Skip navigation
Stimulus Video Gallery
“China’s manufacturing has undoubtedly felt the crunch very much,” Sir John Parker, chairman of Anglo American, told CNB...
Sriyan Pietersz, vice president and head of research at JPMorgan Thailand and Korn Chatikavanij, finance minister of Tha...
A look at the supply side solutions for health care reform, with Steve Moore, Wall Street Journal and David Goodfriend, ...
“We are beginning to see some signs that people can see this (stimulus) coming to an end, and we should certainly see th...
It was a surprise that keeping stimulus measures was all that was decided at the weekend's G20 meeting, David Page from ...


Current DateTime: 06:06:48 12 Nov 2009
LinksList Documentid: 24355697

FEATURED QUIZZES


Current DateTime: 06:06:48 12 Nov 2009
LinksList Documentid: 33793611
  • The Billionaire BFF's

      Philanthropists. Bridge partners. Hockey players. Which responses are based on facts from Buffett's and Gates' real lives?

  • The Many Myths of Coca-Cola

      Can you tell which statements are true, and which ones are just rumors?

  • Think You Understand Markets?

      We've selected some questions from the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority's test of investor knowledge. See how you do ...


Current DateTime: 06:06:48 12 Nov 2009
LinksList Documentid: 24890560
  • Winterizing Your Portfolio

      If 2009 was the winter of our discontent, will 2010 be a winter wonderland for investors? A lot depends on the recovery—or lack thereof.

  • Investor's Guide to Real Estate

      Some even say the long-awaited recovery is here. Regardless, buyers and sellers alike can profit from our guide.

  • Alternative Investing

      Stocks and bonds? Sure. But it's a big world out there for investors.

powered by digg
By: AP with CNBC.com | 28 Jan 2009 | 06:16 PM ET
Text Size

Moving with remarkable speed, the Democratic-controlled U.S. House of Representatives approved $819 billion in spending increases and tax cuts at the heart of President Barack Obama's economic recovery program.

Capital Money
CNBC.com
Capital Money

A mere eight days after Inauguration Day, Speaker Nancy Pelosi heralded a new era.

"The ship of state is difficult to turn," said the California Democrat. "But that is what we must do. That is what President Obama called us to do in his inaugural address."

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 desperately needed.

"Another week that we delay is another 100,000 or more people unemployed. I don't think we want that on our consciences," Rep. David Obey, D-Wis., chairman of the House Appropriations Committee and one of the leading architects of the legislation, said before the vote Wednesday.

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.

The party's leader, Rep. John Boehner of Ohio, said the measure "won't create many jobs, but it will create plenty of programs and projects through slow-moving government spending."

The legislation includes an estimated $544 in federal spending and $275 billion in tax cuts for individuals and businesses. Included is money for traditional job-creating programs such as highway construction and mass transit projects.

For Investors

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 Great Depression of the 1930s.

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.
President Barack Obama
CNBC.com
President Barack Obama

With funding 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.

The centerpiece tax cut calls for a $500 break for single workers and $1,000 for couples, including those who don't earn enough to owe federal income taxes.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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 GOP primary challenges 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.

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.

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.

Rep. Randy Neugebauer, R-Texas, 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.

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.

- CNBC.com staff contributed to this report.

© 2009 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Tools:
Print EmailAdd This share icon
  • digg share

CNBC HIGHLIGHTS

  • Billboard allows music lovers to watch concerts for free online, choosing from five different camera angles as they watch.
  • US real estate prices have fallen dramatically, but some places are still doing well. See the best-performing zip codes this year.
  • An Italian cashmere maker aims to make profits while creating ideal conditions for his workers.
  • Just in time for the holidays, the Triumph company of Japan offers the latest innovation in women’s undergarments.
  • Vote and suggest your own, and remember--there's a fine line between a hero and a zero.
  • Health Care
  • The New York Times explains what the Senate will have to do to truly improve cost and quality in U.S. health care.
ADD COMMENTS
Remaining characters


Current DateTime: 05:31:44 12 Nov 2009
LinksList Documentid: 29778428

Current DateTime: 01:04:03 12 Nov 2009
LinksList Documentid: 29779196

Current DateTime: 01:04:03 12 Nov 2009
LinksList Documentid: 29779199

Current DateTime: 01:01:49 12 Nov 2009
LinksList Documentid: 29779198
  Data is a real-time snapshot  *Data is delayed at least 15 minutes
Global Business and Financial News, Stock Quotes, and Market Data and Analysis

© 2009 CNBC, Inc.  All Rights Reserved.
A Division of NBC Universal
Thomson ReutersThomson Reuters