and poor.
29) The sweeping legislation, affecting virtually every American and impacting one-sixth of the U.S. economy, would extend coverage to an estimated 32 million uninsured, bar insurers from denying coverage on the basis of pre-existing medical conditions and cut federal deficits by an estimated $138 billion over a decade.


Republicans in final drive to stall health bill
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1) In a final drive to thwart President Barack Obama's health care remake, Republican senators plan to force Democrats to run a gantlet of politically dicey votes before they can finish a companion bill to the landmark law.
2) Voting was expected to start late Wednesday on a full list of Republican amendments to a "sidecar" bill making changes Democrats agreed to in the main legislation already signed by Obama. The new health reform law will extend coverage to 32 million uninsured Americans over the next decade.
3) Obama just signed the bill into law Tuesday, declaring it "a new season in America" at a celebrative White House ceremony.
4) Approval of the "fix-it" bill at the end of this week is virtually assured, since it's being debated under fast-track budget rules that allow passage with a simple majority instead of the 60 votes usually required for action in the 100-seat Senate. Democrats control 59 Senate seats.
5) That didn't stop Republicans, who are unanimously opposed, from using the floor debate that began Tuesday afternoon as an opportunity to repeat the accusations they've lobbed at Obama's health legislation for the past year: that it raises taxes, slashes Medicare and includes a burdensome and constitutionally questionable requirement for nearly all Americans to carry health insurance.
6) Major components of the fix-it legislation include scaling back a tax on high-cost insurance plans opposed by labor unions, higher taxes on upper-income earners, and closing the coverage gap in prescription benefits in the existing Medicare government health care program for the elderly.
7) But Republicans have other ideas. Sen. Tom Coburn wants a vote on his amendment to prohibit coverage of Viagra for sex offenders. Sen. Judd Gregg wants savings from Medicare cuts plowed back into the health care program for seniors, instead of being used to expand coverage to the uninsured. Sen. Mike Enzi wants to gut penalties on employers whose workers wind up getting taxpayer subsidized coverage.
8) Democrats are vowing to bat down the Republican amendments one-by-one.
9) The main suspense surrounding this week's debate is whether the fix-it bill can emerge from the Senate unchanged. If it does, it can go straight to the president for his signature, since it's already passed the House of Representatives. If the Senate changes it even in a minor way, the legislation would have to go back to the House to be passed again, a prospect House leaders are prepared for but say they don't expect.
10) The fixes under consideration by the Senate were demanded by House Democrats as their price for passing the mammoth overhaul legislation that will extend coverage to 32 million uninsured Americans over the next decade.
11) "They're hoping that Americans don't notice this is another power grab," Republican Senator Jim DeMint said of Democrats. "So we're going to bring these issues up."
12) Although the battle may soon be over in Congress, opponents already have launched a campaign from the outside, with 13 state attorneys general, all but one Republican, suing Tuesday to overturn the legislation on grounds it is unconstitutional.
13) And Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell served notice Tuesday of Republicans' continued campaign against the legislation ahead of the November congressional elections. "The slogan will be 'repeal and replace,' 'repeal and replace,'" McConnell said.
14) The president on Wednesday was to uphold his end of a deal reached with some moderate Democrats by signing an executive order affirming existing law against federal funding of abortions, except in cases of rape, incest or danger to the woman's life. The critical bloc of anti-abortion Democrats in the House had pledged to vote against the health care package unless given greater assurances that it would not amend current law.


Obama election-year jobs agenda stalls in Congress
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1) The election-year jobs agenda promised by President Barack Obama and Democrats has stalled seven months before voters determine control of Congress.
2) Democrats have no money to pay for the program. That's because both Republicans and the Democratic chairman of the Senate Budget Committee objected to taking money left over from the fund that bailed out banks, automakers and insurers and using it for the jobs bill.
3) Such a move, they insisted, would add tens of billions of dollars to the $12.8 trillion national debt.
4) An $80 billion-plus Senate plan promised an infusion of cash to build roads and schools, help local governments keep teachers on the payroll, and provide rebates for homeowners who make energy-saving investments. Two months after the plan was introduced, most of those main elements remain on the Senate's shelf.
5) Obama's proposed $250 bonus payment to Social Security recipients is dead for the year, having lost a Senate vote last month.
6) What's going ahead instead are small-scale initiatives. That includes modest help for small business or simple extensions of parts from last year's economic stimulus measure. None is expected to make an appreciable dent in an unemployment rate, stubbornly stuck at 9.7 percent, which is more than double what it was three years ago.
7) Even legislation to help the jobless has run into trouble now that Republicans, following the lead of the conservative tea party movement, have decided to make trillion-dollar-plus budget deficits a campaign issue.
8) Before Congress went on spring break, Republicans blocked a one-month extension of health insurance subsidies and additional weeks of unemployment insurance for people who have been out of work more than half a year.
9) "You never know in politics when that magic moment comes when things really begin to change, but I believe that it has occurred now," said Arizona Sen. Jon Kyl, the second-ranking Republican. "I think you'll see a much greater commitment now to fiscal responsibility."
10) The idea of a jobs agenda arose late last year when the unemployment rate hit 10 percent and Democrats voiced concern that the majority party wasn't doing enough to spur job creation. In December, House Democrats passed a $174 billion measure focused on public works spending, aid to the jobless and help to struggling state and local governments.
11) In the Senate, Majority Leader Harry Reid handed the issue over to Democratic Sens. Dick Durbin and Byron Dorgan. They devised the $83 billion plan, focused on small business, infrastructure projects, energy efficiency and support for public sector jobs.
12) The plan absorbed a critical setback when the Senate Budget Committee chairman, Sen. Kent Conrad, a Democrat, came out against using bailout funds to pay for it.
13) Since then, the measure has languished. The election of Republican Sen. Scott Brown in a Massachusetts special election robbed Democrats of the 60 votes needed to overcome Republican efforts to block votes on legislation. Concerns about the rising national debt also sapped momentum.
14) Democrats and Obama have had one legislative victory on the jobs front. With bipartisan support, they passed legislation giving companies that hire the unemployed a payroll tax holiday through the end of the year.
15) When the Senate returns Monday, the first order of business will be trying to restore a one-month extension of health insurance subsidies and emergency unemployment aid for people who have been out of a job for more than six months. Republicans stopped a monthlong, $10 billion temporary jobless aid measure last month and insisted that the measure not add to the deficit.
16) Democrats are optimistic that the jobless aid will pass -- first as a $10 billion stopgap and then as part of a broader bill extending the benefits through the end of the year. The second, larger bill includes aid to cash-starved state governments, higher Medicare payments for doctors treating seniors, and an extension of several tax breaks.
17) That larger measure, to be financed mostly by adding almost $100 billion to the debt, is the biggest piece of the jobs agenda with a good chance to pass into law. But it doesn't contain any new ideas for jump-starting the economy. It just extends elements of Obama's $862 billion economic stimulus package, which is earning uneven reviews with voters.
18) There's a complication. Since provisions of the larger Senate measure designed to pay for tax cuts have been tapped instead to pay for the just-passed health care overhaul, Democrats need to find about $30 billion in replacement revenues -- a tall order.
19) The dilemma hasn't gotten much attention on Capitol Hill, but is threatening to delay the extension of the tax breaks. That includes a popular research and development tax credit, and a tax deduction for sales and property taxes for people from states without an income tax. The lapse of a tax credit for makers of biodiesel already has hurt producers of the alternative fuel.
20) Also ahead for lawmakers in April and May is overhauling how the government regulates banks in response to financial meltown in 2008, and passing spending bills to cover the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq.


Republicans object to financial regulations
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1) Republican Senate leaders laid out a strategy Tuesday to alter or even reject broad changes in financial regulations. They said Democratic proposals would perpetuate bank bailouts, and they accused the Obama administration of exploiting anti-Wall Street sentiment for political purposes.
2) The criticism was an opening salvo as the Senate prepares to take up a sweeping overhaul of America's financial regulatory regimen in less than two weeks. President Barack Obama planned to make his case for regulatory changes in a meeting Wednesday at the White House with congressional leaders from both parties.
3) Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell, in a floor speech Tuesday, said the bill approved on a party line vote by the Senate Banking committee "would provide endless protection for the biggest banks on Wall Street."
4) And Sen. Judd Gregg, a Republican member of the committee, said the administration's insistence on a consumer protection agency was motivated by politics, not by sound policy.
5) McConnell's speech laid out the fundamental Republican argument against the bill. It echoed the criticism from House Republicans last year, when the House passed its version of the bill on a straight party line vote.
6) "We must not pass the financial reform bill that's about to hit the floor," McConnell said. "The fact is, this bill wouldn't solve the problems that led to the financial crisis. It would make them worse."
7) Banking Committee Chairman Christopher Dodd, a Democrat, and the committee's top Republican, Richard Shelby, continue to negotiate key sticking points in the legislation. Shelby on Tuesday echoed McConnell's complaints about the bill but said he held out hope that a deal would be forthcoming.
8) McConnell's speech seemed to serve more as leverage to give Shelby a stronger position from which to bargain than as an outright declaration of opposition. Some Republicans have argued that voting against a regulation bill could hurt them in the November elections.
9) Democrats need at least one Republican vote to overcome procedural hurdles facing the bill. Democrats and the administration, in public and in private, have expressed confidence that they will have the votes.
10) The Republican criticism provoked a sharp response from the White House. "No matter what the bill actually does, they're going to call it a bailout because that's what the polls tell them to do," White House deputy communications director Jennifer Psaki said.
11) The White House has played a major hand in drafting the legislation, unlike the more hands off approach employed with health care.
12) Republicans complained Tuesday that Sen. Blanche Lincoln, the Democratic chairman of the Senate Agriculture Committee, abandoned negotiations with Republicans on complex commodity trading instruments under pressure from the White House. In a letter to four lawmakers on Tuesday, Lincoln laid out a proposal to address these transactions, called derivatives, by requiring all financial institutions to conduct them in regulated exchanges and promised tough standards with narrow exceptions.
13) The issue of whether the legislation would permit future bailouts has been in dispute for some time. Critics from the left and the right have argued that the Senate Democratic proposal would allow the government to step in and help ailing institutions in the future.
14) The legislation sets up a mechanism whereby large, intertwined financial institutions would be dismantled much in the same way the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. takes over failing commercial banks. The legislation would require large institutions to pay into a $50 billion fund that would pay for at least some of the costs of taking down a giant firm. Democrats and advocates of the proposal say it is designed to liquidate firms, not to prop them up.
15) Republicans maintain that despite such a fund, taxpayers could still be on the hook. They prefer letting failing firms go through bankruptcy court.


Obama calls for tighter control of derivatives
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1) President Barack Obama said Wednesday that Democrats' efforts to regulate Wall Street will not result in new public bailouts of banks, as Republicans have charged.
2) Obama also said he wants greater federal oversight of derivatives -- investment products that contributed to the nation's financial meltdown.
3) The president met with House and Senate leaders of both parties to discuss legislation revamping regulation of the financial industry. The Senate is beginning to debate the measure amid sharp partisan differences.
4) Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell, who sat two chairs from Obama in the White House Cabinet Room, delivered a speech earlier Wednesday saying the administration-backed bill would perpetuate bailouts for Wall Street rather than end them.
5) Obama, speaking briefly to reporters before the closed meeting began, said he was "absolutely confident that the bill that emerges is going to be a bill that prevents bailouts. That's the goal."
6) "If there's one lesson that we've learned," he said, "it's that an unfettered market where people are taking huge risks and expecting taxpayers to bail them out when things go sour is simply not acceptable."
7) He called for "a strong mechanism to regulate derivatives." Obama also said the complex investment packages exist "in the shadow economy" and are "enormously risky."
8) "We want to get that into daylight," he said.
9) Derivatives are contracts used to hedge risk or speculate on the future value of assets. The most problematic derivatives from 2008 and 2009 involved mortgage loans that went into default.
10) After the meeting, McConnell was unmoved. He still insisted that the Senate bill "will lead to endless taxpayer bailouts of Wall Street banks."
11) That was the message he delivered earlier on the Senate floor -- the second such attack on the bill in as many days. He said the White House plans the same approach on financial reforms that it took on health care: "Put together a partisan bill, then jam it through on a strictly partisan basis."
12) Republicans think they continue to score huge points with voters by opposing the health care overhaul that narrowly passed Congress with no Republican votes. They are taking a similar approach on financial regulations. Democrats say Republicans are sympathetic to Wall Street tycoons rather than average Americans.
13) Democrats need at least one Senate Republican vote to overcome procedural hurdles facing the bill. Democrats and the administration, in public and in private, have expressed confidence that they will have the votes.
14) The White House says Republican lawmakers are using election campaign strategist talking points to label the legislation as a bank bailout, regardless of the truth. Congressional elections are set for November and Republicans are trying to win back control of Congress from Democrats.
15) The legislation would set up a mechanism whereby large, intertwined financial institutions would be dismantled much in the same way the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. takes over failing commercial banks. It would require large institutions to pay into a $50 billion fund that would pay for at least some of the costs of taking down a giant firm. Democrats and advocates of the proposal say it is designed to liquidate firms, not to prop them up.
16) Republicans maintain that despite such a fund, taxpayers could still be on the hook. They prefer letting failing firms go through bankruptcy court.
17) Associated Press reporters Jim Kuhnhenn and Erica Werner contributed to this report.


Obama, Republicans wrangle over Wall Street rules
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1) The White House and congressional Republicans sparred Wednesday over how to protect taxpayers against "too big to fail" financial institutions, sharply disagreeing on whether legislation backed by President Barack Obama would leave the U.S. government on the hook for bailing out firms whose failure might threaten the economy.
2) Obama, meeting with House and Senate leaders of both parties, insisted on a tough bill, specifically singling out oversight of previously unregulated financial instruments. How to regulate these products, known as derivatives, has become the latest point of friction between Democrats and Republicans.
3) But as the Senate prepares to begin debate in less than two weeks on legislation revamping regulation of the financial industry, the question of bailouts has elevated the sharp partisan differences over how to respond to the 2008 crisis that caused a near meltdown on Wall Street.
4) Both sides were testing populist messages, seizing on public disdain for big financial institutions. The White House argued opposition to the bill amounted to support for Wall Street banks; Republicans countered that the Obama-backed bill would perpetuate bailouts for Wall Street firms rather than end them.
5) Obama, speaking briefly to reporters before the closed meeting began, said he was "absolutely confident that the bill that emerges is going to be a bill that prevents bailouts. That's the goal."
6) Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner later said that the cost of taking down large failing financial institutions will be borne by big banks, not taxpayers. The House and Senate bills call for funds, financed by large financial institutions, to cover the costs of liquidating firms deemed too large to go through bankruptcy proceedings. Republicans have argued that the funds would not be sufficient and that taxpayers could still be on the hook to pay to deal with giant failures. They also argue that emergency loan authority by the Federal Reserve could also amount to a financial bailout.
7) The give-and-take, which officials said was more heated in public than in private, set the terms for the final debate on yet another of Obama's priorities. The president is hoping the Senate acts quickly and passes a bill that can be easily reconciled with legislation that passed the House in December. But Democrats need at least one Republican to overcome procedural hurdles and the looming question was whether the administration and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid would simply seek to pick off Republican senators or build a coalition through bipartisan negotiations.
8) Reid signaled Wednesday that he was ready to go to the floor and let Republicans offer amendments, rather than continue to bargain.
9) But Sen. Christopher Dodd, the chairman of the Senate Banking Committee, agreed to meet again with the committee's top Republican, Sen. Richard Shelby. Aides said Dodd, a Democrat, believed he and Shelby could add language to the bill that would address the bailout question without fundamentally altering the bill.
10) Sen. Bob Corker, a Republican and a banking committee member who has negotiated with Dodd, said the rhetoric over potential bailouts had become overheated. "The fact is," he added, "I think we could fix those in about five minutes."
11) Earlier, Dodd angrily accused Republicans of "political chicanery" and appeared on the verge of abandoning talks.
12) "My patience is running out, my patience is running out," he said from the Senate floor. "I'm not going to continue doing this if all I'm getting from the other side is the suggestions somehow that this is a partisan effort."
13) Asked after the White House meeting whether it was time for Dodd to abandon efforts to negotiate with Shelby, Reid said: "We're going to move on the bill very quickly. They can offer all the amendments they want on the floor."
14) Aides said Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell in the meeting urged Obama not to cut off bipartisan talks. Afterward, McConnell still insisted that the Senate bill "will lead to endless taxpayer bailouts of Wall Street banks."
15) That was the message McConnell delivered earlier Wednesday on the Senate floor -- the second such attack on the bill in as many days. He said the White House plans the same approach on financial reforms that it took on health care: "Put together a partisan bill, then jam it through on a strictly partisan basis."
16) White House economist Austan Goolsbee dismissed the Republican objections as "totally disingenuous."
17) "Bailouts are forbidden," he said in an interview. "There will only be wipeouts. They (the banks) will clean up the messes. If somebody fails, they're done -- they're toast. The management is fired. They're broken up or sold off or liquidated."
18) Goolsbee added the broadside was "pretty cheeky of the Republican leadership," and an effort to divert attention from its efforts to stop regulation of the derivatives market. "They're trying to dramatically weaken and put loopholes into that derivatives regulation," he said.
19) Republicans think they continue to score huge points with voters by opposing the health care overhaul that narrowly passed Congress with no Republican votes. They are taking a similar approach on financial regulations.
20) The White House says Republican lawmakers are using election campaign strategist talking points to label the legislation as a bank bailout, regardless of the truth.


Republicans block start of debate on banking rules
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1) Outnumbered by Democrats, Senate Republicans have held together for two days, twice blocking the start of debate on new financial regulations in hopes of negotiating changes they would be unable to win through amendments on the Senate floor.
2) In the protracted fight, Republicans also have tried to score political points, casting the Democrats' proposal as a perpetuation of taxpayer bailouts -- an unpopular issue with the public -- and accusing Democrats of writing an overambitious bill that will hurt small businesses.
3) Democrats scheduled another vote for Wednesday to sustain pressure on Republicans in the expectation that some incremental changes to the pending bill ultimately would force several Republicans to relent and back the legislation.
4) Few doubt that the Senate will eventually pass a broad overhaul of financial regulations that attempts to prevent a recurrence of the crisis that nearly caused a Wall Street collapse in 2008. But Republicans want their imprint on the bill. And bankers appear to want them to succeed as well.
5) If campaign contributions are any barometer, large Wall Street institutions approve of what Senate Republicans have been doing to alter the regulatory regime envisioned by the Obama administration and its Democratic allies.
6) The political action committee of Bank of America, for instance, has contributed 57 percent of its $336,000 in 2009-2010 donations to Republicans, according to the Center for Responsive Politics. In the 2007-2008 cycle, 53 percent of the bank's PAC contributions went to Democrats.
7) A spot check of contributions by The Associated Press showed that Goldman Sachs' PAC, which contributed predominantly to Democrats between 2007 and 2009, shifted to Republicans in March, contributing $167,500 to Republican members of Congress and their political committees and $117,000 to Democrats. Similar patterns emerged for JPMorgan Chase and Morgan Stanley, whose PACs both shifted to Republicans last month.
8) Testifying before a Senate investigative subcommittee on Tuesday, Goldman CEO Lloyd Blankfein said he generally supported the pending Democratic bill but said "there are details of it that I think I'm less sure of."
9) Senate Banking Committee Chairman Christopher Dodd and the committee's top Republican, Alabama Sen. Richard Shelby have been conducting on-and-off negotiations for months but have not arrived at a compromise. Dodd incorporated some Republican proposals into his bill and appeared ready to accept new alterations that addressed Republican claims that the bill could still result in government bailouts.
10) But Shelby also was seeking changes in the bill's consumer protection provisions -- a key feature and a priority for President Barack Obama. Dodd on Tuesday said that if Republicans wanted to change his consumer measures, they should do so by amendment in the Senate.
11) "We're not going to write this whole bill between two senators," Dodd said.
12) The Republican tactics in the Senate carry risks for the party. The public is angry at Wall Street, and Democrats have taken the opportunity to charge Republicans with doing Wall Street's bidding.
13) Under attack for twice voting to stall the pending regulatory bill, Republicans on Tuesday floated a 20-page summary of a Republican alternative to Dodd's measure.
14) The Republican plan would prohibit the use of taxpayer funds to bail out failing financial giants in the future and impose federal regulation on many but not all trades of complex investments known as derivatives. Unlike the Democrats' bill, large banks would not have to help pay for the failure of their peers. It also calls for consumer protections that are narrower than what Democrats and the White House seek, and it would place restrictions of financial assistance to mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.
15) "Everybody is going to want to be for a solution," said Republican Sen. John Cornyn of Texas," so it offers a potential alternative solution instead of just voting no against the Dodd bill."
16) Republicans also were counting on the public to forget the Republican stalling tactics.
17) "You know, what happens on Monday or Tuesday versus what happens later is something largely lost on the general public," Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell said.
18) But there were signs that Republicans would only stick with the strategy for so long.
19) Ohio Republican Sen. George Voinovich said he would vote to let the bill advance to the Senate floor if bipartisan talks were no longer progressing.
20) "I have an idea of how much time it takes to cut a deal," he said. "If that's not possible, then we go on."


Republicans poised to end stall on US banking bill
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1) Senate Republicans are prepared to end their stalling tactics on new U.S. banking regulations and will attempt to change the bill on the Senate floor, Republican officials said.
2) Sen. Richard Shelby, the top Republican on the Senate Banking committee, said he has assurances that Democrats will adjust his banking regulation bill to address concerns that it perpetuates bailouts.
3) The concession sets the stage for Republicans to withdraw objections that have stalled the bill in the Senate.
4) The agreement does not bridge other significant differences between the parties on the bill.
5) Democrats tried three times to begin debate on the bill only to be thwarted by Republican opposition. Democrats branded the Republicans as Wall Street allies.


Republicans to abandon blockade of US banking bill
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1) Republicans set the stage Wednesday for lifting their blockade against U.S. legislation to tighten regulations on Wall Street, saying they would try instead to change the bill on the Senate floor.
2) Earlier in the day, Republicvan senators had blocked the beginning of floor debate for a third straight day, contending they needed more time to try to work out compromises with Democrats in private talks. Republicans huddled to discuss their next step.
3) There had been signs that some Republicans were growing weary of continuing to block the bill after President Barack Obama and other Democrats accused them of siding with Wall Street, an institution that rivals Congress in its unpopularity.
4) Sen. George Voinovich, a Republican, said on Tuesday he would vote to let the bill advance to the Senate floor if bipartisan talks were no longer progressing.
5) "I have an idea of how much time it takes to cut a deal," he said. "If that's not possible, then we go on."
6) Sen. Richard Shelby, the top Republican on the Banking Committee, said Wednesday he had received assurances that Democrats would adjust the bill to address Republican concerns that it would perpetuate bailouts of banks. But he said he and committee chairman Chris Dodd had given up finding common ground on other provisions, including Dodd's consumer protection language that Republicans say goes too far.
7) "Now that those bipartisan negotiations have ended, it is my hope that the majority's avowed interest in improving this legislation on the Senate floor is genuine and the partisan gamesmanship is over," said Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell.
8) Republican Sen. Susan Collins said the negotiations had addressed her concerns on how to deal with financial firms deemed "too big to fail." And she said that with the Dodd-Shelby talks over she would now support sending the bill to the floor for debate.
9) Dodd said he and Shelby had been engaged in productive talks. "But I cannot agree to his desire to weaken consumer protections given the enormous abuses we have seen."
10) Democrats tried three times to begin debate on the bill only to be thwarted by Republican opposition. Democrats branded the Republicans as Wall Street allies. But Republicans said they were merely trying to secure changes to make the bill more bipartisan.
11) Republicans had already begun to drop their complaints that the Democrats' legislation would perpetuate bailouts, and had shifted their criticism to the consumer protection provision.
12) The Senate Democrats' bill would create a Consumer Financial Protection Bureau within the Federal Reserve that would have power to police transactions between institutions that provide financial services and their customers.
13) Republicans say the bill would have unintended circumstances that could ensnare small business people for merely extending credit to their customers.
14) By a 56-42 vote Wednesday, Democrats failed for a third time to get the necessary 60 votes to move the legislation to the Senate floor for debate. Democrats had threatened to keep the Senate in session into the night and were preparing to hold more votes testing Republican unity.


Republicans quit blockade of bank regulation bill
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1) Republicans abandoned their blockade against legislation to clamp tough new controls on Wall Street Wednesday, clearing a road to likely passage for the most sweeping rewrite of financial rules since the Great Depression of the 1930s.
2) Democrats and Republicans agree the Senate ultimately will pass landmark changes aimed at preventing a recurrence of the crisis that knocked the U.S. financial system to its knees in 2008, but the battle now begins over crucial details. The House of Representatives already has passed its version.
3) Democrats said the Republicans had given in after three days of votes to block debate, realizing they were on the losing end of a battle for public opinion. Lawmakers from the minority party said they would now switch to trying to change the bill on the Senate floor.
4) Democratic Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse said, "There's been immense pressure bottled up inside the Republican caucus through these last three votes. Many of their members have been very deeply unhappy with the direction their leadership has been taking them. Better heads prevailed."
5) Democrats had threatened to hold the Senate in session all night as they made their case that the Republicans were stalling legislation of importance to virtually every American. The Democrats also have been laying plans to make the legislation a major issue in congressional election campaign this year. The Republican retreat came one day after senior executives of Wall Street giant Goldman Sachs were denounced by lawmakers from both parties at a marathon Senate hearing.
6) In the debate that now can continue, both Democrats and Republicans will attempt to change the underlying bill. Republicans will take particular aim at the magnitude of consumer-protection provisions that President Barack Obama says are vital. Liberal Democrats are expected to seek to limit the size of banks.
7) The Republican decision to relent came after Sen. Richard Shelby, the top Republican on the Senate Banking committee, told his colleagues that he could win no further concessions from Banking Committee chairman Christopher Dodd in private talks. He said Dodd agreed to adjust some provisions that Republicans had complained would permit further bank bailouts.
8) There already were signs that some Republicans were growing weary of continuing to block the bill after Obama and other Democrats accused them of siding with Wall Street, an institution that rivals Congress in its unpopularity with the American people.
9) "The point of all of this was to make sure that as long as those discussions could bear results that we would support that effort," Republican Sen. Olympia Snowe said of her party's objections. "Now we proceed to the floor for amendments on the remainder of the bill."
10) Obama, winding up a Midwest tour promoting the legislation, said he was pleased the debate would proceed.
11) "The time for reform is now," the president said.
12) "It is not just Republicans who are going to offer amendments," said Sen. Bob Corker, a Tennessee Republican who negotiated with Dodd on portions of the bill. "This may be a real debate, which would shock America."
13) How the debate unfolds will determine whether the legislation achieves significant bipartisan support. Democrats still need 60 votes to get past procedural obstacles, a number they cannot reach without at least one Republican on their side.


Financial regulations still face delays, disputes
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1) A tentative agreement in hand, Democrats and Republicans still faced an array of hurdles and uncertain timing over a Senate bill that would more tightly regulate financial institutions.
2) While Democrats agreed to jettison a $50 billion fund to liquidate large failing firms, disputes over consumer protections, Federal Reserve oversight and regulation of complex securities were beyond compromise. Democrats and Republicans were preparing to fight those issues out on the Senate floor.
3) But heading into Wednesday, the Senate had yet to take a vote on any amendment to the bill. The Senate's Republican and Democratic leaders bickered over timing. And while debate was well on its way, the endgame for the bill was far from clear.
4) "They're stalling everything we do," Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid complained Tuesday evening. He called for the bill to be completed by the end of next week.
5) Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell had a different timetable in mind. "I must tell you, I don't think this is a couple of weeks bill," he said. "It's not that we don't want to pass it, but we do want to cover the subject."
6) With 41 Senate seats, Republicans have the votes to prevent a final vote as long as they remain united.
7) The House has cleared its version of the measure.
8) In their willingness to drop the $50 billion fund, Senate Democrats abandoned a provision that Republicans attacked repeatedly as a perpetual Wall Street bailout-in-waiting. The Obama administration also did not support the fund, which would have been financed by an assessment on large financial institutions.
9) Dropping the fund means the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. would have to borrow from the Treasury to cover the initial costs of liquidating a large, interconnected firm that is collapsing. That means taxpayers would essentially front the money.
10) But in their deal, Senate Banking Committee Chairman Christopher Dodd and the committee's top Republican, Sen. Richard Shelby of Alabama, would require the FDIC to recoup those costs from the sale of a failing firm's assets and from the firm's creditors. Additional costs could be paid by assessing a fee on large banks, but only as a last resort.
11) Dodd and Shelby had not formalized the agreement pending a review by key lawmakers and the Obama administration.
12) Once that negotiation is sealed, Republicans intend to seek changes through amendments to the legislation's consumer protection provisions, which they say are too onerous, and to expand exceptions in the regulation of complex securities. Several Democrats aim to make the bill tougher on banks, calling for caps on bank sizes or restrictions on their ability to trade on their own accounts.
13) Sen. Bernard Sanders, a Vermont Independent, had obtained bipartisan support for an amendment that would require an extensive audit of the Federal Reserve. Administration and Fed officials were opposing the measure, saying it would interfere with the Fed's independence in setting monetary policy.


