Will House Republicans Show Bipartisanship in Vote on Recovery Package?

by Mike Hall, Jan 27, 2009

Tomorrow we will find out if Republican House leaders will answer President Barack Obama’s call to show some bipartisan spirit. That’s when the U.S. House of Representatives is set to vote on an $825 billion economic recovery package that could create and save as many as 4 million jobs and move states back from the brink of deficit disaster.

This morning at a Capitol Hill press conference with union and business leaders, organized by the advocacy group Americans United for Change, AFL-CIO President John Sweeney said:

It would be impossible to overstate the trouble our economy is in. We are losing jobs at a rate of half a million a month, real wages have been stagnant for far too long, and our housing and financial markets are in crisis….We cannot afford to let ideological differences kill or gut this economic recovery package. There is too much at stake.

At the heart of President Obama’s “American Recovery and Reinvestment Plan” package are infrastructure initiatives to rebuild roads, bridges, waterways and schools, create renewable energy/green jobs, fiscal relief for states to avoid serious cutbacks in education, safety and health—including Medicaid—and help for a  growing number of jobless workers. It also contains tax relief for working families and businesses.

Ken Simonson, chief economist for the Associated General Contractors of America, said tomorrow’s vote on the recovery package gives lawmakers the chance to

save millions of jobs, protect thousands of businesses and rebuild the American economy with a single vote.

Obama has reached out to Hill Republicans, meeting with dozens of House and Senate members today. But news reports say House Republican leaders are urging a “No” vote on the bill and plan to offer a package that abandons job creation and focuses fiscal aid almost exclusively on tax cuts for business.

Said Obama this afternoon:

I don’t expect a 100 percent agreement from my Republican colleagues but I do hope that we can all put politics aside and do the American people’s business right now. The American people expect action. They want us to put together a recovery package that puts people back to work.

Click here for a detailed summary of the bill.

Print This Article | E-Mail This Article |Comments (0)