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Obama, lawmakers to meet on stimulus plan

(Agencies)
Updated: 2009-01-23 18:43

In response to the study, Peter Orszag, the director of the White House Office of Management and Budget, sent a letter to Senate Budget Committee Chairman Kent Conrad, D-N.D., late Thursday pledging that at least 75 percent of the stimulus package would be spent in 2009 and 2010.

US President Barack Obama while signing executive orders in the Oval Office at White House in Washington, January 22, 2009. [Agencies]

On a key vote Thursday, Democrats preserved a tax break for this year and 2010 that would mean $500 for many workers and $1,000 for millions of couples, including those whose earnings are so low that they pay no federal income tax. They also voted down a Republican effort to eliminate a health insurance subsidy for laid-off workers.

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"We need to be dealing with people at the bottom of the income scale," said Rep. Jim McDermott, D-Wash. He also noted that the legislation would provide a $25-per-week increase in unemployment benefits.

But Rep. Dave Camp of Michigan, the top Republican on the tax-writing committee, cited a report by the nonpartisan Congressional Research Service that he said showed lower- and middle-income workers already would have received most of the benefits from the proposal to eliminate the tax on unemployment benefits.

Separately, the House Energy and Commerce Committee late Thursday approved a $2.8 billion program that would expand broadband service into underserved areas. It also approved various programs costing an estimated $27 billion to promote energy efficiency.

The panel also passed a $20 billion effort to speed the creation of electronic health records, and it approved more money to help states afford increased enrollment under Medicaid, the health care program for the low income. In all, the additional spending for health care programs totals about $150 billion over five years.

On another aspect of Obama's economic plan, lawmakers from both parties in the House got to vent about the $700 billion rescue plan for the financial sector.

In a symbolic vote, the House voted to reject Obama's request for the unspent $350 billion in the bailout fund. The 270-155 tally was a moot point because the Senate had refused to block the release of the money last week. That effectively made it available to the new administration.

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