Politics

Bipartisan Economic Stimulus Package Will Jump Start America?s Slowing Economy

By Office of the Speaker

Today, Congressional Democrats and Republicans and President Bush reached an agreement on a bipartisan stimulus package to immediately jumpstart the slowing economy.

Our goals were to provide working Americans who are struggling in these difficult economic times with timely, targeted and temporary relief and to quickly give our economy a shot in the arm. We have accomplished both goals.

The House will move quickly to approve this stimulus initiative that will provide broad-based help to the American people and effectively invigorate the economy. We hope the Senate will do the same.

Economists agree that any stimulus package must put money in the hands of those who will spend it quickly to stimulate the economy, and this bipartisan package does just that.

This stimulus package with broad-based benefits will:

· Provide tax relief this spring of up to $600 for an individual and up to $1,200 for a married couple, plus $300 per child. A total of 117 million families will receive a check.

· Include $28 billion in checks to 35 million working families who would not otherwise been helped. More than 19 million of these are families with children.

· Double the amount small businesses can write off their taxes for new investments to get our economy moving again and provide immediate tax relief for all businesses to invest in new plants and equipment.

To address another critical issue affecting American homeowners, the package includes mortgage lending reforms?including a one-year increase in Fannie Mae?s and Freddie Mac?s conforming loan limits (from $417,000 to $625,500), and other changes that immediately help families facing foreclosure refinance their loans and get the housing counseling they may need.

This is a remarkable achievement ? that required compromise from all sides. We put Americans? interests first. We are confident that this package will help American families struggling to make ends meet in the slowing economy, in the face of rising prices for gas, home heating oil, groceries, and health care.

Full post as published by The Gavel on January 24, 2008 (boomark / email).