WASHINGTON, March 9: US President George W. Bush will sign an economic stimulus bill on Saturday that combines extended unemployment benefits for millions of Americans with billions of dollars in business tax breaks.
The White House announced on Friday that during his weekly radio address, which will be broadcast live for the first time since Bush took office more than 13 months ago, the president will sign into law the Job Creation and Worker Assistance Act of 2002.
The Democratic-led Senate voted 85-9 for the legislation earlier on Friday, 24 hours after the Republican-controlled House of Representatives overwhelmingly approved it.
Bush believes the package is necessary to help the country recover from the Sept. 11 attacks on the World Trade Center and Pentagon despite reports showing an improved economic growth and jobs picture.
There’s going to be a lot of statistics thrown around about our economy, he said during a trip to Florida on Friday. But let me tell you bluntly how I feel: People’s lives were deeply affected on Sept. 11. A lot of people got hurt as a result of those attacks, and I’m concerned about it. I’m concerned about who is not working and wants to work.
Opponents argue the economy is turning around and that the business tax breaks in the package will push the federal budget into the red, forcing the government to tap Social Security surplus funds to finance other programmes.
The House and Senate votes ended months of political feuding over how best to boost the economy in the aftermath of the Sept. 11, attacks when much commercial activity was brought to a near standstill.
Six months later, many workers who lost their jobs are exhausting unemployment benefits. Democrats had pushed to extend jobless benefits and said they were accepting what many of them called a flawed package to get that done.
Republicans, anxious to see a strong economy going into the November elections in which both parties will be battling for control of Congress, had pressed for a broader tax package with more far-reaching tax breaks for businesses and individuals.
Three previous economic stimulus bills containing much bigger tax cuts backed by Bush were passed by the House but languished in the Senate.
The White House and its Republican allies in the House gave up two priorities — repealing the corporate alternative minimum tax and accelerating the personal income tax cuts approved by Congress last year.
The stripped-down legislation the president will sign includes a 13-week extension of unemployment benefits beyond the current 26 weeks and a slew of noncontroversial, targeted tax breaks aimed at boosting business investment and helping companies ease the pain of operating losses. It also contains economic help for New York.
The bill will cost the government about $42 billion over 10 years.
Recent data show the US economy is already turning around.
The government reported on Friday that employment grew last month for the first time in seven months and the unemployment rate fell to 5.5 per cent from 5.6 per cent.
Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan said on Thursday the US economic recovery appeared to be well under way and that he doubted the economy would “sag” if a stimulus package were not passed by Congress.—Reuters