House spending bill trimmed, Senate OKs war funds
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1) Facing a rebellion by Democrats worried about budget deficits, House of Representatives leaders are tossing aside billions of dollars in aid to states and health insurance subsidies for laid-off workers as they look for ways to scale back a catchall spending bill.
2) In the Senate, a war funding measure nearing $60 billion passed with broad bipartisan support Thursday night. The main beneficiary of the bill, part of congressional action ahead of the Memorial Day recess, was President Barack Obama's plan to send 30,000 additional troops to Afghanistan.
3) Democrats will miss their self-imposed deadline of passing a jobless benefits measure before Memorial Day, even if the House passes its version of the bill Friday. The Senate doesn't plan to hold any more votes until senators return June 7.
4) The steps taken by House leaders could reduce the deficit impact of the bill to as little as $30 billion or so in hopes of winning over fiscally conservative Democrats unhappy about adding to the deficit as the national debt closes in on $13 trillion. A version circulated last week would have added $134 billion to the deficit.
5) One such Democrat, Rep. Henry Cuellar said Thursday that he would probably vote for a slimmed-down bill.
6) "The bigness issue and the deficit issue has been addressed," Cuellar said.
7) To attract the votes needed to extend unemployment benefits and renew more than 50 popular tax breaks that expired last year, House leaders planned to drop $24 billion in aid to states and allow health insurance subsidies for laid-off workers to expire. Another likely cut was the $22 billion needed to delay the scheduled 21 percent cut in Medicare reimbursements to doctors until 2012.
8) Across the Capitol, a dozen Senate Republicans, including Republican leader Mitch McConnell, joined Democrats in a 67-28 vote to pass the war-funding bill. Two anti-war Democrats, Sens. Ron Wyden and Russ Feingold, opposed it.
9) The war-funding bill includes $5 billion to replenish disaster aid accounts and money for Haitian earthquake relief and aid to U.S. allies in the fight against terror.
10) The war-funding measure has been kept relatively clean of add-ons that could draw Republican opposition -- to the frustration of liberal Democrats such as Sen. Tom Harkin, the top Senate sponsor of a $23 billion plan to help school districts avoid teacher layoffs as local revenues remain weak. Facing certain defeat, Harkin declined to offer the plan to the war-funding bill.
11) Thousands of people are set to begin losing jobless benefits when an extension of unemployment insurance expires next week.
12) Democratic leaders cut the package of spending proposals and tax cuts Wednesday by about $50 billion to $143 billion. Thursday's moves could eliminate $50 billion and more from the measure.
13) It's a tough vote for lawmakers who want to help constituents hit hard by the recession but are wary of being labeled big spenders. The economy is starting to pick up, but unemployment is still high as the nation continues to struggle from the loss of more than 8 million jobs. At the same time, angst over deficit spending is growing as November's midterm congressional elections near.
14) The cost of the bill would be partially offset by tax increases on investment fund managers, oil companies and some international businesses. The tax increases total about $57 billion over the next decade. Changes giving underfunded pensions more time to improve their finances would raise $2 billion.


Democrats at loss on jobs agenda
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1) Stymied by Republicans, Democrats are at a loss as they struggle to help pump up the economy in the run-up to congressional elections in November.
2) The demise of their jobs-agenda legislation Thursday means that unemployment benefits will phase out for more than 200,000 people a week. Governors who had counted on fresh federal aid will now have to consider a more budget cuts, tax increases and layoffs of state workers.
3) Senate Democrats cut billions from the bill in an attempt to attract enough Republican votes to overcome a filibuster, a tactic that prevents a vote without support from three-fifths of the 100 senators. But the 57-41 vote fell three votes short of the 60 required, leaving the way forward unclear.
4) "Democrats have given Republicans every chance to say 'yes' to this bill and support economic recovery for our middle class," said Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, a Democrat. "But they made a choice to say 'no' yet again."
5) President Barack Obama will keep pressing Congress to pass the bill, his spokesman said. But Democrats haven't shown they can come up with the votes.
6) The setback forced congressional Democrats to settle for a much smaller victory: Congress passed a bill temporarily sparing doctors from a 21 percent cut in payments from the government's Medicare health care program for the elderly. The measure was sent to Obama for his signature.
7) The Medicare funding had been a part of the larger bill to provide extended unemployment benefits for laid-off workers and provide states with billions of dollars to avert layoffs. When it became clear Senate Republicans would block the larger bill, Democrats begrudgingly voted for the smaller Medicare fix.
8) "It is clear that Senate Republicans have no intention of passing any jobs legislation, whether it is tied to physician payments or not," said House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, a Democrat.
9) Congressional Democrats began the year with an aggressive agenda of passing a series of bills designed to create jobs. One has become law, offering tax breaks to companies that hire unemployed workers. Others stalled as lawmakers, after hearing from angry voters, became wary of adding to the national debt, which stands at $13 billion.
10) "The debt is out of control," said Republican Sen. Scott Brown.
11) The rejected bill would have provided $16 billion in new aid to states, preserving the jobs of thousands of state and local government workers and providing what White House officials called an insurance policy against a double-dip recession. It also included dozens of tax breaks sought by business lobbyists and tax increases on domestically produced oil and on investment fund managers.
12) The legislation had been sharply pared back after weeks of negotiations with Republican moderates Olympia Snowe and Susan Collins, but they were not persuaded to support the measure. The latest draft would have added $33 billion to the deficit.
13) The Medicare bill that passed Thursday would delay cuts in payments to doctors until the end of November -- after congressional elections -- when lawmakers hope the political climate is better for passing a more permanent, and expensive, solution.


Lawmakers consider changes to bank bill ' s fee
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1) Top House and Senate negotiators who worked out a deal last week on overhauling U.S. financial regulations scrambled Tuesday to replace a bank fee that has drawn opposition from key Republicans and endangered its passage.
2) Eager to salvage one of President Barack Obama's legislative priorities, lawmakers on Tuesday planned to reconvene a House-Senate conference committee that had signed off on the final bill last week.
3) The bill's fate came into doubt following the death of Sen. Robert Byrd, a Democrat, and new misgivings from three Republicans who voted for a Senate version of the bill last month.
4) At issue was a $19 billion fee that would be assessed on large banks and hedge funds to cover the costs of the legislation. Democratic House and Senate negotiators assembling the massive rewrite of bank regulations inserted the fee during last week's late night talks.
5) The alternative before the conference committee Tuesday would end the government's authority to use the $700 billion bank bailout fund, freeing about $11 billion toward the costs of the legislation. Under that plan, the balance of the cost could be covered by increasing premium rates paid by all commercial banks to the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. to insure bank deposits.
6) The bailout fund, known as the Troubled Asset Relief Program or TARP, was scheduled to expire in October. The new proposal would end TARP as soon as the bill is enacted, essentially cutting Congress' spending authority from $700 billion to $475 billion. That creates an accounting adjustment that would help cover the bill's costs.
7) House Financial Services Chairman Barney Frank, who headed the joint House-Senate panel that assembled the bill this month, said he was optimistic the new proposal would secure the needed Senate votes.
8) "The dye is cast," he said.
9) Sen. Scott Brown, a Republican, precipitated the new discussions after voicing opposition to the $19 billion fee. On Tuesday, he sent a letter to Frank and Senate Banking Committee Chairman Chris Dodd saying he would withdraw his support for the bill and vote against it if the fee remained in it.
10) The fee would have been assessed on banks with assets of more than $50 billion and hedge funds with more than $10 billion.
11) Republican Sens. Olympia Snowe and Susan Collins, both of whom also voted for the Senate bill last month, said they, too, had qualms about the bank assessment. Brown, Snowe and Collins were three of only four Republicans who voted for the Senate bill.
12) With Byrd's death Monday, Senate Democrats cannot afford to lose any votes to overcome the 60-vote procedural hurdles that could defeat the legislation in the 100-member chamber.
13) Seeing nearly a year of work crumbling before them, Dodd, Frank and Democratic leaders working with White House and Treasury officials hurried to come up with an alternative.
14) The legislation would rewrite financial regulations by putting new limits on bank activities, creating an independent consumer protection bureau, and adding new rules for largely unregulated financial instruments.
15) Frank and Dodd, both Democrats, had hoped the House and Senate would vote this week on the bill so they could send it to the president by July 4.
16) The uncertainty surrounding the bill, however, raised new questions about Congress' ability to complete the bill this week.
17) House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, a Democrat, said the bill's questionable status in the Senate would not affect when the House takes up the bill. "But we are trying to work with the Senate to ensure that we both take up a version that does in fact have 60 votes," he said.


US House of Representatives OKs major bank rules
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1) Nearly two years after a Wall Street meltdown left the U.S. economy reeling, the House of Representatives passed a massive overhaul of financial regulations Wednesday while Senate support for the far-reaching bill remained in flux.
2) The Senate was forced to delay to mid-July its vote on the compromise bill, which denied President Barack Obama a victory before the U.S. Independence Day holiday on July 4. Democrats struggled to secure the votes of a handful of Republican senators even after meeting their demands and backing down on a $19 billion tax on big banks and hedge funds.
3) Legislation to repair the systemic problems that led to the U.S. economic meltdown is among Obama's major goals.
4) The legislation, swelling to more than 2,000 pages, would rewrite the nation's regulatory books and reach from storefront thrifts to the high-finance penthouses of New York City. Simple supermarket purchases and exotic trades in derivatives would be subject to new laws. The entire financial system would be placed on a risk watch in hopes of thwarting the next threat.
5) The 237-192 House vote broke along party lines, following a pattern set last December when no Republicans voted for the House version of the bill. The new legislation combines the House bill with one passed by the Senate last month.
6) "Never again, never again should Wall Street greed bring such suffering to our country," declared House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer.
7) Republicans portrayed the bill as a vast overreach of government power that would do little to prevent future bailouts of failing financial institutions. They complained that it failed to place tighter restrictions on Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the hybrid government-private mortgage giants forced into huge federal bailouts after their questionable lending helped trigger meltdowns in housing and the financial system.
8) "This legislation is a clear attack on capital formation in America," said Rep. Eric Cantor, the second-ranking Republican leader in the House. "It purports to prevent the next financial crisis, but it does so by vastly expanding the power of the same regulators who failed to stop the last one."
9) As predictable as the House vote may have been, the Senate was a study in unpredictability.
10) House and Senate negotiators were forced to reconvene Tuesday to remove a $19 billion tax on large banks and hedge funds, hoping to overcome objections from Sens. Scott Brown, Susan Collins and Olympia Snowe, all Republicans who voted for the Senate version last month.
11) Democrats inserted the tax late last week as they assembled a combined House-Senate bill, catching big banks by surprise. Brown was the first to complain and threatened to vote against the bill if the tax remained in the final measure.
12) Desperate to hold at least 60 votes to beat back procedural blockades, House Financial Services Committee Chairman Barney Frank, Senate Banking Committee Chairman Chris Dodd and Obama administration officials scrambled to drop the tax and devise another means of financing the bill's cost.
13) In the end, House and Senate negotiators reconvened in an extraordinary session Tuesday and, voting along party lines, agreed to pay for the bill with $11 billion generated by ending the unpopular Troubled Asset Relief Program -- the $700 billion bank bailout created By Republican President George W. Bush's administrationin the fall of 2008 at the height of the financial scare.
14) They also agreed to increase premium rates paid by commercial banks to the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. to insure bank deposits. The increase would not affect banks with assets under $10 billion.
15) On Wednesday, Collins issued a statement saying she was now inclined to vote for the bill.
16) Brown said he needed Congress' weeklong July 4 recess to examine details of the bill and remained uncommitted. He credited Dodd for "thinking outside the box" in finding an alternative.


Obama slams Republican economic plan
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1) President Barack Obama says an economic plan by the House Republican leader just repeats job-killing policies of the past and would take the country "backward at a time when we need to keep America moving forward."
2) In turn, House Republican leader John Boehner said the president had stooped to partisan attacks because he can't sell his own plan at a time when millions of people want to know what happened to the jobs Obama promised to create.
3) Days after imposing new regulations on the financial industry, Obama said Saturday that the new law is a "key pillar" of his overall economic plan to reverse the recession that began on Wall Street and build a stronger economy overall.
4) "It took nearly a decade of failed economic policies to create this mess, and it will take years to fully repair the damage," Obama said in his weekly radio and Internet address. "But I am confident that we are finally headed in the right direction. We are moving forward. And what we can't afford right now is to go back to the same ideas that created this mess in the first place."
5) Previewing one of the arguments he'll be making as he campaigns for Democratic candidates heading into the November elections when control of Congress is at stake, Obama acknowledged that the economic growth on his watch isn't nearly enough to replace the millions of lost jobs.
6) But he said essentially that the Republican alternative -- repealing the health care law, continuing tax cuts for the wealthiest individuals and rejecting investments in clean energy -- would be much worse.
7) "They are the same policies that led us into this recession," Obama said. "They will not create jobs, they will kill them. "
8) Boehner countered that Republicans have better solutions and will stop Democratic tax hikes and spending sprees.
9) "The fact is that Washington Democrats' policies have created uncertainty that has undermined our economy, shaken the confidence of the nation and cost millions of American jobs," the Ohio Republican said. "Our nation needs leadership, not excuses."
10) In the Republican's weekly address, Rep. Mike Pence of Indiana promised a fight against a tax increase that he said is coming next year.
11) Tax cuts enacted under Republican George W. Bush's presidency are scheduled to expire in January and -- partly out of voter concern over the rising federal budget deficit -- Democrats are undecided over whether to extend them as Republicans advocate.
12) "The American people know we can't tax and spend and bail our way back to a growing economy," Pence said. "House Republicans opposed the Democrats' failed stimulus bill, their national energy tax, their government takeover of health care and House Republicans will oppose this tax increase with everything we've got."


Obama says he still supports US climate bill
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1) Despite setbacks in Congress, President Barack Obama said Tuesday he still supports the need for broad climate legislation and pledged to keep pushing for it. The White House expressed fresh hope the Senate and House might strike a deal on a sweeping energy plan this year.
2) Lacking the votes they need in this election year, Senate Democrats have abandoned Obama's goal of a bill that would cap the greenhouse gases blamed for global warming. Instead, Democrats hope to pass a narrower measure that responds to the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico and takes steps to improve energy efficiency.
3) "I want to emphasize it's only the first step," Obama said in the White House Rose Garden after a meeting with congressional leaders of both parties. "And I intend to keep pushing for broader reform, including climate legislation."
4) White House spokesman Robert Gibbs later went further, disputing the notion that a climate bill is dead for the year. He suggested that such a comprehensive bill could be negotiated between House and Senate members once, as the White House hopes, the Senate approves a scaled-back energy bill in the coming days.
5) Such a bill would then have to be approved by both chambers.
6) The House voted 219-212 last year for a "cap and trade" plan featuring economic incentives to reduce carbon emissions from power plants, vehicles and other sources. It remains unclear how Democrats could muster the votes in the Senate to get even a version of that bill approved.
7) Republicans slammed the House bill as a "national energy tax" and jobs killer, arguing that the costs would be passed on to consumers in the form of higher electricity bills and fuel costs that would lead manufacturers to take their factories overseas.
8) Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid has said no Republican senators were willing to vote for the broader energy bill he wanted, leaving Democrats shy of the 60 votes needed to overcome Republican delaying tactics in the 100-member chamber.
9) Obama announced during his State of the Union address earlier this year that he planned to hold monthly bipartisan meetings with congressional leaders at the White House. Among those present was House Minority Leader John Boehner, who has ratcheted up his criticism of Obama in recent weeks, accusing the president of stooping to partisan attacks and saying Obama cannot sell his economic plan.
10) Obama has argued that Boehner and Republicans are trying to advance the same agenda that led the country into the recession.


Obama blames Republicans on small business bill
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1) President Barack Obama is going after Senate Republicans who have stymied his proposal to create a $30 billion fund to help unfreeze lending for credit-starved small businesses.
2) His election-year push for additional job measures suffered a fresh setback this past week when Republicans blocked the small-business plan.
3) The president used his weekly radio and Internet address Saturday to accuse Republicans of "holding America's small businesses hostage to politics." He said the bill has the support of business groups and contains many ideas favored by both parties.
4) "Understand, a majority of senators support the plan. It's just that the Republican leaders in the Senate won't even allow it to come up for a vote," Obama said. "That isn't right."
5) Obama made clear that it's not only a policy disagreement, but a reason for voters to steer away from Republicans in November's pivotal congressional elections, which will determine whether Democrats keep their majorities in the House and Senate.
6) "When America is just starting to move forward again, we can't afford the do-nothing policies and partisan maneuvering that will only take us backward," he said.
7) Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky would have none of that talk.
8) He said Democrats have put the bill aside six separate times so they could move on to something else. "So from the beginning this bill clearly wasn't a priority to them -- until they realized that they didn't have anything to talk about when they go home in August," McConnell said.
9) "Nearly every major piece of legislation this Congress has considered has had painful consequences for small businesses. Attempting to create a controversy isn't going to hide that from anyone," he said.
10) Democrats wanted to pass the bill before Congress left town for summer vacation, but that won't happen with House members already headed home for their August break and the Senate in session for another week before its recess begins.
11) The proposed fund would be available to community banks with less than $10 billion in assets, to help them increase lending to small businesses. The bill would combine the fund with about $12 billion in tax breaks aimed at small businesses.
12) Democrats say banks should be able to use the lending fund to leverage up to $300 billion in loans, helping to loosen tight credit markets. Some Republicans, however, likened it to the unpopular bailout of the financial industry.
13) Congress has extended unemployment benefits for people who have been out of work for long stretches and passed a measure that gives tax breaks to businesses that hire unemployed workers. But many other initiatives stalled, in part because of concerns they would add to the growing national debt.
14) The vote to end Republican delaying maneuvers on the latest measure was 58-42. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid joined all Republicans to vote to continue blocking a final vote on the measure, but only as a procedural step that allows him to call up the bill again.


US Senate passes bill to save teacher, police jobs
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1) Legislation sought by Democrats to prevent layoffs of tens of thousands of teachers, police and other public workers in the U.S. has passed the Senate.
2) The bill would help states and local school boards deal with severe budget problems. It would preserve the jobs of perhaps 300,000 public employees by extending programs in last year's stimulus law. It passed 61-39 in the Senate Thursday, after months of Republican blocking tactics.
3) House leader Nancy Pelosi is calling lawmakers back to Washington next week from their summer vacation to cast the final votes to deliver the bill to President Barack Obama.
4) Unlike the economic stimulus bill, the $26 billion measure would not increase the budget deficit since it is paid for with spending cuts and tax increases on U.S. companies operating overseas.


Obama calling for more infrastructure spending
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1) President Barack Obama is asking Congress to approve at least $50 billion in long-term spending on the country's roads, railways and runways in a pre-election effort to show he's trying to stimulate the sputtering economy.
2) The infrastructure spending is part of a package of targeted proposals the White House announced on Monday. With November's elections for control of Congress approaching, Obama planned to discuss the proposal later Monday at an event in Milwaukee marking the U.S. Labor Day holiday.
3) The proposals would require congressional approval, which is highly uncertain with many legislators and voters worried about adding to federal deficits that are already sky-high. With Republicans saying spending is out of control and polls showing many people want to end Democrats' control of Congress, even many Democratic lawmakers are reluctant to approve new spending so close to the elections.
4) Even if legislators could pass a bill in the short window between their return to Congress from their summer break in mid-September and the elections, the early projects would not create jobs immediately. Senior administration officials, who would not be quoted by name before Obama's announcement, said the initial projects would lead to new jobs over the course of 2011.
5) Republicans made it clear that Obama can expect no help from them.
6) Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell said the plan "should be met with justifiable skepticism" because it would raise taxes, while Americans are "still looking for the 'shovel-ready' jobs they were promised more than a year ago" in the original stimulus program.
7) The House Republican leader, John Boehner, added "We don't need more government 'stimulus' spending. "We need to end Washington Democrats' out-of-control spending spree, stop their tax hikes, and create jobs by eliminating the job-killing uncertainty that is hampering our small businesses."
8) The officials said the initial $50 billion would be the beginning of a six-year program of transportation improvements, but they did not give an overall figure. The proposal has a longer-range focus than last year's economic stimulus bill, which was more targeted on immediate job creation.
9) The goals of the infrastructure plan include: rebuilding 150,000 miles of roads; constructing and maintaining 4,000 miles of railways, enough to go coast-to-coast; shorter, high speed rail projects; and rehabilitating or reconstructing 150 miles of airport runways, while also installing a next generation air navigation system designed to reduce travel times and delays.
10) Obama will also call for the creation of a permanent infrastructure bank that would focus on funding national and regional infrastructure projects.
11) Administration officials wouldn't say what the total cost of the infrastructure projects would be, but did say the initial $50 billion represents a significant percentage. Officials said the White House would consider closing a number of special tax breaks for oil and gas companies to pay for the proposal.
12) Obama made infrastructure improvements a central part of the $814 billion stimulus Congress passed last year, but with that spending winding down, the economy's growth has slowed. Officials said this infrastructure package differs from the stimulus because it's aimed at long-term growth, while still focusing on creating jobs in the short-term.
13) In an interview on CBS television, Labor Secretary Hilda Solis said the plan Obama was to unveil Monday would "put construction workers, welders, electricians back to work ... folks that have been unemployed for a long time."
14) With the unemployment rate ticking up to 9.6 percent, and polls showing the November elections could be dismal for Democrats, the president has promised to unveil a series of new measures on the economy.
15) In addition to Monday's announcement in Milwaukee, Obama will travel to Cleveland Wednesday to pitch a $100 billion proposal to increase and make permanent research and development tax credits for businesses, a White House official said.
16) While the idea is popular in Congress, coming up with offsetting tax increases or spending cuts has been a stumbling block. Similar to his proposal to pay for the infrastructure projects, Obama will ask lawmakers to close tax breaks for oil and gas companies and multinational corporations to pay for the plan.


Obama promotes new jobs program
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1) A combative President Barack Obama rolled out a long-term jobs program Monday that will exceed $50 billion to rebuild roads, railways and runways, and coupled it with a blunt campaign-season assault on Republicans for causing Americans' hard economic times.
2) Republican leaders instantly assailed Obama's proposal, which is also likely to be met with reluctance by many Democrats to approve additional spending and higher federal deficits just weeks before elections that will determine control of Congress.
3) That left the plan with low odds of becoming law this year. Jim Manley, spokesman for Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid of Nevada, cautioned, "If we are going to get anything done, Republican cooperation, which has been all but non-existent recently, will be necessary."
4) Administration officials said that even if the program somehow won quick congressional approval, it would not produce jobs until sometime next year. That means the proposal's only pre-election impact may whether voters interpret it as a serious effort by the White House to boost the economy and create jobs.
5) In remarks prepared for delivery to a Labor Day speech in Milwaukee, the president said Republicans are betting that between now and Election Day on Nov. 2, Americans will forget the Republican economic policies that led to the current recession.
6) "These are the folks whose policies helped devastate our middle class and drive our economy into a ditch. And now they're asking you for the keys back," Obama said.
7) The president said Republicans have opposed everything he has done to strengthen the economy.
8) "They think it's better to score political points before an election than actually solve problems," he said.
9) He added, "Even as we speak, these guys are saying no to cutting more taxes for small business owners. I mean, come on! Remember when our campaign slogan was "Yes We Can?" These guys are running on "No, We Can't," and proud of it. Really inspiring, huh?"
10) Republicans made it clear that Obama can expect no help from them.
11) Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell said the plan "should be met with justifiable skepticism" because it would raise taxes, while Americans are "still looking for the 'shovel-ready' jobs they were promised more than a year ago" in the $814 billion economic stimulus measure.
12) The House of Representatives Republican leader, John Boehner, added "We don't need more government 'stimulus' spending. We need to end Washington Democrats' out-of-control spending spree, stop their tax hikes, and create jobs by eliminating the job-killing uncertainty that is hampering our small businesses."
13) Administration officials said the initial $50 billion would be the beginning of a six-year program of transportation improvements, but they did not give an overall figure. The proposal has a longer-range focus than last year's economic stimulus bill, which was more targeted on immediate job creation.


Obama economic moves likely too little, too late
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1) President Barack Obama is proposing a flury of economic measures but may be doing too little, too late to fend off a huge Republican wave in November congressional elections -- with Democrats losing their majority in the House of Representatives and, perhaps, the Senate.
2) With less than two months remaining before the critical vote, Americans are in a sour mood over an unemployment rate stubbornly holding near 10 percent and an economy that has made little progress in pulling the nation out of its worst downturn since the Great Depression of the 1930s.
3) Polls are virtually unanimous in showing Democrats primed to surrender their big majority in the House as voters prepare to cast ballots against incumbents and in favor of new blood from among Republicans and candidates aligned with the ultraconservative tea party phenomenon. Republican chances for taking a majority in the Senate are slim but not impossible.
4) In a speech in Cleveland, Ohio, on Wednesday, Obama will ask Congress to pass new tax breaks that would allow businesses to write off 100 percent of new capital investments through 2011. Additionally, Obama is seeking a $50 billion infrastructure investment plan to boost employment and a permanent expansion of tax credits to companies for investment in research and development.
5) On Friday morning, Obama will discuss his economic program in only his second televised news conference of the year.
6) Several million people and 1.5 million businesses would benefit from the tax breaks, according to the White House. Estimates put the cost to taxpayers over 10 years at $30 billion, with most of the money lost in tax revenue being recouped as the economy strengthens.
7) The news conference will cap a week of appearances in which the president is rolling out new spending and tax cut proposals aimed at helping the economy. Obama unveiled a $50 billion transportation infrastructure proposal on Monday at a Labor Day rally with union members in Milwaukee.
8) Obama showed little life on the economy through a summer that his administration said would witness a major recovery as a result of the nearly $800 billion stimulus he pushed through Congress shortly after taking office in early 2009.
9) As the economy continues to languish, support for Democrats in Congress has declined in lockstep with backing for Obama. The president's popularity decline is notable given what were his very high ratings when he swept into the White House on a message of hope and change in the midst of a fiscal crisis and near collapse of the country's financial system.
10) The big changes Obama now wants to make, while they ordinarily would find philosophical support among opposition Republicans, stand little chance of congressional approval in the toxic pre-election atmosphere. Republicans have been near unanimous in voting "no" on Obama initiatives in Congress. What's more, many of the president's fellow Democrats are leery of voting for more spending so close to the election.
11) Even if the measures passed, they would do little, if anything, to quickly improve the dismal economy.
12) Republicans, however, have made significant political gains by accusing Obama of extravagant spending and expansion of government that will burden taxpayers and their children for years to come. That has led to widespread expectations that the Republicans will take at least 40 House seats from the Democrats to gain the majority.
13) Expectations are so low for the Democrats, however, that even holding on to a slim majority would be called victory.


Obama firm: won ' t yield on tax hike for wealthiest
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1) President Barack Obama insisted that Bush-era tax cuts be cut off for the wealthiest Americans and attacked Republicans for advocating the same philosophy that led to the financial crisis just two months before bruising Congressional elections.
2) Singling out House Republican leader John Boehner in his home state of Ohio, Obama delivered a searing attack on Republicans for advocating "the same philosophy that led to this mess in the first place: cut more taxes for millionaires and cut more rules for corporations."
3) Obama rolled out a trio of new plans to help spur job growth and invigorate the sluggish national economic recovery. They would expand and permanently extend a research and development tax credit that lapsed in 2009, allow businesses to write off 100 percent of their investments in equipment and plants through 2011 and pump $50 billion into highway, rail, airport and other infrastructure projects.
4) The package was assembled by the president's economic team after it became clear that the recovery was running out of steam. There was a political component, too: With Democrats in danger of losing control of the House of Representatives in November, Obama is under heavy pressure to show voters that he and his party are ready to do more to get the economy moving and get millions of jobless Americans back to work.
5) However, none of Wednesday's proposals, nor Obama's call for allowing tax rates to rise for the wealthiest Americans, seems likely to be acted on by Congress before the elections, reflecting the battering Obama and congressional Democrats have taken in public opinion polls.
6) Obama made one of his strongest appeals yet to allow the tax cuts passed under President George W. Bush -- in 2001 and 2003 -- to expire at the end of the year on schedule, but just for individuals earning more than $200,000 annually or joint filers earning over $250,000. The changes would affect dividend and capital gains rates and various other tax benefits as well as income from wages and salaries.
7) The president's strategy -- pushing for legislation to save some tax cuts but not all -- carries its own risks. Since all the tax breaks would expire automatically at the end of the year if Congress failed to act, that could result in sweeping increases for taxpayers at every income level -- a major blow to recovery hopes and a colossal dose of blame for voters to parcel out to lawmakers and the White House.
8) Some influential Democrats, and Obama's own former budget director, Peter Orszag, have suggested a compromise might be necessary -- one to temporarily extend all the tax cuts, perhaps for a year or two -- given the current election-year animosity between the two parties.
9) But in his remarks in Cleveland, Obama strongly signaled he wasn't about to sign off on any such deal.
10) "Let me be clear to Mr. Boehner and everyone else. We should not hold middle class tax cuts hostage any longer," the president said. The administration "is ready this week to give tax cuts to every American making $250,000 or less," he said. It was a slight misstatement of his own position, since the $250,000 would apply to household income. The threshold for individuals would be $200,000
11) White House officials said Cleveland was picked as the speech site expressly because Boehner, who probably would become House speaker if Republicans take back control of the chamber in November, laid out his party's economic agenda here in a fiery Aug. 24 speech.
12) At that time, the Ohio Republican called for Obama to fire key economic advisers and to support an extension of all the Bush tax cuts.
13) Boehner kept up the attack on Wednesday. "If the president is really serious about focusing on jobs, a good start would be taking the advice of his recently departed budget director and freezing all tax rates, coupled with cutting of federal spending to where it was before all the bailouts, government takeovers and `stimulus' spending sprees," he said after Obama spoke.
14) Republicans, and some Democrats, argue that the fragile state of the economy makes this a poor time to raise taxes on anyone -- and that increases could stifle wealthier people's appetite for spending.
15) Obama argued that the rich are more likely to save additional money than spend it.
16) The debate over the Bush tax cuts is an unwelcome one for dozens of vulnerable Democratic incumbents just weeks before Election Day.
17) Polls have shown a steady slippage in Obama's approval ratings and an accompanying rise in Republican prospects for winning House and Senate seats in November. That has chipped away at Obama's leverage to get things done in Congress.


