Democrat Congress Plans On Obama Win; Pelosi May Call House Back
Clay
Oct 11, 2008
WASHINGTON (AP) - After consulting with Barack Obama, Democratic
leaders are likely to call Congress back to work after the election in
hopes of passing legislation that would include extended jobless
benefits, money for food stamps and possibly a tax rebate, officials
said Saturday.
The bill's total cost could reach $150 billion, these officials said.
The officials stressed that no final decisions have been made. They
spoke on condition of anonymity, saying they did not want to pre-empt
a formal announcement. House Democrats have announced plans for an
economic forum on Monday "to help Congress develop an economic
recovery plan that focuses on creating jobs and strengthening our
economy."
Democrats said Obama's campaign has been involved in discussions on a
possible stimulus package. The party's presidential candidate, running
ahead in the polls, has outlined his own proposals for stimulating the
economy.
Democrats are increasingly confident of capturing the White House and
increasing their majorities in the House and Senate on Nov. 4.
If they are successful, a lame-duck session of Congress two weeks
later would allow them to start work on a response to the credit
crunch that has sent stock prices plummeting and also threatens to
trigger a deep recession. It often takes two or three months for a new
Congress to begin turning out legislation, particularly when a new
president is settling into the White House.
On the other hand, by attempting to pass legislation next month,
Democrats would have to negotiate with President Bush, whose term runs
until Jan. 20, 2009. Additionally, Senate Republicans, with 49 seats,
could block any measure they opposed.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi told reporters in Denver last Wednesday a
$150 billion stimulus package is necessary and she may call the House
back into session after the election. Her spokesman, Brendan Daly,
added, "Congress just worked in a bipartisan way with the
Administration to pass an economic rescue plan to help stabilize our
financial markets, and we must now work together to pass a jobs
creation and economic recovery stimulus package."
In the Senate, Majority Leader Harry Reid of Nevada has announced a
post-election session beginning Nov. 17 to consider public lands
legislation. His spokesman, Jim Manley, issued a written statement
that said "recent developments only reinforce the need for additional
action to reinvigorate the economy." He added, "no decisions have yet
been made on how to proceed."
An Obama spokesman, Bill Burton, said the campaign is monitoring the
situation.
The candidate has said previously he favors $25 billion to help states
meet their own needs, another $25 billion for roads, bridges and other
infrastructure, and $65 billion for tax rebates paid for by a windfall
profits tax on oil.
Speaking in Ohio on Friday, the Illinois Democrat also said, "we
should extend expiring unemployment benefits to those Americans who've
lost their jobs and can't find new ones."
The House passed a $61 billion economic stimulus bill before lawmakers
adjourned for the elections, but it was largely symbolic since Senate
Republicans had already thwarted efforts to pass a companion measure.
It called for up to 13 additional weeks of jobless benefits in states
with the highest unemployment, at a cost of $6 billion. Another $14.7
billion was ticketed to help states cover Medicaid costs. Enrollment
in the federal-state health care program for the poor and disabled
often rises with unemployment.
The measure also included money for road and bridge construction, a
relatively easy way to create jobs and pump money into the economy.
With that bill's passage blocked, Pelosi then sought to have it added
to the financial bailout legislation making its way to Bush's desk,
according to officials in both parties. They said the White House
signaled it would accept an extension of unemployment benefits, but
the speaker refused to allow the stimulus package to be broken up.
As a result, Congress adjourned without providing additional benefits
for the unemployed as increasing numbers of people are losing their
jobs.
Congress enacted an earlier stimulus legislation with unusual speed
last winter. It provided tax rebate checks of $600 to individuals and
$1,200 to couples and included tax breaks to businesses investing in
new plants and equipment.
---------------
-C-
syvyn11
"Clay" <clay0...@gmail.com> wrote in message
news:clm3f4l59o4io9ovt...@4ax.com...
150 billion WE NO LONGER HAVE!!!! And with a Reid-Pelosi-Obama power
orgy, we are fucked!
and the funniest thing is that when things get worse, they'll blame Bush and
the republicans, and the mentally retarded "jerry springer", "american
idol", "90125" tv watching public will believe that if there were no
republicans, things would be perfect.
Lubow
> 150 billion WE NO LONGER HAVE!!!! And with a Reid-Pelosi-Obama power orgy,
> we are fucked!
>
We were fucked -- as you call it -- the moment morons like syvyn pulled the
lever for Bush-Cheney eight years ago.
clouddreamer
Yup. It's mind blowing that they think things could be worse. We're just
lucky this crisis hit at this time. I've seen the downturn in the wind
for the last year or more and feared it wouldn't happen until after the
election of a Democrat...then they would have blamed it on the Democrat
and not eight years of incompetent Bush leadership. This crisis is the
dot on the i and the crossing the t of the Bush administration.
In the words of my favorite cat...epic fail!!
..
--
We must change the way we live
Or the climate will do it for us.
Lubow
> this crisis hit at this time. I've seen the downturn in the wind for the last
> year or more and feared it wouldn't happen until after the election of a
> Democrat...then they would have blamed it on the Democrat and not eight years
> of incompetent Bush leadership. This crisis is the dot on the i and the
> crossing the t of the Bush administration.
>
> In the words of my favorite cat...epic fail!!
