Congressional leaders reached a tentative deal Thursday on tax rebates of $300 to $1,200/household

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/01/24/AR2008012400532.html?referrer=email

WASHINGTON -- Democratic and Republican congressional leaders reached a tentative deal Thursday on tax rebates of $300 to $1,200 per household and business tax cuts to jolt the slumping economy.

Congressional officials close to the negotiations said House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Republican Leader John Boehner of Ohio reached agreement in principle in a telephone call Thursday morning.

The officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the two wanted key members of their parties to sign off on the accord before any announcement.

The development came as the Bush administration, which also has been pushing for a deal, said agreement seemed imminent. "Our understanding is there is no final deal yet but they are making progress," presidential spokeswoman Dana Perino said early Thursday.

Pelosi, D-Calif., agreed to drop increases in food stamp and unemployment benefits during a Wednesday meeting in exchange for gaining rebates of at least $300 for almost everyone earning a paycheck, including low-income earners who make too little to pay income taxes.

Under the tentative plan, families with children would receive an additional $300 per child, subject to an overall cap of perhaps $1,200, according to a senior House aide who outlined the deal on condition of anonymity in advance of formal adoption of the whole package. Rebates would go to people earning below a certain income cap, likely individuals earning $75,000 or less and couples with incomes of $150,000 or less.

Workers would have to have earned at least $3,000 in 2007 to receive the rebates, the officials said.

Another element of the plan is a package of tax breaks for businesses that could cost $70 billion, far more than had been expected, said a senior House aide and a Democratic lobbyist said.

Sen. Max Baucus, D-Mont., scheduled a meeting of the Senate Finance Committee for next week to discuss the package.

"The Senate will want to speak, as well," Baucus said, adding that he and Sen. Charles Grassley of Iowa, the panel's senior Republican, had "agreed to work together, move quickly, and mark up economic stimulus legislation next week."

Bush has supported larger rebates of $800-$1,600, but his plan would have left out 30 million working households who earn paychecks but don't make enough to pay income tax, according to calculations by the Urban Institute-Brookings Institution Tax Policy Center. An additional 19 million households would receive only partial rebates under Bush's initial proposal.

these people make me :puke:

Real helpful.

Come on, Dems. You give up too quickly. I bet LBJ would have found something to horsetrade in a situation like this.

comes from where?



Oh, yea.