Republicans Pitch Their Own Stimulus Ideas to Obama
Some of their ideas:
Politico: Instead of a tax credit for individuals making $75,000 or less or families making less than $150,000, Republicans would like to reduce the tax rate by 5 percent on those Americans in the lowest tax brackets, from 15 percent to 10 percent and 10 percent to 5 percent.
House Republican Leader John A. Boehner and his no. 2, party Whip Eric Cantor, pitched the plan to Obama during the Friday morning meeting. Boehner tapped Cantor to come up with ideas, and this plan is the result of that work.
Boehner, in remarks on the White House driveway, warned that “government can’t solve this problem.”
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Republicans in the House would also like assurances in the bill that Congress will not raise taxes to pay down the $550 billion in federal spending laid out in the Democrats' bill.
In order to stabilize the housing market, Republicans would also like to grant a $7,500 tax credit to homebuyers who put down 5 percent on the purchase price of their home.
Even though they had the president’s ear for an hour, it’s not clear if any of the GOP ideas will actually make it into the stimulus bill.
Obama expects the bill by President's Day, Feb. 16. Here he is meeting with congressional leaders this morning:
