Tax cuts clear House committee
Congress is working on legislation that will shape Obama's $825 billion stimulus plan.
Payday loan restrictions aren’t on the agenda for Congress yet; they have urgent work to do in order to fix the country’s failing economy. Today House Democrats began to push through legislation that will shape Barack Obama’s American Recovery and Reinvestment Plan.
The plan, estimated to cost $825 billion, is scheduled to be ready for approval and implementation in mid-February. On day two of Obama’s stay in the Oval Office, Congress got to work on finalizing his economic stimulus plan. The House Ways and Means Committee approved $275 billion in tax cuts with a vote of 24-13. All Democrats voted yes, and Republicans voted no.
Tax cut support, opposition counter intuitive
Despite the fact that Republicans voiced support for the tax cuts in the days following Obama’s announcement, they opposed the measure that cemented those tax cuts. The reason for their opposition? The tax cuts were not big enough.
It is also odd that Democrats, many of whom said they thought the recovery plan should contain fewer tax cuts, voted in favor of the bill. However, the urgency of the situation has been greatly emphasized, and Democrats are focused on getting a bill passed quickly. Or perhaps they wanted to push the cuts through before the Republicans had a chance to augment them.
Who’s the boss?
Democrats hold a majority of the positions on legislative committees, including tax-writing committees, a result of the election. So it’s no surprise that the Democrats’ effort to preserve a tax break for this year and 2010 was successful. The tax break will amount to $500 for individual workers and $1,000 for couples per year. This might help a few people avoid needing a payday loan.
Democrats also voted down a Republican proposal that would help laid-off workers with health insurance. Because the measure would only help those who previously held employer-covered health insurance, Democrats argued that it would mostly help upper-income individuals.
Energy and technology
The House Energy and Commerce Committee met separately Wednesday to approve more legislation that will expedite Obama’s long-term plans. The committee approved $2.8 billion to expand broadband access. It also approved several billion more dollars to promote energy efficiency.
Other proposals the committee worked on were geared toward health care. Specifically, legislators are preparing for increased enrollment in Medicaid, food stamps and unemployment insurance, which traditionally rise during a recession.
Point taken
In a symbolic vote, the House voted to block access to the remaining $350 billion in TARP funds. Because the Senate already approved use of the funds last week, the vote has no actual effect on usage of the funds. The vote was merely a chance for House lawmakers to make their opposition known.
Many lawmakers did take the opportunity to indicate their dissent, including 90 Democrats. In total, the vote ended up being 270-155. Despite the landslide vote to block access, the action has no actual effect. Obama already has access to the funds, and he and his advisers are already drawing up plans for how to use it.
Check back with your payday loan source for more news on where the nation’s money is being spent.
Payday loans are a good thing. In many way is can help in an quick emergency for those who have even bugeted their money well.
President Obama’s economic plan was created out of experience and insightful logic. Of course there are areas where it may require an outside viewpoint. Both the Democrats and Republicans have great points and ideas that must be placed in consideration. However, that’s exactly what they’ve been doing all this time; squabbling. The American nation can’t afford to waste any more time and money while these government officials sit around and point fingers and bring up possibilities of something bad happening. We are already going through so much; I think we can take another blow from a probable downfall of this economic plan.
TAX BREAKS ALWAYS HELP SOME BUT IT’S SHORT LIVED. THERE WILL NEED TO BE ONGOING INCENTIVES TO GET THE REBUILDING PROCESS IN FULL SWING. THEN BALANCE IS THE KEY RATHER THAN GOING TOO FAST UPWARDS WHICH WOULD SINK POSSIBLY FASTER AND EVEN DEEPER THE NEXT TIME.
When will we see this tax break and how will it effect businesses? Are they going to tax them more so we can get a break? That can cause businesses to lay off more people because of the extra money they have to pay in taxes.