[Marxism] Social wage ("safety net") proposals gutted as bipartisan moderates cut deal

["Fred Feldman" <ffeldman@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

What seems to be left is basically tax cuts for the rich plus scattered
construction contracts for big business, which may or may not lead them to
hire some people. Head Start is out. School lunches were widely ridiculed so
I assume they are out? 

What does feeding children have to do with stimulating the economy as a
theme? These people have gotten all too used to living by fictional capital.
The scope of seems to be one big difference between the bourgeois mentality
and, say, the 30s, when the position of such operations was less clearly
dominant than today.

Apparently expanded unemployment insurance is still in, including a weekly
increase of $25. Would have been awkward for the "moderates" to gut this on
the day the new jobs figures came out.

"The Senate's proposed cuts took aim at an array of popular spending
programs that critics said should not be part of a fiscal recovery bill,
even if they represent laudable policy goals, because they would not deliver
a quick enough jolt to the economy. 

Even Mr. Obama's signature tax cut for middle-class Americans was scaled
back as part of the deal. Under the new plan, tax credits of up to $500 for
individuals and $1,000 for couples would begin to phase out at lower income
levels than first proposed, saving the government $2 billion.

The biggest cut, roughly $40 billion in aid to states, was likely to spur a
fierce fight in negotiations with the House over the final bill. Many
states, hit hard by the recession, face wrenching cuts in services and
layoffs of public employees as they struggle to comply with laws requiring
them to balance their budgets."

I was actually inclined to go with the measure before, since giving away
money to the rich is simply business as usual while the social service
improvements would have represented a change in direction in that area. No
more, however. This measure should be protested by labor, unless the cuts
are reinstated. You can always dump most of the tax cuts if you want to save
revenue.
Fred Feldman




February 7, 2009
Senators Reach Deal on Stimulus Plan as Jobs Vanish 
By CARL HULSE and DAVID M. HERSZENHORN
WASHINGTON - Senate Democrats reached an agreement with Republican moderates
on Friday to pare a huge economic recovery measure, clearing the way for
approval of a package that President Obama said was urgently needed in light
of mounting job losses.

The deal, announced on the Senate floor, was a result of two days of tense
negotiations and political theater. Mr. Obama dispatched his chief of staff
to Capitol Hill to help conclude the talks and reassure senators in his own
party, and he called three key Republicans to applaud them for their
patriotism. 

Earlier, when it looked as if a vote might take place Friday night,
officials said, a government plane was dispatched to Florida to bring back
Senator Edward M. Kennedy, a Massachusetts Democrat who has brain cancer. 

The fine print was not immediately available, and the numbers were shifting.
But in essence, the Democratic leadership and two centrist Republicans
announced they had struck a deal on about $110 billion in cuts to the
roughly $900 billion legislation - a deal expected to provide at least the
60 votes needed to send the bill out of the Senate and into negotiations
with the House, which has passed its own version.

The pact, which is expected to be approved in the next few days, was
concluded just hours after the Labor Department announced that 598,000 jobs
were lost in January. The contraction in jobs is already steeper than in any
other recession since at least the early 1980s. And economists warn that
several more shoes are about to drop, a message that added urgency to the
Senate deliberations. 

As the negotiations were under way, lawmakers said it was time to stop
quibbling about the exact parameters of the legislation - which mixes
safety-net spending, tax cuts and a huge infusion of dollars into federal
programs - and to begin work toward a final agreement that could be sent to
Mr. Obama next week.

"Our country can't wait another day for another approach," said Senator Ben
Nelson, a Nebraska Democrat who is a leader of the bipartisan coalition that
worked out the agreement.

The details were negotiated at an afternoon meeting in the office of the
Senate majority leader, Harry Reid of Nevada, involving Mr. Reid, other top
Democrats and two Republicans, Susan Collins of Maine and Arlen Specter of
Pennsylvania. After they came to terms, the senators brought in the White
House chief of staff, Rahm Emanuel, for assurance that the deal was
acceptable to the administration. Mr. Emanuel signaled it was.

"With today's unemployment numbers reaching more than 3.6 million workers,"
Mr. Emanuel said after the session, "delay and failure were not an option."

Mr. Obama called Ms. Collins and Mr. Specter, as well as Senator Olympia J.
Snowe of Maine, another Republican expected to support the deal, to
acknowledge they were acting against pressure from their party and, one
official said, to thank them for their patriotism in helping advance the
bill at a critical time.

Earlier in the day, Mr. Obama urged Congress to act expeditiously. "It is
inexcusable and irresponsible for any of us to get bogged down in
distraction, delay or politics as usual while millions of Americans are
being put out of work," said Mr. Obama, who has recently shown less patience
for Republican resistance to the bill.

Most Senate Republicans remained opposed to the measure, criticizing it as a
case study in excessive spending that would do little to lift the economy.
Some conservatives indicated Friday night that they would push for time to
study the new legislation before any final vote.

"We want to stimulate the economy, not mortgage the future of our children
and grandchildren by the kind of fiscally profligate spending embodied in
this legislation," said Senator John McCain of Arizona, the defeated
Republican presidential nominee, who has emerged as a chief opponent of the
proposal. 

Republicans were clearly irritated at the outcome and faulted those involved
in working out the bargain. "When you say this was the best we could do, I
disagree with you," Senator Lindsey Graham of South Carolina said on the
floor. "This not remotely close to what we could have done if we had sat
down in a true bipartisan fashion and found a better way."

The Senate's proposed cuts took aim at an array of popular spending programs
that critics said should not be part of a fiscal recovery bill, even if they
represent laudable policy goals, because they would not deliver a quick
enough jolt to the economy. 

Even Mr. Obama's signature tax cut for middle-class Americans was scaled
back as part of the deal. Under the new plan, tax credits of up to $500 for
individuals and $1,000 for couples would begin to phase out at lower income
levels than first proposed, saving the government $2 billion.

The biggest cut, roughly $40 billion in aid to states, was likely to spur a
fierce fight in negotiations with the House over the final bill. Many
states, hit hard by the recession, face wrenching cuts in services and
layoffs of public employees as they struggle to comply with laws requiring
them to balance their budgets. 

When debate began this week, the price tag on the Senate version of the
stimulus bill was roughly $884 billion, but it grew to more than $900
billion as senators added provisions including tax breaks totaling $30
billion for purchases of homes and cars. 

Lawmakers said that by poring over the 736-page bill they had excised about
$110 billion, bringing the total cost to about $780 billion - $40 billion
less than the stimulus bill approved by the House last week. Because of
consumer tax breaks and spending for health research that had been added in
the Senate, the new total for the measure could be about $820 billion. But
even the senators behind the compromise were uncertain of the number.

In addition to the large cut in state aid, the Senate agreement would cut
nearly $20 billion proposed for school construction; $8 billion to refurbish
federal buildings and make them more energy efficient; $1 billion for the
early childhood program Head Start; and $2 billion from a plan to expand
broadband data networks in rural and underserved areas. 

The administration had initially hoped that it could win the support of as
many as 80 senators, but that goal disappeared after House Republicans voted
unanimously against the measure. As questions were raised about the total
spending, getting even three or four Republican senators to sign on became
difficult.

Ms. Collins said she believed the changes had significantly improved the
measure. Mr. Specter said that while he still had reservations, he had come
to accept Mr. Obama's push to enact the economic plan by mid-February. "I
believe we do have to act," Mr. Specter said, "and under the circumstances
this is the best we can do."

But several other Republicans who had taken part in the talks said they
could not support the compromise.

"Unfortunately, there was too much in the Democratic counterproposal that
was not stimulative," said Senator George V. Voinovich of Ohio, "and that
did not provide the jump-start our economy so desperately needs."

The Senate Republican leader, Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, said most
Republicans remained unconvinced that the package would reinvigorate the
economy.

"You have to balance the likelihood of success versus the crushing debt that
we're levying on the backs of our children, our grandchildren and, yes,
their children," Mr. McConnell said.

Mr. Reid urged Republicans to get behind the plan. "This is a critical day
for this new Congress and our country," he said. "Faced with this grave and
growing economic crisis, Republicans must decide today whether they will
join the president and Congressional Democrats on that road to recovery."





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