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$154bn US job relief bill passes first hurdle
December 18, 2009
By Brian Faler Washington
The US House of Representatives approved a $154 billion (R1.14 trillion) economic aid package and a $290bn increase in the legal limit on government borrowing this week as the chamber wrapped up its legislative business for 2009.
Representatives voted 218 to 214 on Wednesday to raise the debt ceiling to $12.394 trillion, the fourth increase in 18 months. Hours later, on a 217 to 212 vote, they approved new spending for infrastructure projects, extended unemployment benefits and aid to state governments.
The chamber also passed a $636bn defence budget bill on the day. All three measures await Senate action.
While the debt and defence measures are likely to reach President Barack Obama's desk by Christmas, the jobs plan faces opposition from senators wary of its effect on the $1.4 trillion federal budget deficit.
House Democrats said the spending bill would aid struggling families. But Republicans scoffed at the plan. "This is a taxpayer-funded Christmas shopping spree financed with money borrowed from the Chinese," said Jerry Lewis, the top Republican on the house appropriations committee.
Obama praised the action, saying: "All over the country... Americans who lost their jobs in the Great Recession are looking for work. Today the house answered with some productive ideas to respond to this great need."
Nearly 40 Democrats voted against the jobs bill, most of them belonging to a group of fiscally conservative legislators dubbed the Blue Dogs. One, Michael Arcuri, said he opposed the plan because it would add to the deficit. He doubted the Senate "is going to do anything" with the bill. No Republicans supported the bill.
Democrats said half of the cost of the economic package could be financed with money left over in the Treasury's troubled asset relief programme. Republicans, noting that the bank bailout plan had proved less expensive than initially forecast, said the package would amount to tapping taxpayer dollars that otherwise would not have been spent.
Democrats abandoned plans for a bigger debt ceiling boost after conflicting demands among their rank and file over proposals to reduce the government's budget deficit. The bill passed this week means Congress will have to vote again early next year to raise the debt ceiling. Without the increase, the Treasury Department would hit the current limit by December 31, legislators said, forcing the government to default on its debts.
A number of Democratic senators balked at a longer-term rise in the debt limit unless Congress agrees to create a special commission to recommend ways to reduce the deficit. - Bloomberg
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