Obama takes Republicans to task on economy, taxes
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1) President Barack Obama is taking his case against Republican to millions of Americans on Friday, faulting the party for refusing to help him turn around the sluggish economy or support some proposed new tax breaks for businesses the party has backed in the past.
2) Facing devastating poll numbers and prospects of big losses, Democrats are in danger of losing control of the House of Representatives in November congressional elections. In a nationally televised news confrence from the White House, Obama is trying to convince voters that they have a choice between going back to Republican policies that led to the economic crisis or going forward with policies he says will grow the economy over the long term.
3) Before taking questions, Obama was to open the session with a statement on the economy and the stakes in the elections and, according to a White House official, announce that he has chosen one of his longtime economic advisers, Austan Goolsbee, to be the chairman of his Council of Economic Advisers. The official spoke Thursday on condition of anonymity because the formal announcement had not been made.
4) Goolsbee, 41, a University of Chicago professor of economics, was Obama's senior economic adviser during the 2008 presidential campaign. He already has been confirmed to the council by the Senate and will need no further confirmation. He replaces Christina Romer, who left the administration last week to return to teaching at the University of California, Berkeley.
5) Feeling pressure amid slumping polls to show he is doing everything possible to repair the economy, Obama this week unveiled a tax-and-spend package that would expand and permanently extend a tax credit for research and development that lapsed in 2009, let businesses write off 100 percent of their investments in equipment and plants through 2011, and spend $50 billion ((EURO)39.3 billion) immediately on highway, rail and airport projects.
6) House Republican leader John Boehner of Ohio has offered an alternative plan: freezing tax rates for two years and cutting back government spending to 2008 levels.
7) Obama also wants to let taxes rise next year on the highest wage earners while keeping existing tax cuts for families with annual incomes of $250,000 or less and individuals making $200,000 a year maximum. Republicans insist on keeping the lower tax rates for higher incomes, arguing that doing so would help small businesses too. Obama argues that's a financial burden the country can't afford to bear.
8) By law, taxes will rise for everyone next year unless Congress acts.
9) But even some of Obama's own Democrats and his former budget director, Peter Orszag, have suggested a compromise that would temporarily extend all the tax cuts that were enacted in 2001 and 2003 under President George W. Bush, to leave more money in consumers' pockets and give the economy some breathing room, before the tax cuts are allowed to expire entirely in a year or two.
10) Obama campaigned for president on a promise not to raise taxes on the middle class. He insisted Thursday during a speech in Cleveland that tax cuts for that income group must not be held "hostage any longer."
11) At the news conference, Obama also is expected to challenge Republicans to allow a Senate vote on a bill that calls for about $12 billion in tax breaks for small businesses. It also includes a $30 billion fund to encourage banks to lend to small business. Republicans have likened the bill to the unpopular bailout of the financial industry.
12) Obama has blamed Republicans for stalling the bill. The measure is on the agenda when the Senate returns next week. The House has already passed many of the provisions in the Senate bill.
13) Friday's news conference will be just the second time this year that Obama has met alone with reporters at the White House.
14) He has appeared before the White House press corps several times with visiting foreign leaders. Obama last held a solo White House news conference in May to discuss the Gulf of Mexico oil spill.
15) Polls have shown a steady slippage in Obama's approval ratings and an accompanying rise in Republican prospects for winning House and Senate seats in November.


Congress to tread carefully in run-up to election
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1) Congress returns this week with embattled Democrats torn between trying to show they have the economic answers and fearing the further wrath of voters over new government programs.
2) It appears the fears will win out.
3) The inbox is overflowing as lawmakers end their summer recess and undertake four weeks of writing and trying to pass bills before leaving town ahead of the Nov. 2 election: Bush-era tax cuts are set to expire at year's end; annual spending bills await action; and President Barack Obama has just come out with a new plan to stimulate the economy through tax credits, breaks for business investment and public works projects.
4) But progress on any of those before the election is doubtful.
5) Majority Democrats are returning to Washington after a month of listening to voters angry over government spending. Republicans are dead-set against White House initiatives.
6) "It will be difficult to get a very broad agenda through," said House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer.
7) Some issues probably will fall back into a lame-duck session after the election. Even then, Republicans won't be raring to cooperate, particularly if they regain control of the House or Senate.
8) Democrats insist they'll act before the end of the year to extend the middle-class tax cuts pushed through by President George W. Bush. And if Congress does nothing? Then a family in the $50,000-$75,000 income range would face an extra $1,126 in taxes next year.
9) Obama and most Democrats want the extensions to apply only to individuals with annual incomes of less than $200,000, or joint filers earning less than $250,000. Continuing those tax cuts would add $3.1 trillion to the national debt over the next decade. The debt would rise by an additional $700 billion if tax cuts for the richest people are also extended.
10) But some Democrats say that with the economy in bad shape, the time's not right to end tax breaks for the wealthy. Republicans, headed by House Minority Leader John Boehner of Ohio, are demanding a two-year freeze on all tax rates.
11) "If the only option I have is to vote for those at 250 and below, of course I'm going to do that. But I'm going to do everything I can to fight to make sure that we extend the current tax rates for all Americans," Boehner told CBS' "Face the Nation" in an interview broadcast Sunday.
12) Sen. Jack Reed, a Rhode Island Democrat, says he expects the Senate to get into "serious debate" on the Bush tax cuts, but he would not speculate on the chances for an agreement. House Democratic leaders say they prefer to see what the Senate does before tackling the issue.
13) Congress hasn't sent the president any of the 12 annual spending bills it must consider to pay for government programs when the new budget year starts on Oct. 1. With lawmakers leery of voting for spending increases, prospects for much action on these bills are slim. Congress instead will have to vote to keep agencies funded at current levels to avoid a shutdown.
14) Among others on the may-not-happen list are a bill to authorize defense programs for 2011 and a bill requiring greater disclosure of corporate and union spending on campaign ads.
15) Senate Republicans have balked at the defense bill because the House added a provision to end the ban on gays serving openly in the military. Republican aides said it would require three or four weeks of debate time if that provision remains.
16) The campaign spending bill is in response to a Supreme Court ruling lifting restrictions on election ad spending. Advocates of the measure, which requires greater identification of those financing ads, had hoped it could be passed before the November elections. But in July, the Senate fell three votes short of overcoming Republican legislative maneuvers to delay a vote.
17) That doesn't mean it will be a do-nothing Congress for the next month.
18) The Senate's first order of business is a bill creating a $30 billion government fund to encourage lending to small businesses and provide about $12 billion in small business tax breaks. Democrats should have the votes, and it could pass in the week the Senate returns.
19) Also on tap, to the dismay of Democrats, are House ethics committee trials of two prominent Democrats, Reps. Charles Rangel of New York and Maxine Waters of California, for alleged ethics violations. One or both of those trials could begin before the fall election.
20) The Senate planned to open a trial Monday on the impeachment of U.S. District Court Judge G. Thomas Porteous Jr. The House in March approved four impeachment articles charging the Louisiana judge with taking payoffs and lying under oath.
21) It's the first impeachment trial since the one held for former President Bill Clinton in 1999. The Senate acquitted Clinton. If Porteous is found guilty, he would become the eighth federal judge in U.S. history to be impeached and convicted.
22) Other issues with a chance of progress:
23) --The Senate is close to passing food safety legislation giving the Food and Drug Administration greater power to order recalls and to increase inspections of food facilities. The House has passed a similar bill.
24) --The House could take up a $4.5 billion Senate-passed child nutrition bill, promoted by first lady Michelle Obama, that would create healthier standards for food served in schools.
25) --The Senate could act on a rules change, pushed by some of its newer members, to end the custom where a single senator can secretly block a bill or a nomination.
26) --The Senate Foreign Relations Committee plans to vote on a new arms treaty with Russia. A two-thirds vote by the full Senate is needed for ratification. Also possible, although less likely, is consideration of a long-stalled free trade agreement with South Korea.


Republican would support a middle-class tax cut
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1) House Minority Leader John Boehner says he would vote for President Obama's plan to extend tax cuts only for middle-class earners, not the wealthy, if that were the only option available to House Republicans.
2) Boehner said it is "bad policy" to exclude the highest-earning Americans from tax relief during the recession. But he said he wouldn't block the breaks for middle-income individuals and families if Democrats won't support the full package.
3) Income tax cuts passed under President George W. Bush will expire at the end of this year unless Congress acts and Obama signs the bill. Obama said he would support continuing the lower tax rates for couples earning up to $250,000 or single taxpayers making up to $200,000. But he and the Democratic leadership in Congress refused to back continued lower rates for the fewer than 3 percent of Americans who make more than that.
4) The cost of extending the tax cuts for everyone for the next 10 years would approach $4 trillion, according to congressional estimates. Eliminating the breaks for the top earners would reduce that bill by about $700 billion.
5) Boehner's comments signaled a possible break in the logjam that has prevented passage of a tax bill, although Republicans would still force Democrats to vote on their bigger tax-cut package in the final weeks before the November congressional elections.
6) "I want to do something for all Americans who pay taxes," Boehner said in an interview taped Saturday for "Face the Nation" on CBS. "If the only option I have is to vote for some of those tax reductions, I'll vote for it. ... If that's what we can get done, but I think that's bad policy. I don't think that's going to help our economy."
7) White House press secretary Robert Gibbs issued a statement Sunday saying, "We welcome John Boehner's change in position and support for the middle class tax cuts, but time will tell if his actions will be anything but continued support for the failed policies that got us into this mess."
8) Austan Goolsbee, new chairman of the White House Council of Economic Advisers, said on ABC's "This Week" that he hopes that Democratic lawmakers who also want an across-the-board extension will join Obama and others in the party in supporting legislation aimed at the middle class before the November elections.
9) In response to Boehner's comments, Goolsbee said, "If he's for that, I would be happy."
10) With congressional elections less than two months away, both parties have been working to score points with voters generally unhappy with Congress. Democrats are bearing the brunt of voter anger over a stubborn recession, a weak job market and a high-spending government, giving the Republicans an opening for taking back control of the House and possibly the Senate.
11) Democratic leaders would relish putting up a bill that extends only the middle-class tax cuts and then daring Republicans to oppose it. In response, Republican lawmakers probably would try to force votes on amendments to extend all the tax cuts, arguing that it would be a boost to the economy, and then point to those who rejected them.
12) A compromise over the tax-cut extensions had been suggested by some senior Democrats. In a speech last week in Cleveland, Obama rejected the idea of temporarily extending all the tax cuts for one to two years.
13) The tax-cut argument between Obama and Republican lawmakers focuses on whether the debt-ridden country can afford to continue Bush's tax breaks, which were designed to expire next year. Republicans contend that cutting back on government spending ought to be the focus of efforts aimed at beginning to balance the federal budget.
14) If Republicans regain control of the House, they would remove Democrat Nancy Pelosi of California as speaker, a position that is second in line to the presidency after the vice president. Boehner would be the most likely successor, and he already is the focus of criticism from the Democrats' re-election campaign.
15) Obama himself has been leading the charge against Boehner, traveling last week to the Republican minority leader's home state to accuse him of offering little but stale ideas that led to the economic meltdown.


Republicans, Democrats clash on Obama tax plan
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1) Republicans and Democrats clashed Monday over soon-to-expire tax cuts, an issue expected to dominate the U.S. political landscape in the weeks leading up to congressional elections in November.
2) Democrats are worried that these elections could hand the Republicans control of the House of Representatives and perhaps the Senate. The White House and its Democratic allies hope to use the tax cut fight to cast themselves as defenders of the middle class and Republicans as a party eager to revive the days of the still unpopular former President George W. Bush.
3) "We're going to take the next 50-some days to convince the public that's exactly what the Republicans would do -- back to the Bush policies," said White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs said on NBC television's "Today" show.
4) Gibbs said the middle class should not be used as a political football by Republicans maneuvering to give tax cuts to wealthy taxpayers, who he said do not need the reductions. Republicans say paring taxes for the wealthy would encourage them and the businesses they operate to create jobs.
5) A spokesman for Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell said that every Senate Republican has pledged to oppose President Barack Obama's tax-cutting plan. Obama would renew the tax cuts for most people but let the top income tax rate rise back to almost 40 percent on family or small business income over $250,000.
6) McConnell has said a bill extending the tax cuts for only low- and middle-income earners cannot pass the Senate. Forty-one senators can block a bill with delaying tactics, but McConnell spokesman Don Stewart declined to say whether all 41 Republicans in the 100-member Senate would support such a strategy.
7) At issue is a year-end deadline to renew a variety of tax cuts enacted in 2001, when the federal government was running a budget surplus.
8) On Sunday, House Republican Leader John Boehner said he would support renewing tax cuts for the middle class but not the wealthy if that was his only choice, an indication Republicans are not united on the issue.
9) Congressional analysts say renewing the tax cuts for everyone would cost the government $4 trillion over the next decade. With polls showing a broad public anger over spiraling federal deficits, Obama wants to exclude individuals earning more than $200,000 and couples making more than $250,000. Those categories account for $700 billion of the total projected cost.
10) "That's a debate we're happy to have," McConnell told The Washington Post. "That's the kind of debate that unifies my caucus."
11) Democrats are not unified behind Obama and their House and Senate leaders. Several Senate Democrats say they would like all of the Bush tax cuts to be extended for another year or two as the economy slowly recovers from the recession.
12) "I don't think it makes sense to raise any federal taxes during the uncertain economy we are struggling through," Sen. Joe Lieberman, an independent who aligns with Democrats, said Monday. "The more money we leave in private hands, the quicker our economic recovery will be. And that means I will do everything I can to make sure Congress extends the so-called Bush tax cuts for another year."
13) Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner on Monday also urged Congress to move quickly to extend the tax cuts.
14) Geithner and the administration have tried to make the case that conditions would have been worse without Obama's economic policies, including an $814 billion stimulus package. Geithner said a return to Republican policies would put the economic recovery in jeopardy.
15) "We can't afford to go back to the policies of the past decade when we passed large tax cuts for the wealthiest Americans without paying for them and saw little impact on job creation and years of stagnation in middle class wages," he said.
16) Republicans say the level of spending undertaken by the Obama administration has done little to boost the economy. Instead, it has increased the deficit to unsustainable levels, they say.


Obama urges action on campaign finance bill
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1) Characterizing their stalling as "politics at its worst," President Barack Obama says Republicans should quit blocking a bill to limit the amount of money corporations and unions can spend on campaign advertising.
2) At issue is a Supreme Court ruling in a case known as Citizens United. The court reversed a centurylong trend of limiting the power of big money in politics by saying corporations and unions may spend heavily to influence presidential and congressional elections.
3) "This is common sense," Obama said in his weekly radio and Internet address Saturday. "In fact, this is the kind of proposal that Democrats and Republicans have agreed on for decades. Yet, the Republican leaders in Congress have so far said 'no.'"
4) Republicans, seen as mostly benefiting from the ruling, argue that Democrats are only trying to protect themselves with the bill.
5) The Democratic-controlled House of Representatives has passed legislation to scale back the ruling and require greater disclosure by donors. Senate Republicans have blocked it and it's unlikely that the Senate will act on the measure in time to affect the Nov. 2 elections, when control of the House and Senate is at stake, along with 37 governorships.
6) Obama said a partisan minority in Congress wants to "ride this wave of unchecked influence all the way to victory" on Nov. 2.
7) In response, Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell said Democrats are the ones trying to get the upper hand.
8) McConnell criticized Obama for talking up a "a partisan campaign bill" for the second time in four weeks at a time when Americans are desperate for Washington to focus on creating jobs and growing the economy.
9) "By focusing on that partisan effort to rig the fall elections rather than the stagnant economy, Democrats are proving once again that the jobs they care about most are their own," said McConnell "It's a transparent effort to help themselves ahead of an election in which they clearly can't run on their record."
10) Bruce Josten, an executive vice president at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, argued that campaign disclosure requirements in the proposed legislation would be overly burdensome and as a result, restrict the political speech of business groups and most other advocacy organizations including citizen groups. In contrast, the Supreme Court ruling "protects the First Amendment rights of organizations across the political spectrum and is a positive for the political process and free enterprise," he said.
11) Republicans devoted their weekly address to promoting a GOP plan to freeze government spending and stop tax hikes scheduled to take effect next year unless Congress intervenes.
12) "If President Obama and Washington Democrats are truly focused on creating jobs, we should take action immediately to cut government spending and stop all of these impending tax hikes," said
13) Republicans devoted their weekly address to promoting a Republican plan to freeze government spending and stop tax hikes scheduled to take effect next year unless Congress intervenes.
14) "If President Obama and Washington Democrats are truly focused on creating jobs, we should take action immediately to cut government spending and stop all of these impending tax hikes," said Republican Rep. Greg Walden.


AP Interview: Clinton says Dems can keep majority
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1) Former U.S. president Bill Clinton said Wednesday that Democrats can still pull the November elections out of the fire if they refute Republican arguments and keep it from becoming a referendum on President Barack Obama.
2) He said the Democrats have to assume they will lose some Congressional seats in the midterm voting because they won a lot of exceedingly marginal seats in 2006 and 2008, "but whether these elections will be a big setback for the Democrats is yet to be determined."
3) "If the Democrats can make this a choice, not a referendum, they can win," he said in an interview with The Associated Press. "If it's a referendum on anger, apathy, laced with amnesia, they're going to have a problem."
4) The Democrats need to answer the two key Republican arguments -- that they should be thrown out because they haven't reveresed the economic slump resulting from the global financial crisis and that "there's too much spending and too much government."
5) "I think the Democrats ought to stand up and say ... you gave them eight years to dig this hole, and to double the debt of the country, and not to produce any jobs, and then to have a financial collapse and all this calamity. At least give us four to dig out of it," Clinton said.
6) "If we're wrong, throw us all out. But don't bring back the people that dug the hole," he said.
7) Democrats are facing a wave of voter anger over the struggling economy, and are hoping the Republicans will be saddled with unelectable Tea Party candidates whose ultraconservative policies may be too extreme for moderate voters.
8) Still, the Republicans appear poised to gain seats and possibly control of the House, and win seats in the Senate. This would position them to block virtually any Obama initiatives in the next two years. Polls show Democrats far less excited about the Nov. 2 elections than Republicans are, and independent voters are favoring the Republicans.
9) Clinton said it's important for Democrats to tell voters that "we didn't get out of the hole but we have stopped digging."
10) The United States has done better than almost any other major industrialized nation hit by the 2008 financial meltdown, recovering 70 percent of its lost income growth, he said. In contrast, Germany has recovered 60 percent, Japan 50 percent and Britain just 30 percent.
11) Clinton said Democrats shouldn't be asking for "gratitude" from voters because they haven't felt the effects yet, but they should be delivering the message that "it's too soon for you to go back to the policies that got us in trouble in the first place."
12) He said the Democrats must also emphasize to voters the impact of Republican promises such as rolling back the financial oversight bill and repeal the student loan reform bill and Obama's landmark health care bill.
13) "I think we ought to defend the stimulus," Clinton said. "The stimulus was $800 billion. The hole was $3 trillion. Two-thirds of the stimulus was not designed to get us out of the hole. It was designed to help us tread water so we didn't drown."
14) Democrats need to make the case that the stimulus provided a modest tax cut for modest income people, and grants to state and local governments to keep people from being laid off, mainly teachers and health care workers, he said.
15) "Only one-third went to creating jobs in infrastructure and clean energy, and every independent study shows that more jobs were created than the experts estimated, and that the unemployment rate would be 1.5 percent higher if we hand't done it," Clinton said.
16) Democrats also need to make the point that their priority now is to create jobs in small businesses, manufacturing and clean energy, he said.
17) "President Obama and the Democrats have an initiative in all three of these areas, and all the initiative has been entirely opposed by the Republicans running for Congress," Clinton said.
18) Where is the money going to come from?
19) Clinton said corporations have $1.6 trillion they haven't released for investment and banks have $1.8 trillion in cash, which means they have the capacity to loan $18 trillion.
20) "This whole world recession would be over if they loan that kind of money," he said.


White House, Dems see tax cut vote after election
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1) The White House and Democratic leaders in Congress said Sunday they would find a way to extend middle-class tax cuts after the November elections, unable to secure Republican backing before lawmakers break to campaign.
2) "One way or the other, we're going to get it done. And I believe the pressure is going to build among the American people" said David Axelrod, President Barack Obama's top political aide.
3) House Speaker Nancy Pelosi had suggested that a vote could be held this coming week before lawmakers leave town for the elections. But her deputy, Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, said Sunday that holding a vote wouldn't matter because the legislation is still languishing in the Senate under Republican objections.
4) Both parties are using the delay in a vote on the fate of these George W. Bush-era cuts at a time of record deficits as political ammunition this election season.
5) Democratic leaders have said they want to freeze tax rates for individuals making up to $200,000 and for families earning up to $250,000. Republicans, as well as some more conservative Democrats, want to extend all of Bush's income tax cuts permanently, even for the wealthiest of Americans.
6) Democrats think the climate for compromise will improve after the election. They will still need at least one Republican vote in the Senate to pass a bill.
7) "We are for making sure that the middle-class Americans do not get a tax increase. And we're going to make sure that happens," Hoyer said.
8) Republicans say they want a chance to debate extending the tax cuts beyond the middle class or else they will block the Democratic proposal.
9) "If she's not willing to have a fair and open debate, she should not count on our votes," House Republican Leader John Boehner said of Pelosi.
10) Axelrod said that kind of strong-arm tactic will hurt Republicans in this fall's election.
11) "They're going to have to explain to their constituents why they're holding up tax cuts for the middle class," Axelrod said. "And I think it's an untenable position to say, "We're going to allow your taxes to go up on January 1st unless the president agrees to give tax cuts to millionaires and billionaires."
12) The Senate's second-ranking Democrat said he hoped the atmosphere will have changed after the election and the impasse ends. "Occasionally one Republican will break ranks and help us," said Sen. Dick Durbin.
13) Still, Republicans have seized on the impasse in Congress by alleging that Democrats are contributing to consumer and business uncertainty.
14) "The Democrats have failed to lead this," said Rep. Kevin McCarthy. "They are going to want to leave the House without dealing with it. That uncertainty itself is keeping capital on the sidelines and keeping jobs from being created in America."
15) Boehner said that if the House leaves without blocking the tax increases, "it will be the most irresponsible thing that I've seen since I have been in Washington, D.C."
16) Axelrod spoke on ABC television's "This Week." Hoyer, Boehner and McCarthy appeared "Fox News Sunday." Durbin was on CNN's "State of the Union."


Senate Dems try to punish firms that export jobs
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1) U.S. companies that close domestic plants and open new ones overseas would see their taxes increase under a bill Democrats are bringing before the Senate Tuesday for one of the last votes before lawmakers head home for the November election.
2) Companies that import jobs to the U.S. would get new tax breaks.
3) Republicans and possibly a few Democrats are expected to block the bill on a procedural vote Tuesday. They say the tax increases would make U.S. companies less competitive.
4) Democrats orchestrated the vote to show sympathy with voters who believe American jobs are being lost because U.S. companies are outsourcing them overseas. With the economy still sluggish and unemployment hovering near 10 percent, Democrats hope to use the issue to score points with voters as they fight to maintain majorities in both the House and Senate.
5) "We're going to take away the incentives corporations have to send our jobs overseas, and give them powerful new incentives to keep American jobs in America," said Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid. "Right now our tax code actually rewards corporations for offshoring jobs. It helps them pay the costs of closing their plants and offers them tax breaks if they move production to other countries."
6) The bill would exempt companies that import jobs from paying the 6.2 percent Social Security payroll tax for new U.S. employees who replace overseas workers who had been doing similar work.
7) The two-year exemption would be available for workers hired over the next three years. The tax cut -- estimated to cost about $1 billion -- would be partially offset by tax increases on companies that move jobs overseas.
8) The bill would prohibit firms from taking deductions for business expenses associated with expanding operations in other countries. The bill would also increase taxes on U.S. companies that close domestic operations and expand foreign ones to import products to the U.S.
9) "We're just a few weeks away from an election," said Democratic Sen. Dick Durbin. "I wish this election would be a simple referendum on the debate we're having on the floor of the Senate right now."
10) Republicans argue the tax cuts would be difficult to administer and the tax increases would hurt international corporations that employ U.S. workers.
11) "Let's have votes on real job creation incentives and let's get out of this gamesmanship," said Sen. Chuck Grassley, the top Republican on the tax-writing Senate Finance Committee.
12) The tax increases total $369 million over the next decade, according to a preliminary estimate by the nonpartisan Joint Committee on Taxation. Combined with the tax cut, the bill would add an estimated $721 million to the budget deficit over the next decade.


White House: Stimulus law working as promised
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1) President Barack Obama's $800 billion-plus economic stimulus law may not be earning good grades with the American public, but the White House claims it is on track to produce the promised 3.5 million jobs.
2) Friday's report says about two-thirds of the stimulus money has been spent via tax cuts or government spending and remarkably little of the money has gone out fraudulently.
3) The stimulus bill was passed in February of last year to try to reverse the worst recession since the Great Depression of the 1930s. The White House and many economists credit it with giving the U.S. economy a needed jolt. But Republicans say it has been ineffective, citing a nationwide unemployment rate still hovering near 10 percent.
4) "We continue to show consistent progress on your commitment to create or save 3.5 million jobs by the end of calendar year 2010," Vice President Joe Biden wrote in presenting the report to Obama. "In addition, over 95 percent of working families have seen their taxes lowered."
5) The idea driving the stimulus bill was to inject demand into the economy through federal spending and tax cuts. The report says about $300 billion in spending has gone out for jobless benefits, government projects, and grants to states to ease layoffs of workers.
6) Another $243 billion has gone to businesses and individuals in tax cuts, including Obama's signature "Making Work Pay" tax credit of $400 for individuals and $800 for couples.
7) The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office says the legislation is responsible for as few as 1.4 million jobs and as many as 3.3 million. The report also cites a study by noted economists Mark Zandi and Alan Blinder, who estimated that unemployment would have spiked to 11.6 percent by the end of this year had the stimulus measure not been passed.
8) Still, frustrated voters give the stimulus program low marks in opinion polls, such as a CBS News survey in July in which 56 percent of respondents said it had no impact, while 18 percent said it actually made the economy worse.
9) Republicans say the measure is a leading example of wasteful spending by Washington Democrats. And they hammer a White House prediction that the measure would limit unemployment to 8 percent.
10) "The administration predicted that unemployment wouldn't rise above 8 percent if the trillion-dollar stimulus became law," said Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell. "We know how that turned out."
11) The stimulus is winding down in many ways. The $400-$800 tax credit expires at the end of the year, and there's little talk in Congress of renewing it as Obama wants. A small, but popular -- even Mississippi Republican Gov. Haley Barbour salutes it -- stimulus program that is credited with creating 250,000 subsidized jobs expired on Thursday, as Republicans blocked efforts to renew it.
12) But other pieces, such as unemployment insurance for the long-term jobless and aid to state governments and local school boards have been renewed this year after much wranging in Congress.
13) Some elements are still getting underway, such as high speed rail grants, federal building projects and billions to upgrade information technology for the health care sector.
14) Republicans have promised to try to roll back the measure if they take over control of Congress, but that effort is unlikely to succeed so long as Obama wields his veto pen.
15) According to the report, just 0.2 percent of stimulus awards are under investigation for fraud, far less than is typical of other federal programs.
16) But Republicans such as Sen. Tom Coburn point out dozens of kooky-sounding stimulus projects, such as $554,000 to replace the windows of a visitor center at Mount St. Helens in Washington State that was closed three years ago and nearly $90,000 to replace a five-year-old stretch of sidewalk in an Oklahoma town that led to a ditch.
17) But Friday's Commerce Department report on construction spending cites a big jump in federal buiding projects for being responsible for reversing a slide in construction spending.
18) Construction spending edged up 0.4 percent in August following a 1.4 percent drop in July, the Commerce Department reported Friday. While spending on government projects rose 2.5 percent, spending on private construction projects dropped to the lowest level in 12 years.
19) "Federal investments from the stimulus and other programs are protecting some construction workers from a devastating downturn in private construction activity," said Ken Simonson, the chief economist for the Associated General Contractors of America.


Obama promotes technology; Reps call for tax cuts
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1) President Barack Obama is promoting his administration's investments in clean energy technologies like wind and solar, arguing they produce jobs and are essential for the country's environment and economic security.
2) In his weekly radio and Internet address Saturday, a month out from crucial elections to determine control of Congress, the president also accused Republicans of wanting to scrap incentives for such projects.
3) "That's what's at stake in this debate," the president said. "We can go back to the failed energy policies that profited the oil companies but weakened our country. We can go back to the days when promising industries got set up overseas. Or we can go after new jobs in growing industries. And we can spur innovation and help make our economy more competitive."
4) Part of House Republicans' recently released "Pledge to America" calls for freezing spending from last year's stimulus bill. The stimulus included $90 billion for clean energy projects ranging from electric vehicles to solar loan guarantees, although a big chunk of the money has already been obligated or spent.
5) Obama cited a solar power plant breaking ground in the Mojave Desert this month thanks to government incentives.
6) "With projects like this one and others across this country, we are staking our claim to continued leadership in the new global economy," Obama said. "And we're putting Americans to work producing clean, homegrown American energy that will help lower our reliance on foreign oil and protect our planet for future generations."
7) Republicans disputed Obama's criticism, saying they support investments in renewable energy technologies.
8) Separately, Senate Minority leader Mitch McConnell took aim in the Republican radio response at government spending, accusing majority Democrats of "maxing out the national credit card on a failed stimulus bill and a government-run health care bill."
9) The Kentucky Republican also criticized Democrats for recessing Congress until after the elections without acting to extend the Bush-era tax cuts, which expire in January. Obama and Democratic leaders want to extend the tax cuts only for individuals making less than $200,000 and married couples making less than $250,000, while Republicans and some rank-and-file Democrats want to extend tax cuts for the wealthy as well, a costlier proposition.
10) "Whenever they were asked about this looming tax hike, they just blamed the Republicans," McConnell said. "They said that Republicans will be to blame for some people getting a tax hike because we didn't think anyone should get a tax hike. ... The fact is, the best way to help individuals and small businesses and the economy is to give them all the certainty that their taxes won't be going up at the end of the year."


US parties blame each other for economic crisis
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1) If you do not like the economy, blame President Barack Obama and Democrats because they ae making times tougher, Republicans are telling voters entering the four-week homestretch to an election they hope will return the party to power in Congress.
2) Look, Democrats say, it is the Republicans who caused the financial meltdown and recession. Do you want them to do it again? As bad as high unemployment, record home foreclosures and bankruptcies are, they would have been worse if the Republicans had succeeded in blocking financial and auto industry bailouts and Obama's stimulus plan, Democrats claim.
3) The dueling arguments will dominate the airwaves in the United States between now and Nov. 2 and an election that will turn on which message is believed. Because Democrats hold the White House and both the House of Representatives and the Senate, they are more likely to be most affected by an anti-establishment furor fueled by the ailing economy.
4) Each party suggests it holds the key to future prosperity.
5) Obama frequently takes credit for averting another Great Depression and for laying groundwork for a recovery, which millions of people have yet to see. He blames the worst economic downturn since the 1930s on George W. Bush-era policies and Republican intransigence. It is up to him and fellow Democrats "to clean up after their mess," he says at party rallies.
6) Republicans are playing to their base and trying to tap into the indignation evident in the largely conservative tea party movement. They blame soaring deficits and a near 10 percent joblessness on Obama and Democratic policies, which they say promote runaway spending and stifle investment and job creation.
7) The Republicans are seeking to turn the races into a referendum on Obama, much as Democrats did in 2006 when Bush was in the middle of his second term.
8) "The mood of the country isn't anti-incumbent; it's anti-taxes, anti-spending and anti-Obama," says House Republican leader John Boehner. He is in line to replace Democratic Rep. Nancy Pelosi as House speaker should Republicans regain control.
9) In the latest Associated Press-GfK poll, about twice as many blame Bush for the recession as blame Obama. But in Congress, Republicans and Democrats alike are seen as at fault by about four in 10 adults, and Republicans hold a narrow edge as more trusted to handle the economy.
10) Republicans are expected to make big gains in November. Democratic leaders are having difficulty holding their troops together. So Congress left for four weeks of campaigning with plenty of work undone, including the federal budget and the fate of Bush-era tax cuts that are set to expire Jan. 1.
11) Nineteen months into his presidency, Obama can point to a series of legislative accomplishments that under any other circumstances would be considered remarkable:
12) --the $814 billion stimulus program, which passed shortly after he took office.
13) --landmark overhauls of health care and financial regulation.
14) --a major education bill.
15) --a $30 billion fund, enacted this month, to help small businesses.
16) --overseeing a $700 billion bailout program for troubled financial institutions that was started under Bush.
17) --helping complete the rescue of automakers General Motors Corp. and Chrysler LLP.
18) The White House argues that Obama gets little credit for such an impressive run, accomplished with little or no Republican support.
19) Polls show widespread public skepticism toward the stimulus program, anger over the Wall Street and auto bailouts, mistrust of government in general, fears that jobs will fail to return and worries about a national debt that has grown to $13.6 trillion, more than the annual U.S. gross domestic product.
20) A White House report Friday claimed the stimulus program was on track to create or save 3.5 million jobs by the end of December and that about two-thirds of the money had been committed in government spending and tax cuts.
21) The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office, by contrast, estimates the program is responsible for as few as 1.4 million jobs and as many as 3.3 million. Republicans scoff at the administration's use of the "jobs saved" category in its totals and point out that when the stimulus was passed, the White House said it would help hold unemployment at under 8 percent; it is now 9.6 percent.
22) With partisan rhetoric flying, Republicans and Democrats present starkly different perspectives of what is at stake.
23) Putting off a decision on the expiring tax cuts was a high-risk strategy that could backfire for Democrats. If no agreement is reached in a postelection session of Congress, taxes will rise on Jan. 1 for nearly every household. Neither party wants to be associated with that.
24) Obama and most Democratic leaders favor letting the cuts, passed in 2001 and 2003, lapse for the rich, but continue for everyone else. Republicans suggest that could wreck the fragile economic recovery; they want all the cuts extended.
25) The expiring tax cuts are not only on wage income. They also cover interest, dividends, capital gains and large inheritances. Relief from the marriage penalty would disappear, and the per-child tax deduction would slide from $1,000 back to $500.
26) Not knowing what tax rates will be just a few months from now adds to "the collective nervousness," said Mark Zandi, chief economist at Moody's Analytics. "With each passing day, the uncertainty increases."
27) Because neither party wants to be blamed for raising everyone's taxes in hard times, some compromise seems likely before year's end, perhaps a temporary extension for all the cuts. Efforts to slash taxes on businesses, although supported by Obama and both parties, have stalled without finding a way to avoid adding to the government's debt.
28) Democrats kept scolding Republicans as "the party of no," and so the Republicans rolled out a "Pledge to America" last month. Full of rhetorical flourishes modeled on the Declaration of Independence and their party's 1994 "Contract With America," this new statement of principles calls for extending all the Bush tax cuts while offering vague spending cuts. Nonessential government spending would return to 2008 levels, before Obama's election, according to the blueprint. The "Contract With America" was credited largely with spearheading the Republicans' takeover of the both chambers of Congress in 1995.
29) "Putting spending, putting the policy of economic growth in place and cleaning up the way Congress works is not only a stark contrast to this president and this Congress. It's a contrast to the way we conducted ourselves a decade ago. We spent too much money. We lost our way," said Wisconsin Rep. Paul Ryan, a rising Republican star.
30) Both parties suffer divisions within their ranks over goals and priorities.
31) Senate Republicans, for instance, did not join their House counterparts in lining up behind the agenda. Some Republicans have criticized it for lacking specifics on how to reduce deficits while extending tax cuts.
32) Fiscally conservative Democrats are resisting pleas by Obama, Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid to extend the Bush middle-class tax cuts but allow taxes to rise on households making more than $250,000 a year.
33) Neither party "is getting a clear strategy or message together," said American University political scientist James Thurber. "The election will be about anger, with not a lot of content."
34) Economists disagree on the effectiveness of Obama's stimulus program. Much of the money has gone into tax cuts and helping hard-pressed states instead of directly creating jobs.
35) "The stimulus bill was a positive, but we didn't get nearly the bang for the buck that we should have," said David Wyss, chief economist for Standard & Poor's in New York.
36) "The financial regulation bill did fix some of the stuff that needed to be fixed, but it failed to fix a lot that should have been fixed and tried to fix what wasn't broken. And the health care reform concentrated on improving coverage and did nothing for cost control."
37) As for Republicans, he conjured up a reference to Harry Potter's school for wizards.
38) "I frankly haven't seen any recommendations from them that would have significantly helped," Wyss said. "They're all in favor of cutting taxes, not cutting spending, and balancing the budget by I guess Hogwarts Economics."


Stimulus spending looms large in US elections
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1) Republicans threatening to erase Democratic majorities in Congress have gained traction among voters with claims that President Barack Obama's $814 billion economic stimulus was a waste of money that did little to help the economy
2) In fact, the program has done more than Republicans claim -- but less than Democrats want to admit in the face of a nearly stagnant economy and high unemployment.
3) Republicans are poised to take a majority in the House of Representatives in the Nov. 2 elections and could take hold of the Senate as well, fueled by voter anger with government. That would put a damper on Obama's ambitious legislative agenda in the final two years of his presidency.
4) The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office reported last month that 1.4 million to 3.3 million people are employed because of the program, a blow to Republican claims that the stimulus failed to increase employment.
5) The stimulus program has kept many state and local governments fiscally viable, and the money has been a boon to the construction industry, financing thousands of road and bridge projects. In other areas -- tax cuts, unemployment checks, health care and food aid for the poor -- the stimulus has provided some relief to millions suffering in a tough economy.
6) Nevertheless, broad skepticism remains within the U.S. public that the stimulus package helped the nation's economy, according to a new AP-GfK poll. A plurality of likely voters say the bill had no real effect on it. About three in 10 say it did more to damage the economy while about the same share think it helped to bring about improvements.
7) Most Democrats say it did more to help, the AP-GfK poll found, while a narrow majority of Republican voters think it did even more damage than would have happened without it. Those with doubts about the bill's effectiveness are far more apt to say they trust Republicans over Democrats to do a better job handling the economy.
8) Voters also still are skeptical of the price tag. A Washington Post-ABC News poll this month found that 68 percent considered the stimulus money "wasted," with only 29 percent describing it as mostly well spent.
9) That perception -- largely fueled by Republican politicians -- has turned the stimulus into an effective political stick against Democrats:
10) --In Colorado, Democratic Sen. Michael Bennet and three House Democrats are struggling to fend off challengers who routinely point out their votes for the stimulus. Out-of-state interest groups allied with Republicans televise ads calling it a failure and a spending spree.
11) --Rep. Jim Marshall, a conservative Georgia Democrat who has resisted vigorous challenges from Republicans before, may be undone this year by a challenger whose ads conclude: "Times are hard. Jim Marshall made them worse."
12) --In southeast Michigan, Democratic Rep. Gary Peters ousted a Republican incumbent two years ago. This election, Republican challenger Rocky Raczkowski campaigns on the stimulus daily with a blunt, if unscientific, assessment: "It ended up being super-duper government waste."
13) --In Texas, 20-year incumbent Rep. Chet Edwards told The Dallas Morning News this month his vote for the stimulus might cost him re-election.
14) Obama told voters at a town hall meeting Sunday in Elyria, Ohio, that the stimulus was intended not to increase the size of government, as Republicans allege, but to help put people back to work.
15) "I mean, I understand how people have become mistrustful of government," Obama said. "But it can't be this constant ideological argument. People need help. We need to provide them a helping hand."
16) Still, the stimulus has proved a powerful weapon in the Republican arsenal because its benefits are unclear for many voters, said political scientist Stephen Voss at the University of Kentucky.
17) "There is a general sense that Democrats got to Washington and busted open the piggy bank, squandered everything, and we haven't seen much improvement as a result," Voss said.
18) A photo of Obama hangs on the wall in CoraFaye's Cafe, a short walk from the Denver museum where Obama signed into law the most sweeping U.S. economic package.
19) Customers savoring fried chicken and cornbread roll their eyes when asked whether the stimulus made a difference.
20) "Are you kidding?" said Donn Headley Sr., a 61-year-old whose heating and air conditioning company closed last year because for lack of business.
21) Owner Priscilla Smith said she is an Obama fan but does not think the stimulus helped business. People are eating out less, and except for a new beauty parlor next door, there's not a lot of additional shops popping up on her busy street.
22) "The jury's still out on the stimulus for me, I guess," Smith said. "I don't see it directly -- not yet, anyway."
23) More worrisome for Democrats are voters like Kendra Jassmann, a 44-year-old mother of two in the Denver suburb of Aurora, who received stimulus money to help with rent after she was injured and had to quit work. A few months after a local charity started helping with her rent, the charity told her its stimulus money had run out and she was on her own.
24) Jassmann says she may be homeless by Christmas.
25) "I thought the stimulus was going to help," Jassmann said as she packed boxes. "I see the banks, the rich people, getting help, but I don't see us getting it. It's unbelievable."


Analysis: Obama seeks votes among the unemployed
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1) Economy is destiny for the Democrats and President Barack Obama, who began his campaign week in Rhode Island, where unemployment is measured at 11.5 percent. He has stops planned in Pennsylvania (at 9 percent), Illinois (9.9 percent) and Ohio (10 percent) before Election Day next Tuesday.
2) Just as striking as the jobless figures is the calculation that those are among the states where the president might make a difference in the final days of the campaign, perhaps helping salvage a handful of key races for the beleaguered Democrats. He won those four states and their 70 electoral votes in 2008, some handily, some not, and will need them again in his re-election campaign in 2012.
3) On a one-day trip to the smallest U.S. state on Monday, Obama presented a pair of arguments to voters still making up their minds.
4) The first asserts that the Republicans drove the economy into the proverbial ditch over the eight years of the Bush administration and now offer a return trip to the wreckage. The second, more forward-looking, says that due to policies his administration and Democrats in Congress put into place -- no thanks to the Republicans -- improvement is in the air.
5) "It needs some body work, needs a tuneup. But it's pointing in the right direction. The engine is turning and it's ready to go," he said at a fundraiser in Rhode Island, where joblessness is fourth highest in the U.S.
6) Earlier, Obama described a factory he had just toured in the same upbeat terms in which he wants voters to view the overall economy.
7) "Like most small businesses, American Cord and Webbing has gone through some tough times in the past few years," he said. "Early in 2009, they lost customers and had to lay off some workers. ... And then invested in new products and pursued new customers. And over the past year, they've hired back all the workers they had to lay off. And today business is going well."
8) Ascendant Republicans seem content to let Obama try to explain the past and peer into the economic future.
9) They focus on the present in the form of a question -- Where are the jobs? -- first asked months ago by Rep. John Boehner, the Ohioan in line to become speaker of the House if his party wins control.
10) In fact, there is no disputing that Republicans opposed, slowed and obstructed legislation that Obama sought and Democrats passed.
11) Call it crass political opportunism, as Obama does, or principled disagreement, as Republicans do, the result was the same. Trench warfare gripped Congress for nearly two years amid high unemployment and a wave of home foreclosures, bank failures and personal bankruptcies. And now comes a political campaign in which the economy is the central issue.
12) The partisan lines firmed up quickly after the 2008 elections.
13) In the House, nary a Republican voted for the $814 billion economic stimulus bill that passed in February 2009. In the Senate, the Republicans sent a signal of opposition, erecting a 60-vote requirement that Obama and the Democrats were able to overcome only with the help of three renegade Republicans.
14) Republicans attacked the bill as unnecessary federal spending, choosing to overlook that it included $400 tax cuts for most individuals and $800 for couples. "The bill that was about jobs, jobs, jobs has turned into a bill that's about spending, spending, spending," Boehner said moments before it passed the House, contemptuously letting a copy of the 1,071-page measure fall to the floor.
15) Republican Party Chairman Michael Steele spoke scathingly of a bill that expanded unemployment benefits, food stamps and other programs designed to ease the impact of the worst recession since the 1930s. "The Democrat plan focuses on putting Americans on the public dole," he said.
16) The stage set, Republicans and Democrats played out their roles on the big items that followed -- the health care bill, a measure to regulate Wall Street, small business legislation and more.
17) Each time a bill passed over strong opposition, Obama and Democrats hailed their triumphs, Republicans called it more big government spending. Joblessness rose, impervious to political argument.
18) Republican critics claimed cause and effect, which is easy to argue and all but impossible politically to refute.
19) Democrats said that they had inherited an economy in worse shape than even they expected and that without their policies, unemployment would be even higher.
20) "In the six months before I took office, we lost 4 million jobs in America," Obama said at a fundraising event on Monday. "We lost 750,000 the month I took office, 600,000 the month after that, 600,000 the month after that."
21) To sign the stimulus bill 21 months ago, the president went to Denver, Colorado.
22) "I don't want to pretend that today marks the end of our economic troubles," he said. "But today does mark the beginning of the end."
23) At the time he spoke, unemployment stood at 7.6 percent.
24) In the months since, it has risen by nearly one-third.


Voters poised to punish Democrats in US election
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1) Angry American voters were poised to deliver a heavy blow Tuesday to Barack Obama's Democrats in elections likely to cost the party control of at least one chamber of Congress.
2) Just two years after Obama swept into office on a promise of hope and change, voters discouraged by the dismal U.S. economy were expected to hand Republicans control of the House of Representatives. Republicans were also expected to make gains in the Senate, with an outside shot at capturing it.
3) In the campaign's final hours, Democrats and Republicans pressed their supporters to vote, especially in states with toss-up Senate contests, such as Pennsylvania, Nevada, Illinois, Colorado and Washington state.
4) "We're hoping now for a fresh start with the American people," said Republican chairman Michael Steele.
5) A big Republican win would derail Obama's agenda, potentially leaving Washington in political gridlock unless the president can find common ground with some of his fiercest critics. Domestic issues such as Obama's tax and spending plans would be most affected, but the repercussions would be felt internationally too, on issues such as climate change, trade and arms control.
6) The vote will shape American politics as Obama looks toward running for re-election in 2012 and Republicans begin the process of selecting a candidate to oppose him.
7) Changes at the top of Congress are likely. If Republicans gain the 40 seats needed to win the 435-member House, John Boehner would replace Nancy Pelosi as speaker, making him second in line to the presidency.
8) Even if Republicans fail to pick up the 10 seats they need to win the 100-seat Senate, Democrats may need a new majority leader. Harry Reid faces a tough challenge from Sharron Angle in Nevada. Angle is a favorite of the ultraconservative tea party movement that has jolted American politics with its call for a drastically smaller government and lower taxes.
9) Beyond the congressional votes, Republicans are expected to score big gains in 37 gubernatorial elections and in votes for state legislatures. Those races are important as states redraw congressional districts following the 10-year census.
10) America's political environment has changed drastically since 2008, when Democrats expanded their majorities in both chambers, riding on voters' economic anxiety, their weariness with George W. Bush's presidency and Obama's popularity. Some wondered if Republicans would need decades to recover.
11) But the anti-incumbent mood and economic worries didn't go away and, with Democrats now controlling the White House as well as Congress, public anger is directed at them. The amorphous tea party movement has been the clearest voice of that rage, energizing Republicans even as it has toppled some party veterans.
12) Republicans have also benefited from changes in political spending regulations stemming from a Supreme Court ruling that made it easier for corporations, unions and other groups to spend money on elections.
13) Democrats say they inherited an economy in dire condition and managed to prevent a financial breakdown and the collapse of the U.S. auto industry. But they find it hard winning elections by arguing that things could have been worse.
14) Obama's signature achievement -- a massive health care overhaul -- has not helped his party. Liberals criticize it as too meek and conservatives as too expensive and intrusive.
15) Democrats have also been hurt by Obama's declining popularity. While he was once lauded as dynamic and inspirational, he is now criticized as overly academic and aloof. Republican candidates look to tie their rivals to Obama while some Democrats tried to distance themselves from him.
16) "This election is entirely about him and this big majority in Congress and what they've been doing for the last two years," Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell said in an interview with The Associated Press.
17) Among the seats that Democrats could lose is the one in Illinois formerly held by Obama. A win there by Republican Mark Kirk over Democrat Alexi Giannoulias would have huge symbolic importance to Republicans and greatly improve their prospects for capturing the Senate.
18) Besides winning Illinois and Reid's seat in Nevada, Republicans probably need to capture seats now held by Democrats in Pennsylvania, Washington and Colorado to have a shot at controlling the Senate.
19) Less likely, but still possible, is a Republican win in California, where veteran Sen. Barbara Boxer faces former Hewlett Packard chief executive Carly Fiorina.
20) The Democrats' best chance of capturing a Republican seat may be in Alaska, where the Republican vote could be split. Joe Miller, a tea party favorite supported by former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, won the party nomination from the incumbent, Lisa Murkowski. But Murkowski has stayed in the race as a write-in candidate, creating an opening for Democrat Scott McAdams if the conservative vote is split.
21) It is one of several races in which the tea party's success in displacing traditional Republicans could work to Democrats' advantage. In Nevada, Reid might have been further down in the polls if he faced a challenger other than Angle, whom Democrats cast as too extreme.
22) In one of the most widely watched races, Democrats are likely to hold onto Vice President Joe Biden's old seat in Delaware, because Republicans nominated tea party-backed Christine O'Donnell instead of a more moderate candidate. O'Donnell's quirky comments in old interviews made her the target of late-night comedians. Her attempts to defend herself haven't helped. In one TV ad, she declared, "I'm not a witch."
23) Democrats had their own outrageous candidates. In the coal-mining state of West Virginia, Senate hopeful Gov. Joe Manchin took up a rifle in a TV ad to show voters his opposition to his own party's climate change legislation. Manchin was seen loading a hunting rifle and firing a shot into a target labeled "Cap and Trade Bill."
24) Still, for all the attention given to outlandish candidates and the country's anti-establishment mood, most incumbents are likely to be reelected.
25) And some of the new lawmakers will be very much part of the mainstream. Among the Republican Senate candidates favored to win are Rob Portman, a top trade official in the George W. Bush administration who is running in Ohio, and Dan Coats, a former ambassador to Germany, in Indiana.


Deal or punt decision on Bush tax cuts is Obama ' s
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1) Will Congress extend the 2001 tax cuts into 2011 in the weeks after Tuesday's election or let the automatic increase start cutting into most people's paychecks early next year?
2) It's really pretty much up to President Barack Obama.
3) Despite the punishment his fellow Democrats are expected to take from voters, Obama has shown no sign of retreating from his insistence that families and small businesses with incomes above $250,000 return to higher, Bill Clinton-era tax levels starting Jan. 1.
4) But Obama also has dodged the question whether he would veto a bill that extends the tax cuts for everyone.
5) The expiring tax cuts were enacted in 2001. They include lower income tax rates, a $1,000 per-child tax credit, relief for married couples, and lower taxes on investments and large estates.
6) Many longtime Congress-watchers think it'll come down to two options: extending the full roster of former President George W. Bush's tax cuts for a year in a lame-duck session that opens Nov. 15, or punting the issue until next year for Obama and a new, more Republican Congress to figure out.
7) Republicans are hoping to ride a wave of economic fears and anti-Washington anger to a possible takeover of the House and at least several more seats in the Senate. They're certain to stand firm on their promise to extend the Bush-era tax cuts in their entirety. Democrats were divided on the issue even before the election.
8) About three dozen mostly moderate House Democrats and a few Senate Democrats already oppose Obama's position on raising rates for the wealthy. So do Gov. Joe Manchin, a West Virginia Democrat, and Chris Coons, a Delaware Democrat, who would immediately join the Senate if elected Tuesday. If the question were actually put to votes in Congress, the Republicans might win.
9) From a purely political perspective, Obama can solidify his standing with the Democratic base by fighting for his position or appeal to the middle by showing an ability to work with Republicans.
10) "The most likely outcome is a one-year extension of everything," said Democratic lobbyist Steve Elmendorf. "The second most likely outcome is nothing happens."
11) "The middle class has to get more than a few Tootsie rolls in their treat bag for Halloween here. We just can't keep this policy of having the wealthiest get the biggest chunk of these tax cuts," said Sen. Amy Klobuchar, a Minnesota Democrat.
12) Appearing with her on CBS' "Face the Nation," Republican Rep. Peter King of New York said "it's only the last few weeks we've heard any talk of a compromise at all."
13) Elmendorf said Obama should cut a deal because letting the tax cuts expire would be a political disaster. "Showing that he can work with Republicans in the postelection atmosphere is going to be important, and this is the first way to do it," he said.
14) Sen. John Cornyn, a Texas Democrat, has envisioned a deal that continues all the Bush tax cuts "for the near term, perhaps the next couple of years. Perhaps there's a bipartisan solution there."
15) Regardless of how the battle turns out this fall, the Bush tax cuts will be in effect for purposes of next year's filing season. If the tax cuts expire as scheduled on Dec. 31 but are renewed early next year, workers might see smaller paychecks for only a while, assuming the Internal Revenue Service issues withholding tables that reflect a return to pre-Bush tax rates.
16) That could mean about $50 less spending money each week for the household earning $50,000 and almost $90 less per week for the family making $100,000.
17) Washington-based tax expert Ken Klies predicts that once Congress acts, the IRS quickly will rejigger the withholding tables so taxpayers recover the earlier higher withholdings.
18) If the tax cuts were allowed to expire indefinitely, a typical family of four with a household income of $50,000 a year would face $2,900 more in taxes in 2011, according to Deloitte Tax LLP, a tax consulting firm. The same family making $100,000 a year would see its taxes rise by $4,500.
19) Equally problematic for taxpayers if Congress doesn't act is the alternative minimum tax, enacted four decades ago to make sure the wealthy pay at least some tax.
20) Congress makes temporary fixes every year or two to prevent it from hitting middle- and upper-middle-class families. The last fix expired in January. Without another, 26 million families would face tax bills in April averaging $2,600 higher, according to congressional estimates.
21) Whatever the decision, it will have big political and policy implications. Making all the tax cuts permanent would add about $3.9 trillion to the national debt over the next decade. Obama's plan to make the wealthy pay more would reduce that added debt by about $700 billion.
22) "You can argue it either way, but I think the first issue for the president will probably be restoring confidence in him amongst his base," said pollster Andrew Kohut of the Pew Research Center for the People and the Press. "On the other hand, he has to address independents, who are more inclined to want to see compromise and the branches of government working together."
23) "Disfunction means the only thing that can get done is the easiest thing, and the easiest thing is a one-year extension," said Republican strategist John Feehery, a former longtime Capitol Hill aide.
24) Vice President Joe Biden seemed to suggest a willingness to compromise in an Oct. 22 interview on Bloomberg TV.
25) Asked whether the administration was willing to compromise on the $250,000 threshold, Biden said, "I think it is important we get the middle-class tax cut made permanent. And so I think we are open to speak to the Republicans, if they really mean it, if they are talking about deficit reduction, if they are willing to move."
26) That's probably a debate for next year, not the lame-duck session.


Republicans vow to reduce size of government
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1) President Barack Obama sought Thursday to move past the political thumping in congressional elections as he called together Democrat and Republican leaders later this month, hoping to set a new course.
2) The fresh bid for bipartisanship, however, drew a sharp response from the Republican leader in the Senate who said the party wanted to make sure Obama served only one term.
3) Kentucky Sen. Mitch McConnell took the podium at the conservative Heritage Foundation to emphasize again that Republicans were determined to defeat Obama in the 2012 election.
4) He said the only way Republicans in Congress can achieve their goals is "to put someone in the White House who won't veto" a repeal of Obama's health care reform, spending cuts and shrinking the government.
5) While Republicans gained enormous strength by taking control of the House, they still are the minority in the Senate, meaning that measures adopted in the lower chamber likely will never come to a vote in the Senate.
6) What's more, Obama retains his veto power on all legislation and the Republicans have insufficient votes to override.
7) The Nov. 18 meeting -- that calls together McConnell, House Speaker-in-Waiting John Boehner, outgoing Speaker Nancy Pelosi, and Senate majority leader Harry Reid -- will be closely watched for signs of civility between Obama and his two frequent Republican antagonists.
8) As the Republican leadership and Obama circle one another looking for advantage in what is sure to be a testy two years between the Congress and White House, exit polling of voters offered deeper clues into what drove Americans when the cast ballots on Tuesday, producing the biggest power shift in the House in 70 years.
9) For example, the polling done for The Associated Press showed Americans 65 and older and political independents -- two of the most critical U.S. voting blocs -- led the way in the drubbing administered to Obama's Democrats.
10) Obama acknowledged the Democrats took a "shellacking," and the president blamed himself for the weak economic recovery that he said was the root of poor showing.
11) But exit polling painted a different picture.
12) Seniors are the most reliable group of American voters and 59 percent of them voted Republican in the House contests. They said Obama's health care overhaul was the driving factor, with more than half of that group saying the measure should be repealed.
13) The independents said the didn't like the way Obama was handling his job and took it out on Democrats, voting Republican as a group for the first time since 1998. More than half said the president's policies hurt the country. The number of independents who declared their vote represented opposition to Obama more than doubled those who said they supported him.
14) Tellingly, voters 65 and older were major supporters of the ultraconservative tea party movement, the loose amalgam of organizations that fueled the angry reject of the Democrats with calls for smaller government and lower taxes. Older voters were likeliest to consider themselves tea party supporters, with almost half -- 49 percent -- saying they back the conservative movement. Nine in 10 of them voted Republican on Tuesday.
15) Boehner, who is expected to become House speaker, echoed those concerns and demands, saying it's "time for us to roll up our sleeves and get to work." He said the agenda the Republicans will push includes efforts to cut government spending and create jobs.
16) As voting returns solidified Wednesday in races that had been too close to call, Sen. Michael Bennet narrowly defeated tea party-backed Republican Ken Buck to win a hard-fought Senate seat in Colorado. It had been viewed as a prime opportunity for the Republicans.
17) Two Senate races remained undecided: Alaska and Washington state.
18) While the outcomes of some House races still were not known, the 60-seat Republican gain was far more than what was needed for a majority. About two dozen races remained too close to call. The Republicans' victory eclipsed the 54-seat pickup by the so-called "revolution" that retook the House in 1994 for the first time in 40 years and the 56-seat Republican gain in 1946.
19) All 435 seats in the House were on Tuesday's ballot, plus 37 in the Senate. Also, 37 states chose governors.


Republicans assert new strength, target Obama
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1) Congressional Republicans asserted their newfound political strength Thursday, vowing to seek a quick $100 billion in federal spending cuts and force repeated votes on repeal of President Barack Obama's prized health care overhaul.
2) At the White Houses, Obama said his administration was ready to work across party lines in a fresh attempt to "focus on the economy and jobs" as well as attack waste in government. In a show of bipartisanship, he invited top lawmakers to the White House at mid-month, and the nation's newly elected governors two weeks later.
3) In a speech at the conservative Heritage Foundation, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell said the only way to achieve key party legislative goals such as ending government bailouts, cutting spending and repealing the health care law "is to put someone in the White House who won't veto" them.
4) Rep. John Boehner in line to become the new speaker of the House, brushed aside talk that the No. 1 Republican goal was to make sure Obama is defeated at the polls in 2012. "That's Senator McConnell's statement and his opinion," he told ABC, adding that his own goals included cutting spending and creating jobs.
5) Obama has ruled out accepting repeal of the health care measure, and Senate Democrats responded quickly to McConnell.
6) "What Sen. McConnell is really saying is, "Republicans want to let insurance companies go back to denying coverage to people with pre-existing conditions, let them go back to charging women twice as much for the same coverage as men, and let them push millions of seniors back into the Medicare doughnut hole," said Jim Manley, spokesman for Majority Leader Harry Reid.
7) The maneuvering unfolded two days after elections that swept Democrats out of power in the House and cut deeply into their Senate majority, scripting an uncertain new era of divided government for the final two years of Obama's term.
8) In the House, Boehner asked members of the Republican rank and file to support him for speaker when the new Congress convenes in early January. His victory is a formality, given the huge 60-member gain he engineered as party leader.
9) Nor did there appear to be any competition to Rep. Eric Cantor of Virginia as majority leader, the second-most powerful position in the House.
10) Among Democrats, Speaker Nancy Pelosi has yet to disclose her plans. The most recent speaker whose party lost its majority, Rep. Dennis Hastert of Illinois, resigned from Congress a few months later.
11) Even before the new Congress comes into office, the old one is scheduled to meet the week after next for a post-election session.
12) In remarks to reporters after meeting with his Cabinet at the White House, Obama urged lawmakers to avert an income tax increase that could take effect Jan 1, ratify a new arms-reduction treaty with Russia, provide unemployment aid to victims of the recession and extend expiring tax breaks for business.
13) Congress also must enact a spending bill that permits government to remain in operation, and the issue already has emerged as a likely flash point in the post-election meeting of Congress.
14) Many House Republicans campaigned on a platform of cutting government spending to levels in effect in 2008, before enactment of an economic stimulus bill and other increases that Democrats passed. Rep. Jerry Lewis of California, the senior Republican on the House Appropriations Committee, notified Democrats during the day that Republican lawmakers will try and implement the cuts when Congress considers the spending bill needed to keep most agencies running for the next eight months. The estimated savings total $100 billion.
15) At a news conference on Wednesday, the president signaled he was ready to jettison his campaign-long insistence that tax cuts be extended for earners at incomes up to $250,000 but be allowed to expire for higher-income people.
16) White House press secretary Robert Gibbs made the hint explicit on Thursday. He said extending tax cuts permanently for upper-income earners "is something the president does not believe is a good idea," but that Obama would be open to the possibility of extending the cuts for one or two years.
17) Republicans responded coolly to the overture.


Obama blames poor communication for elections rout
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1) President Barack Obama is acknowledging in the wake of this week's election rout of his party that he hasn't been able to successfully promote his economic-rescue message to anxious Americans.
2) Republicans rode a wave of voter discontent and energy from the ultraconservative tea party movement to easily take control of the House of Representatives on Tuesday, while Democrats narrowly held onto the Senate, scripting an uncertain new era of divided government for the final two years of Obama's term.
3) Obama has not blamed his policies for the loss, but rather a lack of communication with the American people. The president said in an interview with CBS television that he "stopped paying attention" to the leadership style he displayed during his run for the presidency.
4) He also said he recognizes now that "leadership is not just legislation," and that "it's a matter of persuading people. And giving them confidence and bringing them together. And setting a tone. And making an argument that people can understand."
5) "And I think that - we haven't always been successful at that," he said. "And I take personal responsibility for that. And it's something that I've got to examine closely as I go forward."
6) The president recorded the interview, to be broadcast in full on Sunday night, before leaving on a 10-day trip to Asia.
7) Before departing Friday for India, Obama said the latest unemployment report -- showing a net gain of 151,000 jobs in the U.S. last month -- was encouraging but "not good enough." In a gesture toward resurgent Republicans, the president said he was open to "any idea, any proposal" to get the economy growing faster.
8) Congressional Republicans are already asserting their newfound political strength, vowing to seek a quick $100 billion in federal spending cuts and force repeated votes on repeal of Obama's prized health care overhaul when they take control of the House of Representatives in the new session in January.
9) Democrats had held sway in both the House and Senate since the 2006 election. The balloting Tuesday put House Republican Leader John Boehner into position to be the next speaker, succeeding Democrat Nancy Pelosi. Rep. Eric Cantor, a Republican, seems set to take position of House majority leader.
10) The parties will have to work together to make progress on such vexing issues as the economy, energy, immigration, education and the war in Afghanistan.
11) At the White House, Obama said Thursday his administration was ready to work across party lines in a fresh attempt to "focus on the economy and jobs" as well as attack waste in government. In a show of bipartisanship, he invited Republicans and Democrats to the White House at mid-month, and newly elected governors two weeks later.
12) Though Obama has signaled willingness to compromise with Republicans on issues such as taxes, he has ruled out accepting repeal of the health care measure.
13) Even before the new Congress comes into office, the old one is scheduled to meet the week after next for a post-election session in a so-called "lame-duck" session.
14) Obama has urged lawmakers to avert an income tax increase that could take effect Jan. 1, ratify a new arms-reduction treaty with Russia, provide unemployment aid to victims of the recession and extend expiring tax breaks for business.
15) Congress also must enact a spending bill that permits government to remain in operation, and the issue already has emerged as a likely flash point.
16) Many House Republicans campaigned on a platform of cutting government spending to levels in effect in 2008, before Obama's economic stimulus bill. Rep. Jerry Lewis, the senior Republican on the powerful House Appropriations Committee, notified Democrats that Republican lawmakers will try to implement the cuts -- an estimated savings of $100 billion -- when Congress considers the spending bill.
17) However, Democrats got a bit of good news Thursday, as one of two undecided Senate races, in Washington state, went their way, giving them 53 seats in the 100-seat chamber.
18) The final undecided Senate race is in Alaska, where officials were sorting out write-in votes for incumbent Sen. Lisa Murkowski, who ran as an independent after losing the Republican primary to tea party-backed Joe Miller.


Obama talks of need for compromise
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1) President Barack Obama says the government must bring down America's deficit and avoid the pending expiration of tax cuts for the middle class, two areas where Democrats and Republicans agree.
2) But making tax cuts for wealthier Americans passed during the Bush administration permanent is not fair and would require the U.S. to borrow another $700 billion from other countries to pay for it, Obama said in his weekly radio and online address Saturday.
3) It Obama's his first weekly address since Republicans won control of the House of Representatives on Tuesday and winnowed the Democrats' majority in the Senate.
4) The president urged Republicans to work with him and reach agreement on extending tax cuts.
5) "The campaign season is over," Obama said. "And it's time to focus on our shared responsibilities and work together."
6) Obama's long-standing position has been that individuals with incomes less than $200,000 a year and couples making less than $250,000 should continue to enjoy the tax cuts enacted during George W. Bush's presidency but that those making more should return to the higher rates before Bush took office. The tax cuts, enacted in 2001 and 2003, are due to expire Dec. 31.
7) "We'd be digging ourselves into an even deeper fiscal hole and passing the burden onto our children," he said, referring to permanent extension of the tax cuts for wealthier Americans.
8) Republicans said this week they strongly favor renewing all the Bush tax cuts, given the struggling economy.
9) The White House said this week after stinging congressional elections for Democrats that Obama is willing to consider a compromise for a one- or two-year extension of all the tax cuts, even for families earning more than $250,000 a year.
10) Obama has invited Republican and Democratic congressional leaders to meet with him on the economy and jobs after he returns from his 10-day trip to Asia.
11) "I believe there's room for us to compromise and get it done together," Obama said in his address Saturday.
12) Sen.-elect Marco Rubio of Florida said in the Republican address that lawmakers owe it to the voters to make a course correction from the spending and deficits of the last two years.
13) "The past two years provided a frightening glimpse at what could become of our great nation if we continue down the current path: wasteful spending, a growing debt and a government reaching ever further into our lives, even into our health care decisions."
14) Rubio said during the campaign that he opposes any compromise that does not extend current tax policies to all taxpayers. He said he does not support any tax increases with the economy in its current condition.


Recovery lagging, Republicans reap benefits
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1) All but wiped out in 2008, Republicans groping for a comeback strategy determined there would be no swift return to economic health under incoming President Barack Obama.
2) They soon also agreed privately to oppose his major legislation.
3) Over the next two years, they criticized, attacked, voted against and then attacked some more as Democrats struggled to pass an economic stimulus measure, health care reform legislation and a bill to rein in Wall Street. Unemployment, 7.4 percent when Obama took office, soared to 10.1 percent, then barely budged for months.
4) On Election Day, those calculations made in Republican suites in the Capitol reaped dividends that must have seemed almost unimaginable even to the architects of their strategy: a gain of 60-plus House seats, enough to win a majority and end two years of Democratic dominance in Congress, as well as six new seats in the Senate.
5) "By sticking together in principled opposition to policies we viewed as harmful, we made it perfectly clear to the American people where we stood. And we gave voters a real choice," said Mitch McConnell, the Senate's Republican leader from Kentucky. "As Democrats governed left, Republicans stood together time and again, making the case for conservative alternatives."
6) Ed Gillespie, a former Republican National Committee chairman, said "nobody was rooting for unemployment to remain high." Gillespie, who was involved in Republican-aligned groups that raised tens of millions of dollars for independent campaign ads against Democrats, added that "the philosophy of Republicans in Congress is that the answer to our economic problems is not more spending, more government regulation, more mandates. So they opposed his policies on principle, and one of the reasons they don't support his approach is because they don't think it works.
7) "At the end of the day," he said, "the public agreed with them."
8) There was more to it.
9) Many economists agree the economic stimulus, with its combination of tax cuts, aid to states and federal spending on construction and other areas, did create jobs. Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke told Congress in July that "we should maintain our stimulus in the short term" to strengthen the recovery and help reduce unemployment.
10) It was not a point Republicans chose to acknowledge.
11) The Republican Party chairman, Michael Steele, was scathing in his criticism. "The Democrat plan focuses on putting Americans on the public dole," he said, citing expanded unemployment benefits, food stamps and other federal help.
12) Newt Gingrich, campaigning for fellow Republicans, sought to define the Democrats as the party of food stamps and the Republicans as the party of paychecks.
13) In many ways, Republicans did exactly what a minority party does -- creates bright lines of distinction by opposing the party in power.
14) But, at the outset of Obama's administration, it wasn't politically popular to take on a new president with such a sky-high approval rating at a time when the country was in bad shape.
15) Their strategy was nothing short of audacious.
16) Republicans correctly foresaw that unemployment would rise, and that if the economy remained weak, Obama and Democrats would get little or no credit from the voters for having stopped a near collapse. The Republicans would not have fared so well if voters had agreed with leading economists who said things would have been much worse without those actions, or if Obama's economic fixes had hastened the recovery.
17) "When they chose to oppose everything, the only path to success was that he fails and the country fails. That's a high risk strategy," said Steve Elmendorf, a Democratic operative and lobbyist. "They couldn't have gotten away with saying no the past two years if the economy improved. But the economy didn't improve, and people were still unhappy. And they won."
18) Had Republicans gone along with Obama's plans and put their fingerprints on his policies, voters would have had a less clear delineation on who to fault.
19) Said Terry Holt, a Republican operative close to House Republican leader John Boehner of Ohio: "Republicans won not for guessing right about the economy but for being right about the economy."
20) As Obama was transitioning from candidate to president, Boehner summoned economists, most if not all conservative, to Capitol Hill to get their economic forecasts.
21) "The history was that economies recover slowly after a financial crisis," said Doug Holtz-Eakin, one of those who presented his views at the time. "Get ready for a long slog," he recalls telling Boehner.
22) The Republicans knew they had to restore credibility with voters on deficit spending and other economic issues after independents and others turned against them in 2006 and 2008.
23) They saw their chance as Obama's agenda began to take shape.
24) Wall Street bailouts begun under President George W. Bush were set to be continued. Auto companies on the brink of collapse were lining up for money. Obama administration officials were putting the finishing touches on a massive stimulus plan. A health care system overhaul, too. Democratic budget blueprints called for raising taxes on multinational corporations and the nation's highest earners.
25) Obama's stimulus plan -- which eventually would reach $814 billion -- began to take shape before he took office. Republicans dug in, seeing it as contrary to their own philosophy.
26) The Republican strategy started coming together during retreats in January 2009, somber events by all accounts.
27) Boehner told his lieutenants and the diminished rank and file that they needed to win on the issues to give people confidence that Republicans were ready to govern. "We have to earn back the trust of the American people," he told them, and insisted the Republicans be seen as "the alternative party" rather than "the opposition party."
28) A drumbeat began from Republicans: Obama "spends too much, taxes too much, borrows too much," Boehner said frequently.
29) Shortly before Obama took office, two of the new administration's top economic advisers -- Christina Romer and Jared Bernstein -- forecast that the stimulus proposal would keep the unemployment rate under 8 percent.
30) It gave Republicans an obvious target when it reached 9 percent, and then 10 percent.
31) "There was a fundamental belief that the policies that he implemented were not going to work," said David Winston, a Republican pollster who advises congressional Republicans. "And they didn't work. If Obama's policies would have worked, then the Republican Party would have had to rethink our entire economic philosophy."
32) That June, the unemployment rate was at 9.5 percent and still rising. Obama's job approval rating was sliding toward 50 percent. The debate over Obama's health care plan dominated the summer.
33) House Republican leaders settled on a campaign pitch: "Where are the jobs?"
34) It was a question Boehner would relentlessly ask for more than a year, and one that would lay the groundwork for the Republicans to later craft a policy platform on the economy and other issues.
35) In elections a year ago, Republicans replaced Democratic governors in Virginia and New Jersey. Independent voters broke 2-1 against Democrats, foreshadowing big gains a year later. The same thing happened in Massachusetts a few months later when Republican Scott Brown stunned Democrats by winning an election to fill the seat of the late Sen. Edward M. Kennedy.
36) Ten months later, victorious Republicans met to plan their transition to power in the House of Representatives -- just as it was announced that the economy created 151,000 jobs last month.


Republicans in charge take aim at health overhaul
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1) Resurgent Republicans rallied Sunday behind an agenda based on unwavering opposition to the Obama administration and federal spending, laying the groundwork for gridlock until their 2012 goal: a new president and a "better Senate" that will get rid of the health care reform law.
2) Republicans said they were willing to work with President Barack Obama but also signaled it would be only on their terms. With control of the White House and the Senate, Democrats showed no sign they were conceding the final two years of Obama's term to Republican lawmakers who claimed the majority in the House of Representatives, with Republican John Boehner in line to replace Democrat Nancy Pelosi in the powerful speaker's position.
3) "I think this week's election was a historic rejection of American liberalism and the Obama and Pelosi agenda," said Rep. Mike Pence, the Indiana Republican who is stepping down from his post in the Republican leadership. "The American people are tired of the borrowing, the spending, the bailouts, the takeovers."
4) Voters on Tuesday punished Democrats from New Hampshire to California, giving Republicans at least 60 new seats in the House. Republicans picked up 10 governorships; the party also gained control of 19 state legislative chambers and now hold their highest level of state legislative seats since 1928.
5) "It was a very rough week, there's no sugarcoating that," said Rep. Chris Van Hollen of Maryland, who led the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee.
6) Democrats who controlled the House, Senate and White House for two years now must work with Republicans, who have not shied from pushing their agenda.
7) "I don't see any sign of the president retreating from his principles, but I do see his willingness to reach out, and wherever reasonable and in the interests of moving the economy and jobs forward, he's going to work with the Republicans, as are the Democrats," Van Hollen said.
8) Republicans have made clear they plan to work stridently against what they view as a White House out of control and out of touch.
9) "The president did say this week he's willing to work with us," said Rep. Eric Cantor, the Virginia Republican who is in line to become House majority leader. "Now listen, are we willing to work with him? First and foremost, we're not going to be willing to work with him on the expansive liberal agenda he's been about."
10) First target: the Democrats' signature health care reform law.
11) "This was a huge, huge issue in the election last Tuesday," said Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky. "A vast majority of Americans feel very, very uncomfortable with this new bill. People who supported us, political independents, want it repealed and replaced with something else. I think we owe it to them to try."
12) But the reality remains that Republicans do not have enough seats to marshal through a full repeal if Democrats remain steadfast in their support. Even if Republicans were able to sway enough Democrats to support their effort, it would face a certain veto from Obama.
13) "Admittedly, it will be difficult with him in the White House," McConnell said. "But if we can put a full repeal on his desk and replace it with the kind of commonsense forms that we were advocating during the debate to reduce spending, we owe it to the American people to do that."
14) Rep. Paul Ryan, the Wisconsin Republican who will take leadership of the House budget committee, said the Republicans will reign in the overhaul through oversight hearings and cutting off money to implement the law, "but then again, the president has to sign those bills, so that is a challenge."
15) "You can't fully repeal and replace this law until you have a new president and a better Senate. And that's probably in 2013, but that's before the law fully kicks in, in 2014," Ryan said.
16) For their part, Democrats, like Republicans, faced their own intraparty challenges:
17) --Rep. James Clyburn of South Carolina, a member of the Congressional Black Caucus, remained a contender for the Democrats' No. 2 position. With Pelosi looking to remain the top Democrat, as minority leader but not as House speaker, a leadership fight between Clyburn and current Majority Leader Steny Hoyer of Maryland, who has the backing of more moderate Democrats, was shaping up to challenge party unity.
18) --Rand Paul, the tea party-backed winner in Kentucky's Senate race, said cuts to military spending and programs such as Social Security had to be considered, a break from Republican positions that both are sacrosanct. "We're coming. We're proud. We're strong. We're loud. And we're going to co-opt. And, in fact, I think we're already shaping the debate," he said of his fellow candidates backed by the conservative tea party movement.
19) Pence and Paul appeared on ABC television's "This Week." Van Hollen spoke to CNN's "State of the Union." Cantor and Ryan were interviewed on "Fox News Sunday" while McConnell and Clyburn appeared on CBS' "Face the Nation."


Republicans take tough stand on Bush tax cuts
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1) Republicans are feeling empowered in their fight to extend tax cuts that expire in January, including those for the wealthy.
2) President Barack Obama wants to compromise to continue cuts for middle-income families. He may be open to keeping all the tax breaks for a year or two.
3) Fresh off big victories on Election Day, some key Republican lawmakers want more.
4) New Hampshire's Republican Senator Judd Gregg says the cuts "should be permanent."
5) House Speaker-in-waiting John Boehner says permanent cuts "will reduce the uncertainty in America and help small businesses to create jobs again."
6) Democrats have House and Senate majorities for the lame-duck Congress starting this week. They need Republican support to get 60 Senate votes to pass a tax bill.


White House looks for compromise on taxes
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1) The White House and Republican lawmakers set the terms of a looming tax debate Sunday, coalescing around a possible temporary extension of existing income tax rates that would protect middle-class and wealthy Americans from sharp tax increases next year.
2) Top White House adviser David Axelrod stressed that President Barack Obama opposes a "permanent" extension of current tax rates for individuals making more than $200,000 a year and married couples making more than $250,000.
3) But Axelrod was carefully silent on the possibility of extending current tax rates for the short term. He said he wants to leave negotiations to Obama and members of Congress.
4) A compromise would put off fundamental questions about taxes for the time being, virtually guaranteeing their prominence as campaign issues heading into the 2012 presidential election. That debate also would coincide with a more profound discussion over how to rein in deficits and reduce the nation's escalating debt.
5) Congress returns this week with Democrats in control of the House and Senate for a lame-duck session that is expected to stretch into December. But Republican votes are essential and the party has additional leverage because it will begin the new year with Republicans in charge of the House of Representatives and with more members in the Senate.
6) Two prominent Republicans conceded Sunday that the best Congress might be able to accomplish in the coming weeks is a short term-continuation of the current tax rates, set under President George W. Bush.
7) "If the president wants to compromise on a two- or three-year extension ... if that's all we can get out of the president, ane he is the president, so we'll work with him on that," said Sen. Jim DeMint, a South Carolina Republican and a leader of his party's conservative wing.
8) Likewise, Sen. John McCain of Arizona, the Republican presidential contender in 2008, said he could fathom a short-term extension of all the tax cuts. McCain voted against the Bush tax cuts in 2004, saying they disproportionately benefited wealthy Americans.
9) "They should be extended until we are out of this recession," McCain said. "At such time we can look at other tax hikes. But when we're in a serious recession I cannot believe that raising taxes is a good thing on anybody."
10) In fact, the recession ended in June 2009, but the recovery has been markedly slow, with unemployment stuck at 9.6 percent.
11) Some Democrats have called for taxes to be extended for all taxpayers except those making more than $1 million. Sen. Chuck Schumer, a New York Democrat, argued that such a limit would ensure that tax rates would remain the same for the middle-class and "virtually all small businesses."
12) Schumer said millionaires and billionaires have seen their incomes rise this decade while middle-class incomes have fallen.
13) Axelrod appeared on "Fox News Sunday" and NBC television's "Meet the Press." McCain appeared on NBC and DeMint on Fox. Schumer spoke on CBS' "Face the Nation."


Taxes, START top lame duck congressional agenda
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1) Americans were watching closely for signs about how much tax they will pay in coming years as the lame duck Congress convenes this week for a last session before the new Republican majority takes control of the House of Representatives.
2) What is more important for the larger world is Senate ratification of a new START arms pact with Russia.
3) The new nuclear arms reduction treaty, signed by President Barack Obama and his Russian counterpart Dmitry Medvedev in April, still has not been ratified by the Senate as required by the Constitution. The pact must receive 67 votes in the 100-seat Senate. Historically the upper chamber has overwhelmingly approved such treaties, but the rabid partisanship gripping American politics has put Senate approval in question.
4) The Russians have signaled that progress on Obama's policy of resetting the U.S.-Russian relationship, which deteriorated badly under former President George W. Bush, hangs on ratification of the treaty. Failure to ratify the pact, which continues cuts in nuclear armaments constructed during the Cold War arms race, could result in Russia ending help it has recently given Obama as he tries to prevent Iran from building a nuclear bomb.
5) "When we look upon how important Russian support has been" on Iran sanctions and the Afghanistan supply route, "my hope is that because this is a good treaty we should get it done," Obama told reporters on Air Force One as he returned home from Japan.
6) During meetings in Asia last week, Obama assured Medvedev of ratification.
7) "I reiterated my commitment to getting the START treaty done during the lame-duck session," Obama said Sunday after talks with Medvedev on the sidelines of the summit of the Asian-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC), Obama also restated support for bringing Russia into the World Trade Organization, calling Russia "an excellent partner."
8) The START treaty, which has been pending in the Senate for months, would reduce the limit on strategic warheads to 1,550 for each country from the current ceiling of 2,200. It also would set up new procedures to allow both countries to inspect each other's arsenals to verify compliance.
9) The treaty has drawn resistance, principally from minority Republicans. A congressional aide briefed on White House plans for getting it ratified told The Associated Press this week that the White House was adding $4.1 billion in funding for the U.S. nuclear arsenal in an effort to pick up the necessary votes.
10) While Obama will focus more heavily on foreign relations in the face of Republican gains in Congress -- he travels abroad again Thursday to attend the NATO summit in Portugal -- he will remain challenged nearly hourly on the U.S. economy and its weak recovery from the recession that rattled Americans in the final months of the Bush presidency.
11) Clearly the most divisive issue separating Democrats and Republicans is tax policy, which dominated U.S. politics throughout the congressional election campaign. Pounding a message that promised smaller government and low taxes, Republicans and their tea party allies delivered a crushing blow to Obama and his Democrats.
12) At issue are tax cuts passed under Bush in 2001 and 2003 but set to expire on Dec. 31. Obama wants Congress to make permanent the breaks for Americans who make less than $200,000 for individuals or $250,000 for couples, while letting expire cuts for people who earn more than those amounts. Republicans want to keep the reduced tax rates in place for all Americans.
13) Obama contends the wealthy can well afford to pay higher taxes, and his administration claims extending those reductions would cost $700 billions that would need to be borrowed and add to the spiraling American debt.
14) Obama on Sunday reiterated his opposition to a permanent extension of current tax rates for high-income individuals.
15) "It won't significantly boost the economy, and it's hugely expensive," he told reporters aboard Air Force One as he returned to Washington from an Asia trip. "So we can't afford it."
16) He acknowledged, though, that Republicans have "some strong feelings" about making the tax cuts for the wealthy permanent. "If they feel very strongly about it, then I want to get a sense of ... how they intend to pay for it," Obama said.
17) Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell has introduced legislation that would permanently extend the current tax rates for all income levels, but on Sunday signaled an openness to negotiate.
18) "I'm willing to listen to what the president has in mind for protecting Americans from tax increases," McConnell, a Kentucky Republican, said in a statement.
19) Two prominent Republicans conceded on Sunday that the best Congress might be able to accomplish in the coming weeks was a short term-continuation of the current tax rates.
20) "If the president wants to compromise on a two- or three-year extension ... if that's all we can get out of the president, and he is the president, so we'll work with him on that," said Sen. Jim DeMint, a South Carolina Republican and a leader of his party's conservative wing.
21) Likewise, Sen. John McCain of Arizona, the Republican presidential contender in 2008, said he could fathom a short-term extension of all the tax cuts. McCain voted against the Bush tax cuts, saying they disproportionately benefited wealthy Americans and did not rein spending.
22) "They should be extended until we are out of this recession," McCain said. "At such time we can look at other tax hikes. But when we're in a serious recession I cannot believe that raising taxes is a good thing on anybody."
23) The recession officially ended in June 2009, but the recovery has been markedly slow, with unemployment stuck at 9.6 percent.


White House-Congress leaders meeting postponed
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1) The White House has postponed a meeting with Democratic and Republican congressional leaders to Nov. 30 after top Republicans said they had a scheduling conflict.
2) The meeting, originally scheduled for Thursday, will mark be the first time President Barack Obama will sit down with Congress' new bipartisan leaders since the Nov. 2 elections that cost Democrats control of the House of Representatives and shrank the Democratic majority in the Senate.
3) In the wake of a bitter election campaign, the session could presage cooperation or friction between Obama and House speaker-in-waiting John Boehner and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell.
4) White House and congressional officials said meeting topics will include spending reductions, international trade and energy policy.
5) "We'll have a meeting so that we can discuss issues that Republicans have long said can be accomplished together," McConnell spokesman Don Stewart said.
6) When the White House announced the initial meeting, Obama spokesman Robert Gibbs said the session would not include staff and would wrap up with dinner among the participants.
7) Joining McConnell and Boehner would be the top Democrats in Congress, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid.
8) Also expected to attend are Republicans Rep. Eric Cantor of Virginia and Arizona Sen. Jon Kyl, and Democrats Rep. Steny Hoyer of Maryland and Illinois Sen. Dick Durbin.
9) A meeting this week would have allowed the president and the lawmakers to discuss issues before the current final session of Congress of the year begins, particularly the extension of current tax rates, which expire at the end of the year.
10) White House officials said the meeting on Nov. 30 probably will address any pending issues in the current Congress as well.
11) While Republicans have said they want to find areas of common ground with the president, McConnell has also urged Republicans to work to repeal or erode Obama's health care law and has said the top Republican goal is to seek Obama's defeat in 2012.
12) On Tuesday, Kyl dealt Obama a blow by declaring that an agreement for the United States and Russia to slash their nuclear arsenals should not be voted on this year. The treaty is a top foreign policy priority for Obama.
13) Liberals and organized labor, meanwhile, have pressed Obama to confront Republicans and not compromise on key economic issues.
14) Both sides have expressed support for extending tax cuts for the middle class. Obama has said he does not want to extend lower rates permanently for individuals earning more than $200,000. But the White House has left open the possibility of a temporary extension of those tax cuts.


