WASHINGTON – The Senate voted Wednesday night to give a tax break of up to $15,000 to homebuyers in hopes of revitalizing the housing industry, a victory for Republicans eager to leave their mark on a mammoth economic stimulus bill at the heart of President Barack Obama's recovery plan.
The tax break was approved without dissent and came on a day in which Obama pushed back pointedly against Republican critics of the legislation even as he reached across party lines to consider a reduction in the spending it contains.
"Let's not make the perfect the enemy of the essential," Obama said as Senate Republicans stepped up their criticism of the bill's spending and pressed for additional tax cuts and relief for homeowners. He warned that failure to act quickly "will turn crisis into a catastrophe and guarantee a longer recession."
Democratic leaders have pledged to have legislation ready for Obama's signature by the end of next week.
While they concede privately they will have to accept some spending reductions along the way, conservative Republicans failed in their initial attempts to force deep cuts in the bill.
On another contentious issue, the Senate softened a labor-backed provision requiring that only U.S.-made iron or steel used in construction projects paid for in the bill. A move by Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., to delete the so- called Buy American requirement failed, 31-65.
But with Obama voicing concern about the provision, the requirement was changed to specify that U.S. international trade agreements not to be violated.
Democrats also preserved a key priority for Obama, a break of up to $1,000 for couples who pay payroll taxes but whose earnings are so low they do not pay income tax.
Sen. Johnny Isakson, R-Ga., who advanced the homebuyers tax break, said it was intended to help revive the housing industry, which has virtually collapsed in the wake of a credit crisis that began last fall.
The proposal would allow a tax credit of 10 percent of the value of new or existing residences, up to a $15,000 limit. Current law provides for a $7, 500 tax break but only for first-time homebuyers.
Isakson's office said the proposal would cost the government an estimated $ 19 billion.
Democrats readily agreed to the proposal, although it may be changed or even deleted as the stimulus measure makes its way through Congress over the next 10 days or so.
Other GOP attempts to change the measure went down to defeat. The most sweeping of them, by Sen. Jim DeMint, R-S.C., failed on a mostly party-line vote of 36-61. It would have replaced the White House-backed legislation with a series of tax cuts on personal and business income and capital gains at the same time it made cuts passed during the Bush administration permanent.
"This bill needs to be cut down," Republican Mitch McConnell of Kentucky said on the Senate floor. He cited $524 million for a State Department program that he said envisions creating 388 jobs. "That comes to $1.35 million per job," he added.
After days of absorbing rhetorical attacks, Obama and Senate Democrats mounted a counteroffensive against Republicans who say tax cuts alone can cure the economy.
Obama said the criticisms he has heard "echo the very same failed economic theories that led us into this crisis in the first place, the notion that tax cuts alone will solve all our problems."
"I reject those theories and so did the American people when they went to the polls in November and voted resoundingly for change," said the president , who was elected with an Electoral College landslide last fall and enjoys high public approval ratings at the outset of his term.
Obama did not mention any Republicans by name, and most have signaled their support for varying amounts of new spending.
Even so, the president repeated his retort word for word in late afternoon, yet softened the partisan impact of his comments by meeting at the White House with senators often willing to cross party lines.
His first visitor was Sen. Olympia Snowe, R-Maine, a moderate GOP lawmaker. Later he met with Sens. Susan Collins, R-Maine, and Ben Nelson, D-Neb.
"I gave him a list of provisions" for possible deletion from the bill, Collins told reporters outside the White House. Among them were $8 billion to upgrade facilities and information technology at the State Department and funds for combatting a possible outbreak of pandemic flu and promoting cyber-security. The latter two items, she said, are "near and dear to her," but belong in routine legislation and not an economic stimulus measure.
Collins and Nelson have been working on a list of possible spending cuts totaling roughly $50 billion, although they have yet to make details public.
oh yeah! let everyone have a house! let everyone have a dream.
my friend just bought a second house in mid-2008, can she get １５０００?
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090205/ap_on_go_co/congress_stimulus
WASHINGTON – The Senate voted Wednesday night to give a tax break of up to
$15,000 to homebuyers in hopes of revitalizing the housing industry, a
victory for Republicans eager to leave their mark on a mammoth economic
stimulus bill at the heart of President Barack Obama's recovery plan.
The tax break was approved without dissent and came on a day in which Obama
pushed back pointedly against Republican critics of the legislation even as
he reached across party lines to consider a reduction in the spending it
contains.
"Let's not make the perfect the enemy of the essential," Obama said as
Senate Republicans stepped up their criticism of the bill's spending and
pressed for additional tax cuts and relief for homeowners. He warned that
failure to act quickly "will turn crisis into a catastrophe and guarantee a
longer recession."
Democratic leaders have pledged to have legislation ready for Obama's
signature by the end of next week.
While they concede privately they will have to accept some spending
reductions along the way, conservative Republicans failed in their initial
attempts to force deep cuts in the bill.
On another contentious issue, the Senate softened a labor-backed provision
requiring that only U.S.-made iron or steel used in construction projects
paid for in the bill. A move by Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., to delete the so-
called Buy American requirement failed, 31-65.
But with Obama voicing concern about the provision, the requirement was
changed to specify that U.S. international trade agreements not to be
violated.
Democrats also preserved a key priority for Obama, a break of up to $1,000
for couples who pay payroll taxes but whose earnings are so low they do not
pay income tax.