I called this disaster in the misc.invest.stocks (MIS) newsgroup the moment
these bastards emptied the US Treasury of the Clinton/Rubin surplus with those
$300 checks to all taxpayers in 2001. Before we knew it, we are fighting a two
front war with no dough in the treasury.
When I saw the Canadian dollar and Euro inch upward, I started my rant in MIS
that no country ever devalued itself into prosperity. Everyone said I was an
alarmist. Some said exchange rates don't mean anything except to forex traders
and one guy (whom I called, "Dr. Pangloss") said he doesn't buy anything that's
imported. Yeah. Sure.
My answer to all those comments in MIS was that every major devaluation in
history was met with an equally major disaster. The problem was that nobody
really understood how a sudden devaluation impacts us. IMO we were immediately
impacted by the cost of energy since 1/3 of the cost of crude oil is dependent
on the US dollar exchange rate. When marginal mortgagees could not afford to
heat their homes, a foreclosures was not too far behind. More foreclosures and
homes start losing their value. More homes lose value and more foreclosures
result and a chain reaction begins that has been progressing for the last couple
of years.
Dano
>> Yup. It's mind blowing that they think things could be worse. We're
>> just lucky this crisis hit at this time. I've seen the downturn in
>> the wind for the last year or more and feared it wouldn't happen
>> until after the election of a Democrat...then they would have blamed
>> it on the Democrat and not eight years of incompetent Bush
>> leadership. This crisis is the dot on the i and the crossing the t
>> of the Bush administration. In the words of my favorite cat...epic fail!!
>
> I called this disaster in the misc.invest.stocks (MIS) newsgroup the
> moment these bastards emptied the US Treasury of the Clinton/Rubin
> surplus with those $300 checks to all taxpayers in 2001. Before we
> knew it, we are fighting a two front war with no dough in the
> treasury.
About those $300 checks...weren't they called "economic stimulus" checks?
Or did I imagine that? What exactly did they "stimulate"?
clouddreamer
The amount of beer in fridges?
;]
felonio...@aol.com
> Lubow wrote:
>
> >> 150 billion WE NO LONGER HAVE!!!! And with a Reid-Pelosi-Obama
> >> power orgy, we are fucked!
>
> > We were fucked -- as you call it -- the moment morons like syvyn pulled
> > the lever for Bush-Cheney eight years ago.
>
> Yup. It's mind blowing that they think things could be worse. We're just
> lucky this crisis hit at this time.
Who is this "we" you're referring to, liar? I'm afraid your stupid ass
doesn't get a vote :)
trotsky
> On Oct 12, 9:29 am, clouddreamer <Climat...@nge.is.real.ca> wrote:
>> Lubow wrote:
>>
>>>> 150 billion WE NO LONGER HAVE!!!! And with a Reid-Pelosi-Obama
>>>> power orgy, we are fucked!
>>> We were fucked -- as you call it -- the moment morons like syvyn pulled
>>> the lever for Bush-Cheney eight years ago.
>> Yup. It's mind blowing that they think things could be worse. We're just
>> lucky this crisis hit at this time.
>
> Who is this "we" you're referring to, liar? I'm afraid your stupid ass
> doesn't get a vote :)
Choadsmoker, if you are going to be an anonymous piece of garbage at
least have the basic intelligence to realize how stupid you sound by
criticizing a person with less anonymity than you.
I know that got rather polysyllabic for you, but perhaps you can get one
of your choadsmoking buddies to help you with it.
felonio...@aol.com
Gregorina, I'm afraid you're making less sense than usual. I
understand how difficult it must be remembering to change the subject
every other sentence but try for coherence next time :)
William December Starr
clouddreamer <Clim...@nge.is.real.ca> said:
> Yup. It's mind blowing that they think things could be worse.
> We're just lucky this crisis hit at this time. I've seen the
> downturn in the wind for the last year or more and feared it
> wouldn't happen until after the election of a Democrat...then they
> would have blamed it on the Democrat and not eight years of
> incompetent Bush leadership.
Instead, they can only blame it on two years of Democratic numerical
superiority in Congress.
-- wds
trotsky
@aol.com wrote:
> On Oct 12, 6:06 pm, trotsky <gmsi...@email.com> wrote:
>> feloniouschoadsmo...@aol.com wrote:
>>> On Oct 12, 9:29 am, clouddreamer <Climat...@nge.is.real.ca> wrote:
>>>> Lubow wrote:
>>>>>> 150 billion WE NO LONGER HAVE!!!! And with a Reid-Pelosi-Obama
>>>>>> power orgy, we are fucked!
>>>>> We were fucked -- as you call it -- the moment morons like syvyn pulled
>>>>> the lever for Bush-Cheney eight years ago.
>>>> Yup. It's mind blowing that they think things could be worse. We're just
>>>> lucky this crisis hit at this time.
>>> Who is this "we" you're referring to, liar? I'm afraid your stupid ass
>>> doesn't get a vote :)
>> Choadsmoker, if you are going to be an anonymous piece of garbage at
>> least have the basic intelligence to realize how stupid you sound by
>> criticizing a person with less anonymity than you.
>>
>> I know that got rather polysyllabic for you, but perhaps you can get one
>> of your choadsmoking buddies to help you with it.
>
> Gregorina, I'm afraid you're making less sense than usual.
Yep, you got hung up on the big words, as predicted. Kudos!
I
> understand how difficult it must be remembering to change the subject
> every other sentence but try for coherence next time :)
Sure, you go with that choadsmoker. LOL!