Obama to right: Don ' t play politics with nuke pact
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1) President Barack Obama took aim Saturday at Republican senators standing in the way of a nuclear arms reduction pact with Russia, saying they were abandoning Ronald Reagan's lesson of nuclear diplomacy: "Trust but verify."
2) Meanwhile, the Senate's top Republican accused his Democratic counterparts of wasting the final weeks of the current Congress' session on issues from gays in the military to environmental regulations. Sen. Mitch McConnell did not mention Obama's push to ratify the New START agreement with Russia, but said extending expiring Bush-era tax cuts needed to be the top priority.
3) Obama, speaking from a NATO summit in Portugal, used his weekly radio and Internet address to focus on international affairs at a time of increased political gridlock at home as the Republicans prepare to take control of the House of Representatives in the new Congress next year.
4) Describing his nuclear efforts as part of a five-administration continuum, Obama said the treaty to cut the permitted number of U.S. and Russian long-range nuclear warheads by a third was "fundamental to America's national security."
5) The president went to great lengths to list the prominent Republicans from previous administrations who back the deal, including former secretaries of state Colin Powell, George Shultz, Jim Baker and Henry Kissinger. He cited Republican Sen. Dick Lugar's support, but suggested that other Republican senators were playing politics with national security.
6) "Some make no argument against the treaty -- they just ask for more time," Obama said. "If the Senate doesn't act this year -- after six months, 18 hearings, and nearly a thousand questions answered -- it would have to start over from scratch in January."
7) It takes a two-thirds majority, or 67 senators, to ratify a treaty. In the current Senate, Obama needs support from at least nine Republican senators to approve the treaty.
8) Ratification would face tougher odds as the Democratic majority loses six seats.
9) Without ratification, Russia may be less cooperative in enforcing strong sanctions on Iran, securing loose nuclear material from terrorists or helping the U.S. equip troops in Afghanistan, Obama said. He said no agreement with Russia meant no U.S. inspectors watching over one of the world's biggest nuclear arsenals.
10) "Those who would block this treaty are breaking President Reagan's rule -- they want to trust, but not verify," Obama said.
11) At the NATO meeting, officials from Denmark, Lithuania, Latvia, Hungary, Norway and Bulgaria told reporters Saturday that failing to ratify the treaty would set back European security.
12) McConnell, in the Republican radio and Internet address, focused on the stubbornly high unemployment rate and Democrats' failure to alleviate joblessness. The Kentucky senator said Democrats had exploded the national debt with the stimulus and other spending programs, and were now asking Americans for more money. He said it was imperative that the Bush-era tax cuts that expire this year be extended.
13) "Americans don't think we should be raising taxes on anybody, especially in the middle of a recession," McConnell said. "But instead of giving Americans what they want, Democratic leaders plan to use the last few days that lawmakers expect to spend in Washington this year focusing on everything except preventing this tax hike, which will cost us even more jobs: immigration; a repeal of the 'don't ask, don't tell'; a reorganization of the FDA; more environmental regulations."
14) Obama appears ready to compromise with Republicans on temporarily extending the tax cuts passed under President George W. Bush, despite previous opposition to continuing them for couples making over $250,000. Republicans have sought permanent cuts for all, and McConnell said that the blame for inaction would fall on the Democrats when the hikes "hit every taxpayer and hundreds of thousands of small businesses at the stroke of midnight on December 31st."
15) Still, he suggested that Republicans could compromise on the tax issue.


Lawmakers return to Capitol to clean up leftovers
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1) Congress has plenty to deal with as lawmakers return to the Capitol on Monday.
2) At the top of the pile are the George W. Bush-era tax cuts, enacted in 2001 and 2003 and due to expire at year's end. President Barack Obama and most Democrats want to retain them for any couple earning $250,000 or less a year. Republicans, who captured control of the House of Representatives in this month's elections, are bent on making them permanent for everybody, including the richest.
3) The cuts apply to rates on wage income as well as to dividends and capital gains. A failure to act would mean big tax increases for people at every income level.
4) Obama has scheduled a meeting at the White House with Republican leaders on Tuesday, and possible options for compromise will be on the table, including providing a temporary extension for the wealthy.
5) Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid has suggested that the Senate hold two votes: one on the Democratic plan confining the tax cut extension to the middle class, the other on Republican leader Mitch McConnell's plan to extend the cuts to everyone. If both are defeated, as anticipated, then the real negotiations begin.
6) Congress also has a Dec. 3 deadline to pass a temporary spending bill to avoid a government shutdown. The Senate hasn't passed a single spending bill for the budget year that began Oct. 1. Democrats are working on a catchall $1.1 trillion to fund the government's day-to-day operations. Republicans, fresh off their election victory, are unlikely to go along.
7) "If this election showed us anything, it's that Americans don't want Congress passing massive trillion-dollar bills that have been thrown together behind closed doors," said McConnell.
8) One idea is to fund the government at current levels through February, when the next Congress and its influx of anti-spending conservatives, will deal with the matter.
9) As early as Monday night, the Senate could pass and send to the House a measure that gives the Food and Drug Administration greater authority to order food recalls and inspect imported food.
10) The House will also consider a Senate-passed child nutrition bill, which promotes healthier school lunches and has the support of first lady Michelle Obama.
11) Among the leftovers are:
12) -- Senate Republicans have blocked a defense bill that would end the military's ban on gays serving opening. The Pentagon is to release a report Tuesday on how lifting "don't ask, don't tell" would affect military operations, and Democrats say they will try again to change the policy.
13) --Obama says the new START treaty that would reduce nuclear weapons arsenals in the U.S. and Russia is a "national security imperative" and he wants the Senate to hold a ratification vote this year. But a key Republican, Sen. Jon Kyl, says the vote should be put off until next year.
14) On the sidelines, hearings are expected on new airport screening methods judged by some travelers as being too intrusive. To darken everyone's holiday mood, the president's bipartisan deficit commission on Wednesday is expected to come out with its ideas on long-term cuts to entitlement programs, defense and other federal spending needed to keep the government solvent.


Obama meets empowered Republicans to push agenda
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1) President Barack Obama sits down with opposition Republican leaders Tuesday to chart a course for his legislative agenda, hoping to find a way forward on key issues from taxes to a new nuclear arms treaty with Russia.
2) The president is pushing for action on those issues in the final weeks of the current Congress, where Democrats still control both chambers. The Republicans become the majority in the House of Representatives when the new Congress convenes early next year.
3) "My hope is that tomorrow's meeting will mark a first step toward a new and productive working relationship," Obama said Monday, "because we now have a shared responsibility to deliver for the American people on the issues that define not only these times, but our future."
4) Obama will be meeting with House and Senate leaders from both parties -- eight altogether -- in a session that will help define the interaction between the White House and a divided Congress for the next two years.
5) Obama had sought a meeting with top legislative leaders of both parties before Congress took a break for last week's Thanksgiving holiday. He was rebuffed by the newly empowered Republicans. Tuesday's meeting could be all the more tense for the opposition-imposed delay.
6) Republicans are savoring the thumping they gave Democrats in the Nov. 2 election, a vote that gave the party control of the House of Representatives in a landslide and significantly cut into the Democratic majority in the Senate.
7) In a double bylined op-ed piece Tuesday in The Washington Post, House Speaker-to-be John Boehner and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell signaled that any compromises with the White House on spending and tax cuts would have to be on their terms.
8) "We can work together and accomplish these things, but the White House and Democratic leaders in Congress first will have to prioritize," they wrote. "It's time to choose struggling middle-class families and small businesses over the demands of the liberal base. It's time to get serious."
9) Already bedeviled by the WikiLeaks weekend release of classified diplomatic reports, Obama left responding to the embarrassing disclosures to Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton and Robert Gibbs, the White House spokesman.
10) Instead, he sought to take the offensive domestically by announcing that he wanted Congress to freeze the pay of civilian federal government employees as a step toward cutting the huge U.S. budget deficit.
11) With an eye to the turmoil caused by the out-of-control debt of some European countries, American politicians in both parties are clearly worried that the world financial system might start demanding higher interest rates to lend to what is seen as an over-leveraged Washington.
12) By hitting government workers with the pay freeze, Obama was showing Republicans he is serious about cutting red ink, an issue that played a major role in their November rout of the Democrats.
13) Republicans applauded Obama's announcement of the pay freeze; traditional Democratic allies, including the AFL-CIO labor federation, denounced it as shortsighted.
14) Still to be dealt with is Obama's insistence that Congress allow the year-end expiration of tax cuts for upper income Americans. Those reductions expire in tandem with similar cuts for those in lower tax brackets, which Obama and most Democrats want to extend.
15) Both tax cut measures were passed during the administration of former President George W. Bush. Business-friendly Republicans, who typically stand for lower taxes, are fighting hard to keep in place the cuts for both income groups.
16) Without compromise, all Americans would face a significant tax increase starting New Year's Day -- a dismal outcome for politicians of both parties.
17) One of the top House Republicans, Rep. Eric Cantor, said on NBC television Tuesday that Republicans are not inclined to back off their insistence that the Bush era tax cuts be preserved for all, including the wealthy.
18) Also hanging fire and important for U.S.-Russian relations is the new START agreement signed in April by Obama and Russian President Dmitry Medvedev. The pact calls for further reductions in nuclear weapons, building on steep cuts achieved in the original START agreement that expired at the end of 2009.
19) The Senate has not ratified the treaty, as required by the Constitution, and the Russians have made clear that Obama's attempt to reset relations with Moscow depends heavily on Washington putting the pact into force.
20) Sen. Jon Kyl, one of the Republicans invited to Tuesday's meeting, has rejected the administration's assertion that the treaty must be dealt with during the lame-duck session. Kyl contends the Senate has more pressing issues to deal with.
21) Sen. John McCain, a fellow Republican, appeared in a televised interview on Tuesday to leave open the possibility of working with the White House on START. "I believe that we could move forward with the START treaty and satisfy Sen. Kyl's concerns and mine about missile defense and others," McCain said on ABC's "Good Morning America."
22) Another Republican, Sen. George Voinovich, who earlier this month expressed misgivings about the treaty's impact on former Soviet satellite nations, told reporters, "I'd like to get it done, but in my conscience I want to feel it's the right thing to do."
23) Republican Sen. Mark Kirk was asked about the latest wrinkle, Russian President Medvedev's warning that a new arms race will erupt if Russia and the West cannot agree about a joint European missile defense program.
24) "I'm open-minded, and this is one of the issues I'll raise with the State Department briefing teams coming up to talk to me," he said.
25) Of particular importance is Russia's new policy of joining with Washington against Iran's suspected attempts to build a nuclear weapon.
26) In the past, such treaties usually have won broad bipartisan support, but in the angry political climate in the U.S. capital these days Republicans are blocking a Senate vote on the pact in the remaining weeks of the current Congress.
27) They apparently are hoping to put the issue off until the next sitting of Congress when the Democrats' Senate majority will have diminished. Treaty approval requires 67 affirmative votes in the 100-seat Senate.
28) When the next Congress convenes, the Democrats will hold just 53 seats, including the votes of two independents who usually vote with them. They currently hold 59 seats.
29) Obama campaigned successfully for the White House on vows to defuse the partisanship in Washington, but in his first two years in office he has won no Republican support for the key items of his legislative agenda that were pushed through to passage by strong Democratic majorities in both chambers.
30) Having lost the House and with a diminished majority in the Senate, Obama faces a difficult test of that promise to change the way business is conducted in Washington.
31) Obama's ability to reach compromises is further complicated by the internal politics within each of the parties. The House lost many of its moderates in the midterm elections, leaving a more liberal caucus for the next Congress. Republicans are keenly aware of a conservative tea party movement that punished Republican lawmakers seen as too willing to cross party lines.


Obama, Republicans leaders pledge tax talks
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1) Heralding a new era of divided government, President Barack Obama and Republicans pledged warily to seek common ground on tax cuts and reduced spending Tuesday in their first meeting since the congressional elections that handed control of the House of Representatives to Republicans.
2) Obama also made a strong plea to Senate Republicans to permit ratification of a new arms control treaty with Russia by year's end, raising the issue first in a session in the White House's Roosevelt Room and then in a follow-up meeting without aides present, officials said.
3) No substantive agreements on essential year-end legislation emerged from the session, and none had been expected. Instead, the meeting was a classic capital blend of substance and style, offering a chance for Obama, House Speaker-in-waiting John Boehner and Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell to become more comfortable in one another's presence despite their obvious policy differences and history of mutual distrust.
4) "The American people did not vote for gridlock. They didn't vote for unyielding partisanship. They're demanding cooperation and they're demanding progress," the president told reporters, referring to elections that also narrowed Democratic control of the Senate.
5) Back at Congress after the meeting, Boehner said, "I think that spending more time will help us find some common ground," and he credited Obama with opening the session by saying he had not reached out enough in the past to Republican leaders.
6) Even so, there was little or no attempt to minimize the differences that divided the parties during the election campaign, including a disagreement on legislation to extend Bush-era tax cuts due to expire at year's end.
7) "It is the view of 100 percent of Senate Republicans, and a number of Senate Democrats as well ... that we ought to treat all taxpayers the same," McConnell told reporters.
8) Obama and most Democrats, by contrast, want to extend existing tax cuts to all workers with family incomes under $250,000 but allow them to expire for those at higher levels.
9) In a sign of urgency, Obama and leaders of both parties appointed a small group to begin talks immediately on resolving the issue so lawmakers can approve a compromise before wrapping up their work.
10) One possible compromise is for Democrats to agree to extend the tax cuts for all, and for Republicans to drop their insistence that the lower tax rates be made permanent. An extension for a few years would allow both sides to claim victory while limiting the cost to the government at a time when deficit reduction is a major priority of both parties.
11) Officials said there was relatively little discussion of another major issue confronting lawmakers in the current postelection session, the need for a new spending bill so the government can run without interruption. Current spending authority expires on Dec. 3, and majority Democrats intend to extend that to Dec. 17.
12) The next steps are unclear, though, and a struggle is possible between Democrats who are about to lose their majority in the House, and Republicans who won the election with a call for significant spending cuts.
13) In addition, Speaker Nancy Pelosi, leader of the House Democrats, said it was important for Congress to pass an extension of unemployment benefits, officials said, adding that Obama concurred.
14) The president has called repeatedly in recent days for the Senate to ratify the proposed new START treaty with Russia. In remarks to reporters, he called it essential for the national security and said it would permit the United States to "monitor Russia's nuclear arsenal, reduce our nuclear weapons and strengthen our relationship with Russia."
15) Ratification requires a two-thirds vote, meaning Republican support is essential. Sen. Jon Kyl, the Republican point man on the issue, said in the meeting that Democrats should quickly resolve the tax and spending issues to allow time for a debate on the treaty. Kyl did not say whether he intended to vote for or against the pact, according to officials.
16) He and other Republicans have been involved in intensive negotiations with administration officials and Senate Democrats over terms of accompanying legislation covering the modernization and security of the U.S. nuclear arsenal.
17) The treaty itself calls for destruction of hundreds of old nuclear weapons, relics of the Cold War, and a system for each country to verify the other has reduced its stockpile as promised.
18) The timetable Kyl laid out would leave little if any time for Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid to seek passage of other items on the Democratic list, including an end to the Pentagon's policy of discharging openly gay servicemen and servicewomen.
19) The sternest test for Obama and the congressional Republicans will come after the Republican party takes power in the House in January and begins trying to follow through on its pledge to cut spending deeply, limit the scope of government and repeal the president's cherished health care legislation.
20) A day earlier, Obama announced he wanted lawmakers to impose a two-year pay freeze on roughly 2 million federal workers, leaving Republicans to grumble he had stolen one of their ideas without crediting them.
21) As for the Republicans, Boehner and McConnell greeted the president a few hours before their talks with an op-ed article in the Washington Post.
22) "Despite what some Democrats in Congress have suggested, voters did not signal they wanted more cooperation on the Democrats' big-government policies that most Americans oppose," they wrote.


Senate plans weekend votes on Democratic tax plans
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1) A deal to extend expiring tax cuts for all taxpayers is starting to take shape even as Senate Democrats plan weekend votes on bills that would let the tax cuts for the wealthy die.
2) The Obama administration is seeking to expand the tax package to include other measures designed to boost the nation's sluggish economy. Among them are extending jobless benefits for millions of unemployed workers and continuing tax breaks that were part of President Barack Obama's massive economic recovery package enacted last year.
3) Without action by Congress, unemployment benefits will run out this month for 2 million people, and several million more will lose them later in the winter.
4) Earlier Democratic efforts to extend the program into 2011 have been blocked by Republicans demanding offsetting spending cuts. The issue is Obama's top domestic priority, and shows how difficult a time his administration will have working with newly empowered Republicans, who will control the House of Representatives next year.
5) In addition, Democrats are seeking to extend Obama's Making Work Pay tax credit, which provides tax credits of up to $400 for individuals and $800 for married couples. The tax credit was enacted last year and expires in January.
6) Democrats also want to extend two other measures: a tuition tax break for college students and a cut for businesses that hire the unemployed.
7) Sweeping income tax cuts enacted under former President George W. Bush are to expire at the end of the year. If Congress does not act, taxpayers at every income level would be hit with a significant tax increase.
8) Obama and Democratic leaders in Congress want to extend the tax cuts only for individuals making less than $200,000 and married couples making less than $250,000.
9) Republicans and some rank-and-file Democrats want to extend the tax cuts for everyone.
10) The White House left open the door for a compromise to extend all the tax cuts for up to three years. Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell says he's willing to consider the idea.
11) Senate Democrats, however, want to publicly stake out their position before agreeing to any compromise, much like their counterparts in the House did Thursday.
12) The House passed a bill Thursday that would extend middle class tax cuts while letting tax cuts for the wealthy expire. Democratic Sen. Max Baucus introduced a similar bill in the Senate Thursday evening.
13) Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid scheduled votes on Saturday on two Democratic proposals: one by Baucus and another by Sen. Chuck Schumer. Baucus' bill would extend tax cuts for individuals making less than $200,000 and married couples making less than $250,000. Schumer's bill would extend tax cuts for families making less than $1 million.
14) Neither bill is expected to pass the Senate because Democrats need Republican support to pass a tax bill.
15) Senate leaders from both parties negotiated Thursday evening on a plan that would have allowed votes Friday on Democratic and Republican proposals. Those talks, however, broke down. Without unanimous consent from all senators, Reid was unable to schedule the votes before Saturday.


Senate to vote on Democratic tax cut plans
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1) Democrats are engineering a showdown in the Senate over tax cuts Saturday in an attempt to depict Republicans as guardians of the rich and gain an edge for the 2012 elections.
2) Republicans dismissed the attacks as the last gasp of a Democratic Party that lost its majority in the House of Representatives in the November elections, surrendered several seats in the Senate and will be forced to share power beginning in January.
3) Republicans argue that allowing taxes to go up for the wealthy would hinder job creation at a time when the economic recovery is sputtering. Democrats say that extending the tax breaks for upper-income Americans would do little to stimulate the economy and only make it more difficult to reduce the country's growing federal budget deficit.
4) The debate is taking place a day after the Labor Department reported that the unemployment rate nudged closer to double digits again -- 9.8 percent, after three straight months at 9.6 percent -- a reminder that the economy is still recovering only fitfully.
5) The Senate agenda featured a pair of votes Saturday, one on a proposal to extend all expiring tax cuts on individuals with incomes of less than $200,000 a year and married couples making less than $250,000; the other to renew them for all tax filers with incomes of less than $1 million.
6) Republicans want to head off tax increases at all income levels, and neither Democratic proposal was likely to get the 60 votes needed to advance.
7) Democrats said that wasn't the point. "This is going to be a winning argument, not just for this week, but for the next two years," said Sen. Chuck Schumer of New York, looking ahead to the 2012 elections.
8) Political maneuvering aside, the events were seen as a prelude to completing negotiations on a compromise that could avert a Jan. 1 tax increase at all levels.
9) President Barack Obama has already signaled he is prepared to sign a compromise along those lines, and the White House has been negotiating privately with Republicans on a broader bill that would include Democratic priorities as well.
10) Among them are an extension of jobless benefits for the long-term unemployed and extension of additional expiring tax breaks for lower- and middle-income workers even if they don't make enough to owe the government money. College students would also benefit under the White House's proposals, as would companies that hire the unemployed.
11) Also part of the discussions is a possible increase in the federal debt limit, which allows the government to continue to borrow to meet its financial obligations.
12) In the weekly White House radio and Internet address, Vice President Joe Biden, skipped lightly over Obama's willingness to negotiate with the Republicans on the Bush-era tax breaks.
13) "We've got to extend the tax cuts for the middle class that are set to expire at the end of the month," he said. "If we don't, millions of middle-class families will see a big bite out of their paychecks starting January 1. And that's the last thing we should let happen."
14) "And the second thing we've got to do is extend unemployment insurance for Americans who have lost their jobs in a tough economy," Biden said.
15) Delivering the Republican address, Sen. Mark Kirk of Illinois, who was sworn into office this week, said voters in the midterm elections demonstrated their distaste for any tax increases.
16) "The current leaders of Congress should not move forward with plans that were just rejected by the American people," he said. "These leaders should not raise taxes and risk another recession. Instead, Congress should reduce spending and prevent another tax hike on American taxpayers."


Senate showdown may pave way for year-end tax deal
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1) Senate Republicans derailed legislation Saturday to extend expiring tax cuts at all but the highest income levels in a political showdown that paradoxically clears a path for a compromise with the White House on steps to boost the economy.
2) "We need to get this resolved and I'm confident we can do it," President Barack Obama said shortly after the near party-line votes. The public must have "the peace of mind that their taxes will not go up" on Jan. 1, he added.
3) Obama has signaled that he will bow to Republican demands for extending tax cuts at all income levels, and his remarks capped a day that lurched between political conflict and talk of compromise on an issue that played a leading role in last month's elections.
4) Democrats introduced two measures in the Senate to extend the tax cuts for all but the wealthiest Americans in an effort to showcase Republican lawmakers as defenders of millionaires and gain an edge for the 2012 elections.
5) Republicans dismissed the Democrats' maneuvers as the last gasp of a party that lost its majority in the House of Representatives in the Nov. 2 elections, surrendered several seats in the Senate and will be forced to share power beginning in January.
6) Republicans noted that unemployment rose to 9.8 percent last month and said it made no sense to raise taxes on anyone in a weak economy.
7) "It is the most astounding theory I have ever seen. Raise taxes to create jobs," said Sen. John Thune of South Dakota.
8) But Democrats accused Republicans of contributing to rising deficits while siding with the rich by rejecting proposals that would let tax cuts passed during George W. Bush's presidency lapse on seven-figure incomes.
9) "Do we want to extend those tax breaks for millionaires and billionaires at a time of huge deficits. I would argue vociferously we shouldn't," said Sen. Charles Schumer of New York.
10) But the rhetoric subsided quickly after the votes, and Senate leaders in both parties said they hoped political clashes would give way to compromise in the next several days.
11) Sen. Mitch McConnell, the Republican leader, said he was relatively confident there would be a deal with the White House "not to raise taxes in the middle of a recession." He said talks were continuing on the length of an extension to be enacted for the cuts that were put in place in 2001 and 2003.
12) Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said he hoped for an agreement by the middle or end of next week on legislation that would combine an extension of tax cuts with a renewal of expiring jobless benefits for the long-term unemployed.
13) Officials have said that in addition to tax cuts and unemployment benefits, the White House wants to include renewal of several other tax provisions that are expiring. They include a break for lower- and middle- class wage earners, even if they don't make enough to pay taxes to the government, as well as for college students and for companies that hire the unemployed.
14) Key lawmakers and administration officials have been at work negotiating the terms of a possible deal for several days.
15) But many congressional Democrats privately have expressed anger at Obama for his willingness to surrender to Republican demands to let the tax cuts remain in place at upper incomes, and numerous officials said no compromise would be possible until they had engineered votes in both the House and Senate.
16) Any deal would mean a reversal for Obama, who said in the 2008 presidential race and this year that he wanted to let cuts expire above incomes of $200,000 for individuals and $250,000 for couples.
17) In the Senate, a bill to enact Obama's original position was blocked on a vote of 53-36, seven votes short of the 60 needed to advance the legislation over Republican delaying maneuvers. Republicans were unanimous in their opposition, and were joined by five members of the Democratic caucus.
18) The second measure would have kept the tax cuts in place on incomes below $1 million. It appeared crafted to appeal to senators from states with large high-income populations, as well as cast Republicans as protectors of the rich.
19) It was blocked on a vote of 53-37, also seven short of the 60 needed. A slightly different lineup of Democrats sided with Republicans on this measure.
20) The White House also opposed the second measure, and given the president's willingness to sign a bill to extend all the expiring tax cuts, there was never any doubt about the outcome of the day's proceedings in the Senate.
21) The day's events capped a week that included a meeting at the White House at which Obama and top congressional Republicans sat down together for the first time since the elections.
22) Both the president and Republican lawmakers pledged afterward they would try to work together for the good of the economy, and agreed to set up a small negotiating group to discuss the tax issues.
23) The White House, Reid and Republicans have been negotiating quietly, and McConnell made a point of saying he had been in frequent touch with the administration in recent days.
24) In addition to tax cuts, Obama has made ratification of a new nuclear arms control treaty with Russia a priority of the postelection session of Congress, reducing his leverage with Republicans in the struggle over taxes.
25) Senior Senate Republicans have indicated they will not try to interfere with a debate on the New START treaty as long as government spending and tax cut issues have been resolved to their satisfaction.
26) A two-thirds majority is required for ratification of the treaty, meaning the White House will need the support of at least nine Republicans to prevail. Vice President Joseph Biden and other officials have been involved in talks with several Republican senators in hopes of lining up the votes needed.


After the tax fight, parties move to compromise
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1) Their political options limited, Democrats and Republicans appeared to unite Sunday behind the outlines of an economic package that would temporarily extend expiring tax rates as well as jobless benefits for millions of Americans.
2) Differences remained over details, and some Democrats continued to object to any plan that would continue Bush-era tax rates at the highest income levels.
3) Without action, however, Congress faced the prospect of letting the tax rates revert to higher pre-2001 and 2003 levels, and delivering a tax hike to all taxpayers. Negotiations between the Obama administration and a bipartisan group of lawmakers centered on a two-year extension of current rates.
4) At the same time, Friday's jump in the unemployment rate to 9.8 percent added pressure on Republicans to accede to President Barack Obama's demand that Congress extend unemployment insurance for a year.
5) "I think most folks believe the recipe would include at least an extension of unemployment benefits for those who are unemployed and an extension of all of the tax rates for all Americans for some period of time," said Sen. Jon Kyl of Arizona, the Senate's Republican negotiator in tax talks between lawmakers and the Obama administration.
6) "Without unemployment benefits being extended, personally, this is a nonstarter," said Sen. Dick Durbin of Illinois, the second-ranking member of the Senate Democratic leadership.
7) Republicans have insisted that any extension of jobless aid be paid for with cuts elsewhere in the federal budget. The White House opposes that, saying such cuts are economically damaging during a weak recovery. Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell on Sunday said that "all of those discussions are still under way."
8) But Sen. Orrin Hatch of Utah said Republicans would likely cede that point to the Democrats.
9) "Let's take care of the unemployment compensation even if it isn't ... backed up by real finances," Hatch said. "We've got to do it. So let's do it. But that ought to be it."
10) About 2 million unemployed workers will run out of benefits this month if they are not renewed, and the administration estimates 7 million will be affected if they are not extended for a year.
11) The White House, however, also wants to include renewal of several other tax provisions that are expiring. They include a tax credit for lower- and middle-class wage earners, even if they don't make enough to owe taxes to the government, and tax breaks to offset college tuition and for companies that hire the unemployed.
12) The short-term spending debate is unfolding even as Congress and the Obama administration confront growing anxieties over the federal government's growing deficits.
13) A presidential commission studying the deficit identified austerity measures last week to cut $4 trillion from the federal budget over the next decade. Eleven of the 18 commission members backed the package but voiced misgivings about specific measures, underscoring the political difficulties of tackling the nation's fiscal problems.
14) Some economists suggest that short-term deficit spending is appropriate to boost the economy as long as lawmakers plan to address increasing deficits in the immediate years ahead. Mark Zandi, an economist who has advised Democrats and Republicans, said the cost of unemployment insurance in 2011, for instance, could be paid for over the following three years.
15) "You're then providing the stimulus in 2011 and you don't have the downside on the deficit in the long run, which is what matters for economic growth," Zandi, chief economist at Moody's Analytics, said in an interview.
16) The movement toward a possible compromise came after Republicans blocked Democratic efforts in the Senate on Saturday to extend the current tax rates on all but the highest income levels. Republicans prefer extending all the tax rates permanently, a prospect that also can't win legislative approval and that Obama would be sure to veto.
17) As part of a compromise, the Obama administration prefers a two-year extension of the tax rates. Officials say a one-year extension would place Congress and the president in the midst of a similar debate in a mere six months. A three-year extension, officials say, would cost too much and lose support from liberals.
18) For Obama, any deal would mean relinquishing, at least for now, his long-held view that only middle-class voters should continue to benefit from Bush-era tax cuts. And Democrats, while resigned to a deal, were not eager to embrace one.
19) "We're moving in that direction," Durbin said of a compromise to extend the tax rates. "And we're only moving there against my judgment and my own particular view of things."
20) Durbin and Kyl spoke Sunday on CBS television's "Face the Nation" while Hatch appeared on CNN's "State of the Union" and McConnell on NBC's "Meet the Press."


Obama tries to sell Democrats on tax deal
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1) The White House urged disillusioned congressional Democrats Tuesday to accept a tax cut deal President Barack Obama reached with opposition Republicans.
2) The deal provides the first big test of whether Obama can work out compromises with Republicans after their landslide victory in last month's election. Republicans will take control of the House of Representatives next month and narrow the Democratic majority in the Senate.
3) While under fire from liberal Democrats who accused him of being too quick to cave in to Republican demands, Obama said he rejects "symbolic victories" that hurt average Americans.
4) White House aides said Obama counseled pragmatism among party rank and file so that they move on to other issues before the party loses control of the House in January.
5) White House aides said Vice President Joe Biden will ask Democratic lawmakers to swallow their objections to the administration's proposed compromise with Republicans when he attends a closed luncheon with senators at the Capitol.
6) Obama's plan would extend Bush-era tax cuts for all Americans, including the richest, while also extending unemployment benefits and reducing payroll taxes for a year.
7) Before the Republicans assume the House majority next month, the White House wants Congress to take up ratification of a new nuclear treaty with Russia, a top year-end priority for Obama, then address the Dream Act. It is a measure to give young people whose parents brought them into the U.S. illegally a path to legal status. Democrats also want to vote on whether to repeal the military's policy that prevents gays from serving openly in the armed services.
8) Democrats had been fighting to let tax cuts for the wealthiest Americans lapse while keeping them in place for others, but Republicans opposed reinstating higher rates for the wealthy. If Congress fails to agree on the cuts by the end of the year, taxes will go up for all Americans.
9) House and Senate Democrats say they will discuss the deal in closed meetings Tuesday.
10) While most Democratic leaders in the House and Senate were noncommittal, some spoke in vigorous dissent.
11) "Senate Republicans have successfully used the fragile economic security of our middle class and the hardship of millions of jobless Americans as bargaining chips to secure tax breaks for the very wealthiest among us," said Democratic Sen. Tom Harkin.
12) Republicans praised the deal.
13) Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell thanked Obama for "working with Republicans on a bipartisan plan to prevent a tax hike on any American and in creating incentives for economic growth."
14) On Tuesday, Sen. Joe Lieberman, an independent who sides with the Democrats, urged his colleagues to quickly back the compromise.
15) "This tentative agreement is an example of Washington working across party lines to confront the challenges facing our nation," said Lieberman, who is up for re-election in 2012.
16) In its broad outlines, the deal Obama announced Monday night will extend expiring tax cuts for all Americans and renew benefits for the long-term unemployed.
17) It marked a significant retreat for Obama, who campaigned for the presidency on the promise that he would leave lower tax rates in place for middle- and lower-income Americans while canceling cuts for families earning more than $250,000.
18) The reductions were put in place during the administration of former President George W. Bush and were set to expire at year's end.
19) Obama said he did not like the deal but had little choice. Republicans were refusing to go along with reinstating higher rates for high income earners, forcing Obama to capitulate or see taxes go up dramatically for hard-pressed middle- and lower-income Americans in a period of economic malaise and high unemployment.
20) "Make no mistake, allowing taxes to go up on all Americans would have raised taxes by $3,000 for a typical American family and that could cost our economy well over a million jobs," he said.
21) In return for the tax deal, Obama won Republican agreement to drop opposition to continued benefits for the long-term unemployed, which began running out last week. Those payments now will last 13 additional months.
22) Obama was forced to abandon action on his long-held insistence that the United States could not afford continued tax breaks for the wealthy. He sought to put a good face on the deal, however, noting the agreement was temporary, not the permanent renewal that Republicans had long sought.


Angry Obama defends tax deal, scolds liberals
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1) President Barack Obama has much work to do to sell the tax package he negotiated with Republicans to skeptical Democratic lawmakers who say the package is tilted too much in favor of the wealthy.
2) The compromise deal is picking up support among Republican lawmakers and business groups, but Democrats in Congress and labor unions are unenthusiastic.
3) An angry Obama defended his tax deal and hit back at critical fellow Democrats, warning them against becoming too ideologically pure and self-satisfied.
4) In an unusual show of emotion in his two-year presidency, Obama responded hotly at a Tuesday news conference when a reporter asked him about liberal claims that he had broken campaign promises.
5) "Take a tally. Look at what I promised during the campaign. There's not a single thing that I haven't done or tried to do," the president said.
6) The deal provided the first big test of how Obama will work out compromises with empowered Republicans as they take control of the House and shrink their minority status in the Senate when the new Congress is seated in January.
7) Obama struggled to prevent wholesale defections by fellow Democrats that could sink the tax deal if it comes to a vote in the closing weeks of the current Congress in which Democrats still have sizable majorities.
8) Many Republican lawmakers seemed ready to embrace the compromise with Obama and declare victory. The question was whether enough Democrats would join them in support, especially in the House of Representatives, where liberal resentment of the president's concessions on tax breaks for the wealthiest runs strong.
9) If Democrats kill the tax plan, it would mark a stunning defeat for Obama and a huge political bet that voters will blame Republicans as much as Democrats for an impasse that leads to higher taxes starting Jan. 1 for millions of Americans. Few on Capitol Hill believe Democrats will take that gamble. But liberal lawmakers' discontent is hard to measure in the wake of last month's big election setbacks that left the Democrats dispirited and divided.
10) Obama and most in his party had insisted that across-the-board tax cuts that were put in place during the administration of President George W. Bush, not be extended for wealthy Americans past their year-end expiration.
11) Democrats fought hard but lost the battle in Congress during the weekend to keep cuts in place for middle- and low-income taxpayers while ending them for the wealthy.
12) Obama announced Monday night that he had reached a compromise with Republicans that would keep the cuts in place for all Americans for two years in exchange for Republican votes to extend benefits for the long-term unemployed, which as of now will run out at the end of the year.
13) For Republicans, he said, "this is their holy grail, these tax cuts for the wealthy."
14) While clearly unhappy in having to make the deal, Obama said he had no choice because Republicans were holding middle class Americans hostage.
15) "It's tempting not to negotiate with hostage takers, unless the hostage gets harmed. Then, people will question the wisdom of that strategy," he said. "In this case, the hostage was the American people, and I was not willing to see them get harmed."
16) Obama reserved his most eloquent comments for the end of the White House news conference and his defense against critics on the left, warning them that they were setting a course for stalemate in the midst of the worst economy in eight decades.
17) Holding fast to "a purist position," Obama said, would allow Democrats "to feel good about ourselves and sanctimonious about how pure our intentions are and how tough we are."
18) But, he said, "That can't be the measure of how we think about public service. That can't be the measure of what it means to be a Democrat."
19) Despite the dressing down, Democratic leaders in Congress were downbeat about support for the tax deal.
20) After meeting with other Democratic leaders, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said that "so far the response has not been very good" to the proposed deal.
21) Another House Democratic leader, Rep. Chris Van Hollen of Maryland, said he cannot recommend the package to his colleagues.
22) Pelosi was particularly negative about a part of the deal that continues big reductions in taxes on estates as they pass to heirs, calling it "a bridge too far."
23) Overall, officials said, the proposed compromise deal could increase federal borrowing by $900 billion.
24) Many House Democrats emerged from a spirited closed-door caucus Tuesday evening and said they would have a difficult time supporting the package.
25) "I don't think that the president should count on Democratic votes to get this deal passed," said Rep. Anthony Weiner of New York. "It's a bad deal that wasn't skillfully negotiated."
26) Before Obama's news conference, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said the deal was not yet completed and needed "more work." Reid met earlier in a closed-door session with Vice President Joe Biden and other Democratic senators.
27) White House aides said Obama privately counseled pragmatism among party rank and file so that they move on to other issues before the party loses control of the House in January.
28) Before then, the White House wants Congress to take up ratification of a new nuclear treaty with Russia, a top year-end priority for Obama, then deal with the Dream Act. That is a measure to give young people whose parents brought them into the United States illegally a path to legal status. Democrats also want to vote on whether to repeal the military's policy that prevents gays from serving openly in the armed services.
29) Republicans and business groups have praised the taxation deal.
30) Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell said he expects "a large majority" of Senate Republicans to support the package which he supported for "creating incentives for economic growth."
31) Both the Business Roundtable and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce -- two business groups that have been at odds with the president's economic policies -- also praised the package.
32) Bruce Josten, the chamber's vice president for government affairs, said the deal "is one of the best steps Washington can take to eliminate the uncertainty" that is preventing businesses from investing and hiring.
33) But some of Obama's closest allies assailed the compromise.
34) "It is unconscionable that the price of support for struggling middle class families and workers who have been unable to find jobs for months and months and months is yet more giveaways for our country's wealthiest families," said AFL-CIO labor federation President Richard Trumka.


House Democrats reject tax plan unless changed
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1) House Democrats voted Thursday to reject President Barack Obama's tax deal with Republicans in its current form, but it was unclear how significantly the package might need to be changed.
2) By voice vote in a closed caucus meeting, Democrats passed a resolution saying the tax package should not come to the House floor for consideration as written, even though no formal House bill has been drafted.
3) The vote will at least temporarily stall what had seemed to be a grudging Democratic movement toward the tax package. Before the caucus vote took place, House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer said Obama's tax compromise embodies "the objective we need to reach" even though Democrats dislike several components.
4) The deal provided the first big test of how Obama will work out compromises with empowered Republicans as they take control of the House and shrink their minority status in the Senate when the new Congress is seated in January.
5) Obama struggled to prevent wholesale defections by fellow Democrats that could sink the tax deal if it comes to a vote in the closing weeks of the current Congress. Democrats still have sizable majorities although the party is dispirited and divided after last month's Republican election landslide.
6) Passage of Obama's plan seems more assured in the Senate, where numerous Democrats have agreed that the president had little choice in making the compromises with Republicans. Still, Majority Leader Harry Reid, a Democrat, said he and colleagues are considering possible changes, and action could come within days.
7) The 54 Democrats in the House caucus, by themselves, would not be enough to block the package, depending on how much support it gets from Republicans.
8) Speaking Thursday at a White House event promoting American exports, Obama said the vote will determine whether the economy "moves forward or backward."
9) The president again pressed Congress to pass the agreement, saying it has the potential to create millions of jobs. He said if it fails, Americans would see smaller paychecks and fewer jobs.
10) But Rep. Chris Van Hollen, a Democrat, said "the jury is still out" on the measure's enactment because many Democrats are furious over an estate tax provision.
11) Obama agreed to exempt the first $5 million of a deceased person's estate, and to tax the rest at 35 percent. Congressional Democrats had expected a 45 percent tax rate on anything above $3.5 million. Without congressional action, the estate tax will revert to an even higher rate: 55 percent on estates valued above $1 million. That should have strengthened Obama's hand when negotiating with Republicans, Van Hollen said.
12) After Obama publicly defended the plan for a third day Wednesday, and Vice President Joe Biden met with Democratic lawmakers in the Capitol for a second day, several Democrats predicted the measure will pass, mainly because of extensive Republican support.
13) Rep. Barney Frank, a Democrat, predicted the tax cut compromise "will be passed by virtually all the Republicans and a minority of Democrats." He said he would vote against it.
14) Obama said more congressional Democrats would climb aboard as they studied details of the $900 billion year-end measure.
15) Raising the direst alarm yet, his administration warned fellow Democrats on Wednesday that if they defeat the plan, they could jolt the U.S. back into recession.
16) Larry Summers, Obama's chief economic adviser, told reporters that if the measure isn't passed soon, it will "materially increase the risk the economy would stall out and we would have a double-dip" recession. That put the White House in the unusual position of warning its own party's lawmakers they could be to blame for calamitous consequences if they go against the president.


Obama predicts tax bill passage, possible changes
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1) President Barack Obama said he expects disgruntled Democrats to make changes to the sweeping tax-cut deal he reached with Republican leaders, a pact he predicted will win congressional approval.
2) Democrats have objected to the deal on grounds it is too generous to the rich, especially its provisions cutting estate taxes for the wealthiest Americans. House Democrats voted in a closed-door meeting Thursday not to allow the package to reach the floor for a vote without changes.
3) Asked about those objections, Obama said there will be talks between House and Senate leaders about the package's final details.
4) "Keep in mind, we didn't actually write a bill," he said of his agreement with Republican leaders. "We put forward a framework. I'm confident that the framework is going to look like the one that we put forward."
5) The deal was hammered out as Republicans prepare to take a majority in the House of Representatives starting in January. Obama's Democrats lost control of the House and saw their Senate majority weakened in November elections.
6) Throughout his campaign for the White House and the first two years of his presidency, Obama had vowed he would not allow the tax reductions to continue for the wealthy, defined as households earning more than $250,000 a year, when the cuts expire at the end of this month.
7) However, the president has said he had no choice except to agree to an extension of the tax cuts, which date back to Republican President George W. Bush's administration. Tax cuts for middle-class and lower-earning Americans are also set to expire at the end of the year, and Republicans are refusing to back the tax cuts if the wealthy are excluded.
8) The uprising among fellow Democrats so soon after the party suffered a major defeat in last month's elections only compounds Obama's increasing political fragility with the approach of the 2012 presidential campaign.
9) In an interview with National Public Radio released Friday, Obama said that despite a rebellion by many Democrats against his tax deal, it will pass because "nobody -- Democrat or Republican -- wants to see people's paychecks smaller on Jan. 1 because Congress didn't act."
10) The pact would extend cuts in income tax rates for all earners that would otherwise expire next month, renew long-term jobless benefits and trim payroll taxes for one year.
11) The measure appears headed for Senate approval after negotiators added a few relatively modest sweeteners to promote ethanol and other forms of alternative energy. It was unclear whether House Democrats would be able to demand changes that go much further.
12) Tax provisions designed to increase production of hybrid automobiles, biodiesel fuel, energy-efficient homes, coal and energy-efficient household appliances would be extended through the end of 2011.
13) The measure also includes tax breaks for commuters who use mass transit. The program saves commuters about $1,000 a year.
14) There is no precise timetable for passage in the Senate, but a procedural vote was set for Monday afternoon that appears likely to demonstrate overwhelming support for the legislation. Supporters say it would help accelerate a sluggish recovery from recession.
15) "This bill is not perfect, but it provides the economic boost middle-class families and small businesses in Nevada and across America need," said Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, a Democrat. "Middle-class families and small businesses will see their taxes go down."
16) At the insistence of Republicans, the measure includes a more generous estate tax provision. That infuriated Democrats already unhappy with Obama for agreeing to extend tax cuts at incomes of more than $200,000 for individuals and $250,000 for couples.
17) In all, the package would cost about $855 billion, according to a preliminary congressional estimate.


Analysis: Obama-Republicans deal marks fast turn
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1) So much for slashing those soaring U.S. budget deficits.
2) Less than a week after his bipartisan deficit commission offered a package of tough tax increases and spending cuts to stem the flood of government red ink, President Barack Obama cut a deal with Republicans that would add a whopping $900 billion to the nation's debt over the coming two years.
3) When the bold deficit-slashing measures were greeted last week with widespread praise, Democrat Erskine Bowles, the commission's co-chairman and a former chief of staff to President Bill Clinton, cheerfully exclaimed, "The era of deficit denial in Washington is over."
4) Well, apparently not quite yet. Bowles said this week that he was "deeply disappointed" by the sweeping Obama-Republican deal, complaining that the plan was not linked to any long-term restraint.
5) If the plan is enacted, as generally expected it will be, the United States will become the only major industrialized economy not to move toward fiscal curbs next year, even though Congress is considering legislation that would move in the other direction. That effort involves freezing the budgets of most Cabinet departments and cutting nearly $46 billion from the president's spending requests. The House of Representatives passed the measure 212-206 on Wednesday and sent it to the Senate.
6) The outcry over ballooning deficits was crucial in last month's midterm elections, which handed majority control of the House to Republicans and gave them added clout in the Senate. The issue was a rallying point for the ultraconservative tea party movement, credited with a large part of the Republican election victory. A flock of new legislators will take office in January having campaigned for smaller government and fiscal discipline.
7) That Obama could pivot so quickly from emphasizing the need for deficit reduction -- he revealed last month a plan to freeze the pay of most executive branch employees -- to endorsing a Republican-backed plan to extend Bush-era tax cuts for all income brackets, plus a host of other costly measures, took much of Washington by surprise.
8) No one was more surprised than many in his own party, who promptly revolted.
9) On Thursday the House Democratic caucus voted against the tax deal in a nonbinding voice vote.
10) That raised the prospect that the legislation could pass the House with more Republican than Democratic votes, a first for Obama's presidency. The tax deal has more support among Democrats in the Senate, where a test vote is set for Monday.
11) Republicans embracing the deal have been doing some fancy footwork themselves, making deficit reduction a top political priority while also supporting deficit-bloating tax cuts for those in all income brackets, as well as the new spending items in the package.
12) They argue that, even though voters may have chosen them for their vows to make the government smaller, low taxes can produce growth, which in their thinking will bring jobs to kick-start the weak economy. With unemployment stuck near 10 percent, now is not the time to raise taxes on anyone, they argue. Obama's original plans would raise taxes on Americans who earn more than $250,000 a year and reduce taxes for everybody else.
13) Even as Congress hashed over the costly new package, the Treasury Department said Friday the government spent $150.4 billion more than it took in during November, a 25 percent bigger deficit than in November 2009. If the tax-cut deal is enacted, the federal deficit for the budget year that began Oct. 1 will soar to around $1.5 trillion, a record, according to private forecasters.
14) The pact would extend cuts in income tax rates for all earners that would otherwise expire Dec. 31, renew long-term jobless benefits for all of 2011 and trim Social Security taxes for one year. It also would reinstate the expired estate tax, but with generous terms.
15) Trying to widen support, negotiators added tax credits to promote ethanol and other forms of alternative energy. Provisions designed to increase production of hybrid automobiles, biodiesel fuel, energy-efficient homes, coal and energy-efficient household appliances would be extended through the end of 2011. The measure also includes tax breaks for commuters who use mass transit.
16) For his part, Obama strongly defends the agreement. In an interview with National Public Radio, he said he hoped to use the two-year hiatus on tax rate changes to press for overhaul of the entire tax code. "We've got to start that conversation next year," he said.
17) Obama suggested one overhaul option is eliminating most deductions in return for lowering all tax brackets, a recommendation of his deficit commission. Wiping out exemptions "might make sense if, in exchange, people's rates are lower," he said. "That may end up being a more efficient way of doing business."
18) Republican Rep. John Boehner, who will be speaker of the House when Congress reconvenes next month, says he will move in January to slash congressional budgets, including his own, by 5 percent. In an interview to be aired Sunday on CBS' "60 Minutes," Boehner says that in the age of trillion-dollar deficits, "we've got to start somewhere, and we're going to start here."
19) Bowles and Republican deficit commission co-chairman Alan Simpson met on Thursday with Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner and Budget Director Jacob Lew. Bowles and Simpson later issued a statement urging Obama "to launch negotiations with congressional leaders from both parties when Congress returns in January" on long-term debt-trimming solutions.
20) For the first time, liberals like Rep. Barney Frank, a Democrat, and Sen. Bernie Sanders, an independent, are finding themselves on the same side as tea party-backed Republican conservatives such as Sen. Jim DeMint, former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin and former Republican Delaware Senate candidate Christine O'Donnell. Those Republicans criticized the deal, mainly because of the extension of unemployment benefits without offsetting budget cuts.
21) Obama is not the first president to tack away from his political base. President George H.W. Bush did it in 1992 when he abandoned his "read my lips, no new taxes" pledge and supported tax increases to control federal spending. And President Bill Clinton "triangulated" in 1994 after his Democrats, like Obama's, suffered deep midterm loses. Clinton reached out and co-opted some initiatives long favored by Republicans, including overhaul of the personal welfare system.
22) Liberal Democrats grumbled then, just as they are doing now, but Clinton went on to win re-election in 1996.
23) Doug Schoen, a Democratic consultant who was Clinton's pollster, said he was surprised that Obama did not bring restive congressional Democrats into the negotiating process or talk more about the need for longer-term deficit reduction.
24) "This was an election about smaller government, and this was not reflected in the deal," Schoen said. "He basically went out there and attacked the deal he'd just agreed to. He attacked the left. He attacked the right. He acted like what I call a sore winner."
25) Obama called Democratic critics of his tax-cut deal "sanctimonious" and defended it as necessary to keep taxes from going up for nearly every American on Jan. 1 -- which is what would happen in the event of congressional stalemate. Also, Obama noted that he managed to get into the proposed deal other measures Democrats eagerly want, such as the extension of expiring jobless benefits.
26) His supporters defend the deal as a bow to political reality, given that Obama clearly did not have the 60 votes needed in the Senate to raise taxes for the nation's wealthiest people while extending the Bush tax cuts for everybody else.
27) "Obama got a lot out of it. He got desperately needed stimulus, which in the end matters a lot. And, with the two-year extension of the tax cuts, he lives to fight another day," said Thomas Mann, a political scientist and congressional scholar at the Brookings Institution.
28) But deficit hawk David Walker, head of a balanced-budget advocacy group called Comeback America Initiative, complained that the deal extends some tax cuts, proposes new ones and calls for additional spending, "none of which are planned to be paid for with spending cuts in other areas."
29) "The result is a bigger bill for our kids, grandkids and future generations of Americans," said Walker, former comptroller general of Congress' Government Accountability Office.
30) The White House is going far afield to win approval.
31) Presidential spokesman Robert Gibbs said some of the suggestions of the Bowles-Simpson commission on deficit reduction would be considered when Obama puts together a new budget early next year. Gibbs then ripped a blank piece of paper from his briefing book and held it up. If Obama's grand compromise fails, "we're going to have that," Gibbs said, pointing to the blank sheet.
32) In any event, said Norman Ornstein, a fellow at the American Enterprise Institute who specializes in Congress, "It's very clear that the era of deficit denial in Washington may not even have hit its peak yet."


Obama tax deal clears Senate hurdle
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1) President Barack Obama's tax deal with Republicans gained enough vote in the Senate on Monday to move forward to final passage as the White House charts an untested bipartisan course into the New Year.
2) The unusual alliance of Obama and leaders of both parties in the upper chamber eased the bill which averts a Jan. 1 income-tax increase for millions of Americans over the first procedural hurdle by an 83-15 vote. It easily surpassed the necessary 60 of 100 votes needed to move the compromise to a final vote.
3) Senate passage of the bill is expected as early as Tuesday, and in a brief appearance at the White House, Obama called on the House of Representatives to follow suit quickly. He spoke amid indications that a revolt among House Democratic liberals was ebbing, further improving prospects for quick enactment.
4) The tax deal moved forward as Congress winds down a final session before the Democrats cede their majority to Republicans in the House of Representatives in the next Congress. It convenes in early January.
5) The Senate will remain under Democratic control, but the president's party will hold a much diminished majority.
6) It was that reality, the result of a Republican landslide in congressional elections last month, that prompted Obama to strike the tax deal with Republicans. Lawmakers were eager to avert a Jan. 1 a
7) The deal marks a test of how Obama will manage to govern without his party in control of both houses of Congress. His readiness to reach accommodation with the opposition party likely will set a pattern for the final two years of his term.
8) Eager to trumpet the Senate vote, Obama said even before the final tally was announced that it proved "that both parties can in fact work together to grow our economy and look out for the American people."
9) Despite strong criticism from fellow Democrats, Obama has made passage of the bill a key year-end priority, calling it essential for the economy as it struggles to recover from the worst recession in decades.
10) The compromise that came to a procedural vote in the Senate late Monday afternoon would extend Bush-era tax cuts for all income brackets despite Obama's historic opposition to keeping lower rates in place for U.S. households earning more than $250,000 a year.
11) Faced with the prospect of higher taxes across all income brackets, Obama chose compromise. In return, Republicans dropped opposition to an extension of payments to the long-term unemployed. The deal would guarantee those payments continue for 13 months.
12) Additionally, the plan would reduce payroll taxes by 2 percent. Those assessments go to fund Social Security, the federal pension system for older and disabled Americans.
13) Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky welcomed Obama's decision to move away from his opposition to extending the tax cuts for the wealthy.
14) "This is an important shift, and the White House should be applauded for agreeing to it," McConnell said.
15) The bill's overall cost, estimated at $858 billion over two years, would be added to already huge federal deficits.
16) The main sticking point is a big expansion of the ceiling at which estates are taxed. The leader of the House, Speaker Nancy Pelosi, initially called that part of the deal "a bridge too far" and has been joined in hot opposition to that part of the measure by liberal Democrats in the lower house.
17) The package Obama negotiated would set the top rate at 35 percent and exempt the first $5 million of an individual's estate. Couples could exempt $10 million. Without the deal, the estate tax was scheduled to return next year to a top rate of 55 percent for estates larger than $1 million for individuals and $2 million for married couples.
18) In his remarks, Obama gave no indication he was willing to accept further changes to the plan he negotiated with senior Republicans.
19) "I understand those concerns," he said of objections from some of his usual allies in Congress. "I share some of them. But that's the nature of compromise, sacrificing something that each of us cares about to move forward on what matters to all of us."
20) The remarks were directed largely at Democratic critics who last week vowed to prevent the bill from coming to the House floor unless it was changed to scale back the billions in relief ticketed to the wealthy.
21) Despite a vow among House Democrats to keep the measure from reaching the floor in the lower chamber, Majority Leader Steny Hoyer said on Monday that he believed it would come to a vote.
22) There needs to be a process of give and take and "I think that's going to occur," said Hoyer. He suggested possible amendments could address the estate tax issue.
23) Rep. Chris Van Hollen, also a member of the Democratic leadership in the House, predicted liberals, including Pelosi, would not "hold this up" despite roiling anger among progressives.


Democrats stew over Obama ' s handling of tax deal
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1) The struggle over tax cuts is seriously straining President Barack Obama's relationship with House Democrats, who have backed him on key issues even when it cost them politically.
2) Expressing hurt and bewilderment, Democratic lawmakers say Obama ignored them at crucial negotiating moments, misled them about his intentions and made needless concessions to Republicans.
3) The president has responded that he acted honorably and drove the best bargain he could. But even his explanations offended some longtime allies. Aides to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi passed around news accounts of a Dec. 7 news conference in which Obama claimed that some liberals would feel "sanctimonious about how pure our intentions are and how tough we are" by refusing to compromise, even if an impasse hurt the working class.
4) "Hardly anybody in the Democratic caucus here feels that the president tried hard enough to deliver on his campaign promises," said Rep. Alan Grayson, one of dozens of House Democrats defeated in last month's elections. Obama had House Democratic leaders "go through what turned out to be Potemkin meetings with his staff, when the real negotiations were being done elsewhere," he said.
5) Rep. Elijah Cummings, who has strongly supported Obama and who won re-election last month, told MSNBC the chief House representative "wasn't even in the room, and we did feel left out" during the key tax-cut negotiations.
6) Hurt feelings can mend over time, of course, and it's not clear how much political damage Obama will suffer because of disenchantment among House members. His allies note that House Democrats will be in the minority in the new Congress, and it's essential for the president to negotiate with the newly ascendant Republicans to get things done.
7) Still, the estrangement is notable because House Democrats have been Obama's most dependable allies in his first two years in office. They passed a politically risky energy bill to cap greenhouse gasses, only to see the Senate ignore it. When the Senate refused to make further changes to this year's hard-fought health care overhaul bill, House Democrats swallowed their anger and pride, accepting big concessions to keep it alive.
8) Key liberal groups have attacked the tax plan, which would extend Bush-era tax cuts for two years for all Americans, poor and rich alike. It also would extend unemployment benefits and trim Social Security taxes for a year, steps most Democrats support. But the deal would tax large, multimillion-dollar inheritances at a rate lower than many had expected, and that infuriates many liberals.
9) Some of Obama's longtime allies have lashed out. Illinois Rep. Jesse L. Jackson Jr. -- who publicly chastised his famous father for criticizing Obama in the 2008 presidential campaign -- said of the tax deal, "If we recklessly cut taxes for the wealthiest 2 percent, then Obamanomics will look an awful lot like Reaganomics."
10) The Congressional Black Caucus said its members "are overwhelmingly opposed to the president's compromise with Republicans."
11) Obama says Republican lawmakers held middle-class Americans hostage by vowing to tie up Congress -- and thereby allowing everyone's income tax rates to rise on Jan. 1 -- unless he met their demands to extend tax cuts for the wealthy for another two years.
12) "I know there are some who would have preferred a protracted political fight, even if it had meant higher taxes for all Americans," the president said last week. "I'm not here to play games with the American people or the health of our economy," he added. "My job is to do whatever I can to get this economy moving."
13) House Democrats are especially upset about a Dec. 6 White House meeting involving their party's leaders, Obama and Vice President Joe Biden, the administration's chief tax negotiator. Participants said Pelosi and one of her lieutenants, Rep. Chris Van Hollen, knew the White House was nearing an agreement with Republicans, and they specifically objected to the proposed inheritance tax provisions.
14) Van Hollen says Obama and Biden indicated that no final deal had been cut. But shortly after the meeting ended, Obama announced the compromise reached with Republican Senate leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky.
15) White House officials say some details were negotiated almost to the last minute. But accounts of the meeting angered many House Democrats, who voted two days later to reject the tax cut plan unless it is changed.
16) "We left that meeting with the White House indicating that they had not yet cut final details," Van Hollen said in an interview. Referring to the estate tax provisions, he said, "Republicans are gloating because they got a windfall of $25 billion for the wealthiest estates." That would be added to the deficit, he noted.
17) White House communications director Dan Pfeiffer told the Associated Press, "We have been talking to the Democratic leadership since prior to the announcement and will continue to work closely with them to ensure that this important package is passed into law so the middle class doesn't face a tax increase."
18) Van Hollen says more negotiations will occur when the tax measure reaches the House, assuming the Senate approves Obama's version this week. House Democrats "are determined to strip the most egregious provisions from the bill, especially the estate tax giveaway," he vowed.


