Stimulus plan may be ready by March: lawmaker

[Lone_Star_Dem]

Source: Reuters

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A stimulus package to boost the U.S. economy and avoid a full-fledged recession could be ready by the beginning of March, a senior Democratic lawmaker said on Sunday.

Sen. Charles Schumer, a New York Democrat and chairman of the Joint Economic Committee, said he expects Democrats and Republicans to find common ground and there was already agreement that the plan should include tax cuts.

<snip>

"If you could look at a balanced package, the centerpiece would be a tax cut for the middle class and working families, and the bookends might be some business tax cuts as well as some spending stimuli for, say, people who are unemployed because they lost their jobs recently for no good and increasing unemployment. And you could have a balance there that would work."

"We Democrats are not going to draw a line in the sand and say, 'If it doesn't have this, we're out,' or, 'If it does have this, we're out.' There's going to be a negotiation starting Tuesday."

Read more: http://www.reuters.com/article/topNews/idUSN1829724420080120?feedType=RSS&feedName=topNews&sp=true

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Schumer: Expand Those Helped by Stimulus

WASHINGTON (AP) — Any rebate included in an economic stimulus plan should include people who pay Social Security taxes, not just those who pay income taxes, a leading Democratic lawmaker said Sunday.

"If we did the rebate based on the payroll tax, it would hit a lot more people at a lower end of the spectrum. And so to just say income taxes are the only taxes we're considering that people pay is unfair," said Charles Schumer, the New York lawmaker who is chairman of the congressional Joint Economic Committee. People making $35,000 to $50,000 pay a lot of federal taxes, he said, but much of that is not income tax, but directed to programs like Social Security.

<snip>

Families of four earning less than $24,900 a year would not get a rebate under the White House approach, said Chad Stone, chief economist at the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, a research group that focuses on how government programs affect the poor and middle class.

He has estimated that about 22 million households file income tax returns but do not pay that tax because their earnings are so low. An additional 22 million households do not file a return, he said. This group includes many older people on fixed incomes, he said.

http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5h19_YeGzwzlmJhx42iIA7nJF0_UAD8U9PTRO1

[Demeter]

1. That Will Be Too Late

By March things will have deteriorated so much more that those plans will be inadequate at best, and harmful for sure.

[ohio2007]

2. Actually, by the time it kicks in.... it will be October.( just B4 the election ) nt

[Lone_Star_Dem]

3. You made me think of this toon

Never fear, they'll be in place in plenty of time to purchase a vote or two though.

[Demeter]

5. Poignant Toon. Thanks for Sharing!

[Robbien]

4. So even though this is just a benefit for the upper middle classes only

The GOP will fight it as if it were a give away to "those people", the working classes. They will keep on saying if the Feds give money to the undeserving working classes, then the rich should get a share of the spoils.

In the end, only people earning a hundred grand and up will get anything at all, while the rest of us are expected to toil on.