Sen. Johnny Isakson, R-Ga., who advanced the homebuyers tax break, said it
was intended to help revive the housing industry, which has virtually
collapsed in the wake of a credit crisis that began last fall.
The proposal would allow a tax credit of 10 percent of the value of new or
existing residences, up to a $15,000 limit. Current law provides for a $7,
500 tax break but only for first-time homebuyers.
Isakson's office said the proposal would cost the government an estimated $
19 billion.
Democrats readily agreed to the proposal, although it may be changed or even
deleted as the stimulus measure makes its way through Congress over the
next 10 days or so.
Other GOP attempts to change the measure went down to defeat. The most
sweeping of them, by Sen. Jim DeMint, R-S.C., failed on a mostly party-line
vote of 36-61. It would have replaced the White House-backed legislation
with a series of tax cuts on personal and business income and capital gains
at the same time it made cuts passed during the Bush administration
permanent.
"This bill needs to be cut down," Republican Mitch McConnell of Kentucky
said on the Senate floor. He cited $524 million for a State Department
program that he said envisions creating 388 jobs. "That comes to $1.35
million per job," he added.
After days of absorbing rhetorical attacks, Obama and Senate Democrats
mounted a counteroffensive against Republicans who say tax cuts alone can
cure the economy.
Obama said the criticisms he has heard "echo the very same failed economic
theories that led us into this crisis in the first place, the notion that
tax cuts alone will solve all our problems."
"I reject those theories and so did the American people when they went to
the polls in November and voted resoundingly for change," said the president
, who was elected with an Electoral College landslide last fall and enjoys
high public approval ratings at the outset of his term.
Obama did not mention any Republicans by name, and most have signaled their
support for varying amounts of new spending.
Even so, the president repeated his retort word for word in late afternoon,
yet softened the partisan impact of his comments by meeting at the White
House with senators often willing to cross party lines.
His first visitor was Sen. Olympia Snowe, R-Maine, a moderate GOP lawmaker.
Later he met with Sens. Susan Collins, R-Maine, and Ben Nelson, D-Neb.
"I gave him a list of provisions" for possible deletion from the bill,
Collins told reporters outside the White House. Among them were $8 billion
to upgrade facilities and information technology at the State Department and
funds for combatting a possible outbreak of pandemic flu and promoting
cyber-security. The latter two items, she said, are "near and dear to her,"
but belong in routine legislation and not an economic stimulus measure.
Collins and Nelson have been working on a list of possible spending cuts
totaling roughly $50 billion, although they have yet to make details public.
上次不是还说是直接给7500，都不作为贷款，也不知道后续消息如何。
有谁知道什么时候表决通过不通过啊？
好像不少刺激政策，怎么实现呀？拆东墙来补西墙，哪扇墙是safe to take down的呢？还是索性开动印钞机印。。。
[此贴子已经被作者于2009-2-5 12:06:12编辑过]
not everyone can get $15,000
up to a $15,000 limit.
not everyone can get $15,000
10% up to 15K,150k以下的房子估计不多见。
他们国会真是麻烦亚， 做事扭扭捏捏的， 干脆大印钞票，用飞机撒不就行了吗。
还是proposal吧，
上次不是还说是直接给7500，都不作为贷款，也不知道后续消息如何。
有谁知道什么时候表决通过不通过啊？
这个是指你在09年7月之前买房就可以拿到$7500的refundable credit，但是要在15年之内还清，一年$500，没有利息。
那个$15,000的估计通过的可能性很大。
去年买房的默默飘过。
未必就吃亏，要是一通货膨胀，房价怎么样不好说啊
今年(也可能是法案签署以后)买房子的人都能拿到15,000, 而且是cash不是像原先提出的无息贷款
未必就吃亏，要是一通货膨胀，房价怎么样不好说啊
这样想也好，至少房价不继续下跌，也是给有房子的人的一种回报，至少refin会容易些。
But the detail has not yet come out.
现在问题是surplus阿，还不如多投资点新经济增长点哪
increase home ownership本来就不现实，人人都有大house住，以为自己是共产主义呢
虽然细节还没出来, 但是已经通过了
今年(也可能是法案签署以后)买房子的人都能拿到15,000, 而且是cash不是像原先提出的无息贷款
听上去还不错昂
虽然细节还没出来, 但是已经通过了
今年(也可能是法案签署以后)买房子的人都能拿到15,000, 而且是cash不是像原先提出的无息贷款
是所有买房子的么？对收入/房价/有没有限制？
[此贴子已经被作者于2009-2-5 16:35:39编辑过]
这个tax credit应该是2010年返税的时候才能拿到是吧？对于我们这种还在努力攒down payment，估计到时候得先借钱付够20%，然后等到4月后才能拿到1万5？
不知道MM在哪里，不想打击你，湾区做贷款的说现在20% DOWN已近做不下来了，要30% DOWN。我们也在努力攒DWONPAY，可是按这30%的要求我们只能买1B的小CONDO了。
不知道MM在哪里，不想打击你，湾区做贷款的说现在20% DOWN已近做不下来了，要30% DOWN。我们也在努力攒DWONPAY，可是按这30%的要求我们只能买1B的小CONDO了。
现在都要25%到30%down吧，对很多地方来说，10%不是大数字呀。 湾区就没想了，房价跌个2，3个百分点，1万5就出来了。