US Senate to vote on extending Bush era tax cuts
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1) The Senate is moving to pass a package Wednesday that would spare U.S. taxpayers at every income level from a significant tax increase on Jan. 1.
2) The package will then go to the House, where Democrats are fuming over extended tax breaks for the wealthy that President Barack Obama negotiated with Senate Republicans. House Democrats are considering possible changes, perhaps holding a vote to enact a higher estate tax than Obama negotiated. But even critics of the package say they expect it to pass as is.
3) "There's a political reality here," said Rep. Bill Pascrell Jr., a Democrat. "We can jump up and down all we want about the higher-end estate taxes, and I don't think anything's going to change because the Senate isn't going to change it."
4) Obama on Wednesday urged Congress to pass the plan quickly.
5) "I know there are different aspects of this plan to which members of Congress on both sides of the aisle object. That's the nature of compromise," the president said before meeting with business leaders. "But we worked to negotiate an agreement that's a win for middle-class families and a win for our economy, and we can't afford to let it fall victim to either delay or defeat."
6) Rep. Louise Slaughter, a Democrat and chairwoman of the House Rules Committee, said the House could take up the bill Wednesday or Thursday.
7) The Senate has scheduled a midday Wednesday vote on the bill. It is expected to easily pass the Senate with broad bipartisan support after clearing a procedural vote Monday, 83-15.
8) "I think the Senate is going to pass this measure ensuring that no one's taxes go up by a very significant margin, and I hope that our friends in the House will understand that that's the best way to go forward -- simply pass the Senate bill, get it down to a president who supports the understanding," said Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell.
9) McConnell warned House Democrats that any changes could derail the entire package.
10) "This agreement is not subject to being reopened," McConnell said.
11) The bill would extend expiring tax cuts at every income level that were enacted during the presidency of George W. Bush. It also would renew a program of jobless benefits for the long-term unemployed that is due to lapse, and enact a one-year cut in Social Security taxes. The bill's cost, $858 billion, would be added to the deficit.
12) At the insistence of Republicans, the plan includes a more generous estate tax provision: The first $10 million of a couple's estate could pass to heirs without taxation. The balance would be subject to a 35 percent tax rate.
13) The lower estate tax infuriated some Democrats who were already unhappy with Obama for agreeing to extend tax cuts for individuals making more than $200,000 and couples making more than $250,000.
14) The tax deal moves forward as Congress winds down a final session before the Democrats cede their majority to Republicans in the House. The Senate will remain under Democratic control, but the president's party will hold a much smaller majority.
15) Obama needs to get the tax measure out of the way to get to a Senate vote on the New Start agreement with Russia. Republicans vowed to block a vote on ratification of the nuclear reduction pact, signed by Obama and Russian President Dmitry Medvedev in April, until action was taken on taxes.
16) The U.S. Constitution requires that 67 of 100 Senators approve such a treaty. Obama has calculated success was more likely in this session than the next when there will be fewer Democratic seats.


Obama tax deal faces vote in US House
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1) President Barack Obama's fellow Democrats in the House of Representatives were divided over a tax cut compromise, with some threatening to amend a key part of the bill that could unravel a deal the White House struck with Senate Republicans.
2) The House was expected to vote at about midnight EST (0500 GMT) after struggling through most of the day Thursday on how to proceed with the legislation that was passed in the Senate a day earlier.
3) Liberal Democratic critics, after forcing a delay earlier in the day over a section of the legislation that they see as overly generous to wealthy Americans, conceded the bill was on track to pass.
4) The Republican leadership in the Senate had warned that any change to the measure in the House, which would require a new vote in the Senate, would kill the compromise measure that Obama hammered out with the Republican opposition.
5) Obama was testing his ability to govern in a far more bipartisan fashion, a new strategy forced upon him by the Republican landslide in November's congressional elections. The opposition party gained a majority in the House and significantly diminished the Democratic majority in the Senate.
6) After the Senate vote Wednesday, Obama declared himself still opposed to portions of the legislation because it keeps in place big tax benefits for the wealthy. Nevertheless, he said, compromise was necessary.
7) "I know that not every member of Congress likes every piece of this bill, and it includes some provisions that I oppose. But as a whole, this package will grow our economy, create jobs, and help middle class families across the country," Obama said in a statement.
8) In return for keeping in place income tax cuts for all income levels, Obama had won a Republican pledge to vote for a 13-month extension of jobless benefits for the long-term unemployed. The deal also includes a 2 percent reduction in payroll taxes that finance Social Security, the federal pension system for the retired and disabled.
9) Most Democrats, along with Obama, opposed keeping tax cuts in place for households earning more than $250,000 a year. But Republicans threatened to scuttle a continuation of tax breaks for those who earn less than that amount without continued breaks for the wealthy.
10) Democrats made plain their unhappiness with Obama as the measure moved toward a final vote. Rep. Brad Sherman said the president had agreed to pay a ransom to get legislation that Republicans would support, and Rep. Elijah Cummings said the White House "could have gotten a better deal" in secretive talks.
11) Policy differences aside, the legislation stood on the brink of enactment an astonishingly quick 10 days after the president announced at the White House he had agreed on a framework with Republicans.
12) With the economy performing poorly and a year-end tax increase looming, there were none of the customary congressional hearings that normally precede debate on major legislation, and few if any complaints that lawmakers had not had enough time to review the legislation.
13) The part of the Senate-passed legislation that liberal House Democrats find most upsetting involves inheritance taxes. At the insistence of Republicans, the first $10 million of a couple's estate could pass to heirs without taxation. The balance would be subject to a 35 percent tax rate.
14) The estate tax was repealed for 2010. Under current law, it is scheduled to return next year with a top rate of 55 percent on the portion of estates above $1 million, or $2 million for couples.
15) House Democratic leaders want to bring back the 2009 estate tax levels. That year, individuals could pass $3.5 million to their heirs, tax-free. Couples could pass $7 million, with a little tax planning, and the balance was taxed at a top rate of 45 percent.
16) As the debate raged, Rep. Louise Slaughter, a Democrat and chairwoman of the House Rules Committee, said: "This is a vote people are making for their consciences, and for their districts."
17) Obama and supporters of the Senate-passed bill are banking on House Democrats capitulating eventually, reasoning that no member of Congress wants to be linked with a vote that causes Americans' income taxes to rise on Jan. 1. That will happen without a new tax law to replace the Bush-era tax cuts that expire at the end of the year.


Obama signs $858 billion tax bill compromise
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1) President Barack Obama signed into law Friday a massive tax package that frayed his relations with liberals, caused him to abandon a pledge not to extend tax cuts to the rich and heralded a new balance of power in Washington.
2) Dramatic both as an economic and a political accomplishment, the agreement sets the stage for Obama's new relationship with Republicans, who as of January will have a majority in the House and will have narrowed the Democrats' majority in the Senate.
3) With the benefits of the package expiring in two years, the law also places taxes at the center of the political debate ahead of the 2012 U.S. presidential elections.
4) Displaying a new style of compromise, Obama invited Democrats and Republicans alike to the White House for the signing of the bill that will cost $858 billion over two years and that contains provisions to address the concerns of both parties.
5) "It's a good deal for the American people; this is progress and that's what they sent us here to achieve," Obama said as a rare bipartisan assembly of lawmakers looked on.
6) The bill was the result of a deal hashed out just 10 days earlier in order to avert a scheduled Jan. 1 tax increase and renew jobless benefits. To strike the bargain, Obama had to set aside his vow to extend tax cuts only for middle and working class Americans, and enact an estate tax that is more generous to the wealthy than he initially had sought.
7) Failure to pass the bill would have resulted in tax hikes for most Americans as cuts approved under the administration of former President George W. Bush were set to expire.
8) On Thursday, liberal House Democrats threatened to torpedo the bill forcing a delay and the House battled over the measure late into the night before passing the bill 277-148 at about midnight. The Senate on Wednesday passed it by an overwhelming 83-15 margin.
9) Supporters say the package, which included additional reductions in payroll taxes, could help stimulate the U.S. economy. But it will also add to a growing deficit that has become a big concern among many voters.
10) A number of conservative Republicans joined some liberal Democrats in opposing the bill for that reason.
11) In addition to averting New Year's Day tax hikes, the measure also will cut federal Social Security pension taxes for nearly every wage-earner and pump billions of dollars into the still-sluggish economy.
12) Obama's strategy of governing in a more bipartisan fashion has been forced upon him by the Republican landslide in November's congressional elections. The opposition party gained a majority in the House and significantly diminished the Democratic majority in the Senate.


Analysis: With tax bill, Dems pick political fight
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1) In the year-end tax debate of 2010, President Barack Obama got the economic stimulus he sought while Democrats in Congress settled for picking a political fight.
2) Far more quietly, Republicans pocketed a two-year extension of George W. Bush-era tax cuts at all income levels and a lower estate tax to go with it, without having to swallow billions in public works spending that would have inflamed their conservative tea party supporters.
3) By the time Obama had signed the bill on Friday, he and Rep. Eric Cantor, the conservative Virginian in line to become House majority leader, could have read entire sections of each other's speeches.
4) "This tax deal is not perfect, and nearly all of us, myself included, disagree with certain elements of this bill," Cantor said Thursday night before the legislation cleared Congress, echoing what the president said at the signing ceremony.
5) The bill was "prompted by the fact that tax rates for every American were poised to automatically increase" on Jan. 1, Obama said on Friday. "That wouldn't have just been a blow to them -- it would have been a blow to our economy just as we're climbing out of a devastating recession."
6) Cantor had put it this way: "The choice is to act now or impose the onset of a $3.8 trillion tax increase that will crush the fragile recovery and cost tens of thousands of jobs nationally."
7) It was, as Florida Republican Rep. Ginny Brown-Waite said in the House, "a bipartisan moment of clarity."
8) It won't last.
9) Republicans will be in a position to pay less deference to the Democrats in Congress beginning in January, when the opposition party takes control of the House and adds seats in the Senate. Cantor, Ohio Rep. John Boehner, who's expected to become House speaker, and the rest of the new Republican House majority will be eager to make a show of cutting spending, more than Obama will support, and much more than most Democrats will consider.
10) "There will be moments, I am certain, over the next couple of years, in which the holiday spirit won't be as abundant as it is today," Obama said to laughter as he signed the tax bill.
11) In fact, the alignment of political forces that led to the tax bill could reoccur before the 2012 elections if the president and Republican leaders decide it's in their mutual interest to rein in federal deficits.
12) For now, the compromise underscored the change in government the voters decreed in the Nov. 2 elections near the halfway point of Obama's term.
13) Republicans were empowered and House Democrats embittered as the bill took shape, almost exclusively in private.
14) It unfolded during a 10-day period that Obama, in a moment of particular candor, called political posturing.
15) Democrats are already focused on the 2012 elections, and their principal objective was to attack Republicans. In the short term, they lashed out at the president as well as at their intended targets, and wound up far from united.
16) The tax bill, which included extended unemployment benefits as well as a one-year cut in Social Security payroll taxes, drew opposition in the end from 112 Democrats in the House and 14 in the Senate. Only 36 Republicans in the House and five in the Senate spurned Obama's deal with the Republican congressional leaders.
17) Democratic Rep. Anthony Weiner of New York said Republicans turned out to be "better poker players" than Obama. His was a far more charitable assessment than the one from Oregon Democratic Rep. David Wu, who said that if Obama couldn't get a better deal, it showed he would be "eaten alive" by the Republicans once they take control of the House.
18) As they take up new positions in the minority, Democratic House leaders splintered on the biggest tax bill in a decade.
19) House Speaker Nancy Pelosi chose not to vote when the bill passed. Majority Leader Steny Hoyer of Maryland supported it, and Rep. Jim Clyburn of South Carolina, the third-ranking leader, opposed it. So, too, did Rep. Chris Van Hollen of Maryland, a member of the leadership who raised his political profile inside the caucus by aligning himself with critics of the bill.
20) Even before Obama announced a framework agreement at the White House two weeks ago, congressional Democrats were already pointing toward the 2012 elections, casting themselves as guardians of the middle class while depicting Republicans as friends of "millionaires and billionaires."
21) In the House, they pushed through legislation to extend the Bush tax cuts only on incomes up to $200,000 for individuals and $250,000 for couples. It was a nonstarter in the Senate, where Republicans have enough seats to block final passage, and Democrats knew it.
22) That wasn't really the point.
23) A few days later, at a time they -- but not the public -- knew that Obama was certain to reach agreement with Republicans, Senate Democrats staged a pair of Saturday votes.
24) One was on the House-passed plan, the other an alternative to let taxes rise only on incomes over $1 million. Republicans, predictably, scuttled both.
25) "I'm going to be here for the next year, next two years, to remind my colleagues that they were willing to increase the deficit $300 billion to give tax breaks to people who have income over a million dollars," said Sen. Chuck Schumer, a New York Democrat, making it explicit that the Democratic objective was more related to the 2012 elections than altering the emerging tax compromise.
26) Democratic unhappiness in the Senate was mild compared with that in the House, where the party's grip on power is measured in mere days.
27) "Just say no," the rank and file chanted at a closed-door meeting.
28) They pledged to keep the bill from the House floor unless it was changed, but were forced to relent when reminded that a tax increase would certainly follow.
29) Instead, they were allowed a vote to remove the estate tax provision they opposed, but failed.
30) One more final maneuver -- to reject the bill and pass one without any tax cuts for the wealthy -- would have thrown the issue back to the Senate. It was viewed as too politically risky a few days before taxes were scheduled to rise on millions.


Top Republican to vote against Russia treaty
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1) The Senate's Republican leader came out Sunday against a nuclear arms treaty with Russia, warning Democrats not to rush through President Barack Obama's foreign policy priority in the final days of the postelection Congress. Top Democrats still expressed confidence the Senate would ratify the accord by year's end.
2) Minority Leader Mitch McConnell made no prediction about the treaty's success or failure if it came to a vote, but he said many Republicans were just now getting deeply involved in the issue.
3) "Members are uneasy about it, don't feel thoroughly familiar with it, and I think we would have been a lot better off to take our time," McConnell said. "Rushing it right before Christmas strikes me as trying to jam us. ... I think that was not the best way to get the support of people like me."
4) Senate debate was expected to resume Sunday. Treaties require a two-thirds majority of those voting in the Senate, or 67 votes if all 100 senators vote.
5) Sens. Dick Durbin, the Democrats' No. 2 leader in the Senate, and John Kerry, the chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee, said they believe they have the votes to ratify the treaty this year.
6) Durbin said Sunday would mark a fifth day of debate and that one Republican amendment had been considered Saturday and that another would probably be offered Sunday. "I think we need to bring this to a vote," he said.
7) Obama and Russian President Dmitry Medvedev signed the accord -- it is known as New START -- in April. It would limit each country's strategic nuclear warheads to 1,550, down from the current ceiling of 2,200. It would also establish a system for monitoring and verification. U.S. weapons inspections ended a year ago with the expiration of a 1991 treaty.
8) Republicans focused on wording in the treaty's preamble that they contend would allow Russia to withdraw from the pact if the U.S. develops a missile defense system in Europe. Democrats argued that the preamble reference to missile defense systems was nonbinding and had no legal authority.
9) Debate on the treaty was interrupted Saturday with votes on repealing the military's policy that banned gays from serving openly in the military -- it passed -- and a bill creating a pathway to citizenship for young illegal aliens -- it failed.
10) "This treaty needs to be fixed," said Sen. Jon Kyl, the No. 2 Republican in the Senate. "And we are not going to have the time to do that in the bifurcated way or trifurcated way that we're dealing with it here, with other issues being parachuted in all the time."
11) While Kyl did not predict whether the treaty would be rejected or ratified, he said gaining 67 votes would depend upon whether senators would be able to consider the amendments Republicans wanted to offer.
12) "I predicted a couple of weeks ago that we would not have time to do this adequately, and I think my prediction's coming true," he said.
13) Sen. Richard Lugar, the top Republican on the Foreign Relations Committee and one who supports ratification, said more amendments to the treaty needed to be heard.
14) "Several Republicans will support it, and I join the chairman in believing that there are the votes there. The problem is really getting to that final vote," Lugar said.
15) On Saturday, Senate Democrats deflected an initiative by Republicans that would have forced U.S. and Russian negotiators to reopen talks. The 59-37 vote against the amendment by Sen. John McCain indicated the difficulty Obama is having in trying to win ratification of the treaty before a new, Senate with strengthened Republican minority assumes power in January.
16) Led by McCain, Obama's Republican opponent in the 2008 presidential election, Republicans tried to strike words from the treaty's preamble regarding missile defense systems.
17) Durbin and Kyl spoke on "Fox News Sunday" while Kerry and Lugar appeared on ABC's "This Week." McConnell spoke on CNN's "State of the Union."


Obama pushes for arms pact as top Democrat upbeat
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1) President Barack Obama lobbied senators by phone Monday to back an arms treaty with Russia that he has called a national security imperative, as a top Senate Democrat conceded "house by house combat" would be needed to win enough Republican votes to prevail.
2) The president is continuing to call senators as he presses for passage of the New START treaty before Congress adjourns, according to deputy press secretary Bill Burton.
3) The White House and Senate Democratic leaders expressed confidence they will ultimately garner the two-thirds vote the U.S. Constitution requires for the Senate to ratify the treaty.
4) Sen. Charles Schumer said Democrats have now picked up the support of another Republican senator, an encouraging sign for proponents as he voted against moving ahead on the treaty last week. Schumer said Democrats will need nine or 10 Republican votes to prevail.
5) Democrats expect to get 57 votes from their caucus, with one member absent due to cancer surgery. Four Republican senators, including arms expert Sen. Richard Lugar, -- have said they back the treaty.
6) "It's going to be a real slog, house by house combat if you will," Schumer told ABC television's "Good Morning America" on Monday. "But I think we'll be there."
7) Obama wants the Senate to vote before January when Republicans increase their numbers by five, dimming the outlook for the accord. Complicating Obama's effort is Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, a Republican, who said he will oppose the treaty and on Monday railed against the fierce partisanship.
8) "No senator should be forced to make decisions like this so we can tick off another item on someone's political check list before the end of the year," McConnell said on the Senate floor.
9) Just weeks after Obama's self-described "shellacking" in the Nov. 2 elections, ratification of the treaty would cap a string of political victories for the White House. Congress endorsed the president's tax compromise with Republicans and voted Saturday to repeal the military's ban on openly gay service members.
10) Responding to McConnell, a clearly frustrated Sen. John Kerry, head of the Foreign Relations Committee, said consideration of the treaty was delayed until after the election at the request of Republicans.
11) "Having accommodated their interests they now come back and turn around and say 'Oh you guys are terrible. You are bringing up this treaty at the last minute,'" Kerry said. "I mean is there no shame ever with respect to the arguments that are made sometimes on the floor of the United States Senate."
12) While McConnell's opposition did not come as a surprise, it unnerved the treaty's backers, who wondered how hard he would work to defeat the accord. Sen. Jon Kyl, the No. 2 Republican in the Senate, also has said he could not support the treaty in its current form.
13) The Senate launched a sixth day of debate on the treaty on Monday, with a vote slated for Tuesday to move ahead toward a final vote. Lawmakers debated two amendments -- one that would increase the number of weapons inspectors and another to raise the limits on the deployed strategic nuclear delivery vehicles from 700 to 720.
14) Obama and Russian President Dmitry Medvedev signed the accord in April. It would limit each country's strategic nuclear warheads to 1,550, down from the current ceiling of 2,200. It would also establish a system for monitoring and verification. U.S. weapons inspections ended a year ago with the expiration of a 1991 treaty.
15) Proponents of the treaty, including much of the military and foreign policy establishment, cite the renewed weapons inspections and say the pact would keep the two biggest nuclear powers on the path to reducing their arsenals. Opponents assert it would restrict missile defense and argue that it has insufficient procedures to verify Russia's adherence.
16) Several Republicans said Obama's letter to congressional leaders Saturday vowing to move ahead on missile defense carried considerable sway.
17) "It takes care of me," said Sen. Robert Bennett, a Republican, who indicated he was leaning toward voting for the treaty. Sen. John McCain, Obama's presidential rival in 2008, said he was still undecided.


Analysis: A political rebound, but can it hold?
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1) President Barack Obama is rebounding from his party's drubbing in congressional elections with the kind of victory list from Congress' final days that any White House would want: a tax deal, a landmark repeal of the ban on openly gay military service and the prospect of a major nuclear treaty with Russia.
2) Each represents a different approach at dealmaking, but none alone offers a clear path to governing in a divided capital over the next two years.
3) In the seven weeks since the congressional election, Obama negotiated with Republican leaders on taxes and left angry liberals on the sidelines. On the New START arms treaty, he sidelined Republican Senate leaders and negotiated with like-minded Republicans. And with the repeal of the Pentagon's don't ask, don't tell policy on gays in uniform, he delighted liberals, won Republican rank-and-file support and left conservatives fuming.
4) Obama, whose first two years were marked by staunchly partisan votes on his signature initiatives, finds himself at a crossroads. Faced with an ascendant Republican party and a restless electorate, the White House is happily holding up the president's recent successes as a sign of new outreach.
5) "This won't be a model for everything over the next two years, but it provides a strong foundation to build on," said Dan Pfeiffer, the White House communications director.
6) The year-ending congressional session, however, is not an altogether clear template for the future. Democrats for now still control the House of Representatives and the Senate; next year Republicans will take over the House and gain seats in the Senate. The issues that lent themselves to compromise were easier in the short year-ending session than the hurdles the White House, Democrats and Republicans will have to clear in the months ahead. And the next two years also lead inexorably to the 2012 presidential elections, where confrontation, not cooperation, will dominate politics.
7) What is more, Obama and Congress merely postponed crucial moments of reckoning. The tax cut agreement extended for two years all tax rates from President George W. Bush's tenure. That leaves unsolved the question of what tax rates should be made permanent and which ones should be allowed to increase. That debate may well dominate the presidential election year.
8) Congress also was unable to pass a major spending bill to keep the government operating, settling for a short-term, stopgap measure that maintains current spending into early March. That means a new and contentious debate with a Republican-controlled House over money to implement new health care and bank oversight laws that many Republicans oppose.
9) The Senate failed to advance an immigration bill that would have given a path to legal status to many young illegal immigrants who join the U.S. military or attend college in the United States. The legislation will be far more difficult to pass in the new Congress.
10) Congress and the White House also have vowed to tackle sky-high deficits and the growing national debt, challenges that Obama himself acknowledged last week will be far more difficult than the tax deal he was signing.
11) "There will be moments, I'm certain, over the next couple of years in which the holiday spirit won't be as abundant as it is today," the president said Friday as he signed the tax legislation with Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell at his side.
12) Still, the achievements of the year-ending session are remarkable and surprising, and they help cast Obama in a new light.
13) During his 2008 campaign, Obama offered two visions of change. One was in policy: He would overhaul the nation's health care system and provide universal insurance. The other was tone: His was a purple nation, not a red or blue America riven by partisanship. For most of his first two years, he managed to accomplish the first at the cost of the latter.
14) Over the past few weeks, however, Obama has shown his willingness to bend and pull votes from the other side to get results, even at some cost within his party.
15) To many liberals, the session marked Obama as a pushover and Republicans, in the words of Democratic Rep. Anthony Weiner, as "better poker players."
16) To some Republicans, Obama emerged as a self-interested pragmatist.
17) "When faced with the specter of committing either political hara-kiri or doing the right thing, he'll do the right thing," said Republican consultant John Feehery, a former senior House Republican leadership aide. "He can be politically ruthless when he has to be."
18) And yet to others he showed himself to be an agile and graceful politician.
19) "He's very supple and very smart," said Fred Greenstein, the presidential historian and emeritus professor at Princeton University. "People are welcome to underestimate him. I'm sure it doesn't bother him at all."
20) To achieve the tax deal, he abandoned his demand that tax rates for the wealthy had to go up and signed off on an estate tax rate that Democrats opposed. But he managed to win billions of dollars in jobless benefits, a payroll tax cut and breaks for businesses that were far more ambitious than many thought he could obtain to stimulate the economy.
21) The deal, cut with Senate Republican leaders, avoided a tax increase for all, but it marginalized liberals, and they were livid.
22) On the nuclear arms treaty, the White House saw the shortened congressional session as a final opportunity to avoid a protracted debate next year. That could have doomed a treaty the administration sees as essential to establishing credibility abroad. But McConnell and his second in command, Sen. Jon Kyl, insisted on more time and decided to oppose the New START treaty.
23) To win support, the White House found an ally in Republican Sen. Richard Lugar of Indiana. Lugar was a foreign policy expert whom Obama first sought out during Obama's early days in the Senate four years ago. As senators, the two had traveled to the former Soviet Union together and sponsored legislation on nonproliferation of conventional weapons and on fuel economy.
24) Systematically, the White House lobbied Republicans with a bipartisan array of figures from the foreign policy community. They won the backing of former Secretary of State Colin Powell and former President George H.W. Bush and they kept their own contacts with Republican senators private.
25) By Tuesday, they had won the stated support of nine Republicans in the Senate, enough to win the two-thirds majority needed to ratify a treaty, expected Wednesday.
26) "The president would admit that he spent more time reaching out to Republicans recently than in previous times," White House spokesman Robert Gibbs said Tuesday.
27) Winning the repeal of don't ask, don't tell was less about bipartisanship than about finding the opening in the year-ending session's calendar. Still, the measure passed with the type of Republican support Congress had not seen for two years.
28) For the White House, it also was a welcome fulfillment of a campaign promise, and it was proof to liberals that Obama was not throwing them under the bus.


Outgoing Congress charts own course
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1) Republicans say they will follow "the people's priorities" when they gain power on Capitol Hill next month. Yet when it came to tax cuts for the wealthy and other top issues that dominated the final weeks of the just concluded session of Congress, the Republicans either defied what most Americans want or followed their will only after grudging, drawn-out battles.
2) Relentlessly focused on the next election, politicians are usually loath to act against voter sentiment. Still, the post-election weeks of the 111th Congress saw battles in which Washington seemed oblivious to the direction most people wanted lawmakers to take, as measured by public opinion polls. These included:
3) --Congress' approval of a compromise between President Barack Obama and congressional Republican leaders renewing expiring tax cuts for everyone, despite broad public opposition to including people earning over $250,000. An Associated Press-CNBC Poll in late November found only 34 percent wanted taxes reduced for the richest Americans.
4) --Democrats' struggle before Congress finally repealed the prohibition against gays serving openly in the military. An ABC News-Washington Post poll this month showed 77 percent favored ending the ban, consistent with other polls, and a Pentagon survey of thousands of servicemen and women found 7 in 10 supporting the move or saying it wouldn't hurt.
5) --The failure of Democrats to approve the Dream Act, which would have helped many young illegal immigrants become citizens if they attend college or join the military. A Gallup Poll this month found 54 percent support for the measure.
6) -- Roadblocks the Obama administration faced before ultimately persuading the Senate to ratify a nuclear arms control treaty with Russia, even as an AP-GfK Poll last month showed 67 percent backing Senate approval of the New START pact.
7) On each, Republicans led the effort to oppose policies that most people support, though Obama and many Democrats eventually joined them to back tax cuts for upper-income families. Capitalizing on the leverage they gained by winning control of the House of Representatives and extra Senate seats in the November election, the Republicans used Senate procedures to force Democrats to get large majorities to overcome procedural hurdles and prevail. In the case of START, Republican leaders forced delays that in the end were not successful at denying Obama and Democrats the two-thirds Senate majority that the Constitution requires to ratify a treaty.
8) The Republicans' stance was striking for a party that spent much of the 2010 congressional campaign accusing Democrats of ignoring the public's will, a sentiment echoed by Rep. John Boehner, who is expected to be the next House speaker.
9) "Beginning in January, the House is going to become the outpost in Washington for the American people and their desire for a smaller, less-costly and more accountable government," Boehner said. "The president's agenda may be the agenda of Washington, but beginning Jan. 5th the agenda of this House will be the agenda of the American people. The people's priorities will be our priorities."
10) On some of the final issues, Obama and Congress listened to what most people want.
11) While polls show wide concern about record budget deficits, people are leery of addressing the problem by raising taxes or cutting cherished programs like Social Security or Medicare which provide retirement benefits and health care coverage to the elderly. Politicians went nowhere near such unpopular proposals. In a token move that would have little budget impact, Obama proposed freezing federal workers' salaries, which most people support, and Congress quickly agreed.
12) On other matters, lawmakers were driven more by what each party's strongest supporters wanted, according to analysts on both sides.
13) "This is definitely a listen-to-your-base lame-duck session," said Republican pollster Glen Bolger.
14) On the marquee issue before the outgoing Congress, Obama and Republican leaders reached a deal to retain everyone's tax cuts -- a Republican demand -- for two more years, and to extend unemployment benefits to millions of people whose coverage was expiring, a priority of Democrats and the administration.
15) Polls by the nonpartisan Pew Research Center and ABC News-Washington Post showed at least 6 in 10 Americans supported that compromise, making the deal easier for many Democrats to back.
16) But most Democrats opposed giving the tax breaks to the highest-earning Americans, a position that an AP-CNBC poll showed was shared by nearly 2 in 3 people, including 8 in 10 Democrats. In the end, though, many of them were reluctant to reject the compromise, knowing its defeat would mean they had capped 2010 by voting to let peoples' taxes rise in January.
17) "It says, 'We don't want to be seen as the ones who raise taxes for everyone,'" Democratic pollster Dave Beattie said of why many Democratic lawmakers backed down and supported the tax deal.
18) It was easy for most Republicans to support the tax legislation, since a majority of their supporters favor upper-income tax cuts.
19) Many ardent conservatives oppose a new nuclear pact with Russia, eased immigration restrictions and repeal of the "don't ask, don't tell" ban against military service by openly gay people. That gave Republican lawmakers leeway to oppose those measures, despite overall public support for them.
20) "These are red-meat Republican issues," said Timothy Nokken, a political science professor at Texas Tech University who studies Congress.
21) Also making opposition easier for Republicans was their realization that despite the broad backing those issues have, they don't drive the votes of many people.
22) "Even though there is support for START and repeal of 'don't ask don't tell,' these are not primary core issues for voters, and there's little harm that could come to them by opposing those two," said Republican consultant Steve Lombardo.