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Economic Stimulus
Aired January 06, 2003 - 13:03 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: First this hour, the battle brewing in Washington over plans to revive the economy. President Bush's stimulus package has one set of winners and the Democrats plan has another. So whose plan works for you? Let's flesh it all out. We'll start with Jon Karl on Capitol Hill.
Jon, what can you tell us about the Democrats?
JONATHAN KARL, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Kyra, the Democratic plan will be announced 3:00 Eastern Time. We do have the essential details, though. The first thing about this plan is it is much smaller than what's being talked about at the White House. The White House is talking about something that would cost about $600 billion. This plan would be $130 billion. The biggest chunk of it would be essentially a repeat of the tax rebate the taxpayers were given two years ago when they got a $300 tax check. What this would be is a refundable tax credit that would go to every worker, regardless of whether or not you pay income tax under the Democratic plan, You would get a $300 per worker refundable tax credit; for couples that would be $600.
It also includes some money for business tax incentives, give businesses the incentive to go out and buy new equipment. It would also give aids to states who have been hit terribly by the economic recession with their budgets, give some direct money to states to help them pay for things like homeland security and Medicaid.
And then finally, all it would give an extension for the unemployment benefits to those that saw their benefits begin to expire on December 28th. So it's a smaller tax -- a smaller tax cut, and it's a temporary one. This is essentially an effort to get an immediate infusion into the pockets of workers so they'll go out and spend some money and hopefully revive the economy.
PHILLIPS: Well, Jon, Let's compare it to the Republicans' much more expensive package, I guess you could say.
KARL: Yes, the Republican plan costs much more, $600 billion, and it's more targeted in terms of looking at -- obviously the biggest piece is that exemption for the tax on dividends. The idea is to provide some incentives to get the stock market moving again, to get companies moving again. The Republican plan, the Democrats will say, simply helps the rich, Republicans say what the Republican plan does is helps get the economy going, doesn't just give this temporary infusion that the Democrats are talking about, but does something more fundamental in terms of giving businesses the ability to go out and create jobs. Republican plan, the Republican people will tell you is about jobs. Democrats will say it's about helping the rich.
PHILLIPS: Of course, we can't forget the Trent Lott debacle. You were telling me about a meeting that Senator Frist was holding to reach out to African-Americans.
KARL: Well, this is -- Senator Frist is having his first meeting as majority leader with his leadership team today. It's starting right now. They're going to talk about the agenda, talk about this economic stimulus plan, but one of the key items, I am told, is how Republicans can work in African-American outreach. The Republican Party, of course, suffered a terrible blow with the Trent Lott controversy last year, especially their efforts to make inroad among African-American voters, who overwhelmingly vote for Democrats to the tune of about 90 percent nationally. So one of the thins Republicans will be talking about today and for much of the several months is what they can do to try to repair some of the damage that was caused to the party by the Trent Lott controversy.
PHILLIPS: All right, Jon Karl on Capitol Hill, thank you.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
Aired January 6, 2003 - 13:03 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: First this hour, the battle brewing in Washington over plans to revive the economy. President Bush's stimulus package has one set of winners and the Democrats plan has another. So whose plan works for you? Let's flesh it all out. We'll start with Jon Karl on Capitol Hill.
Jon, what can you tell us about the Democrats?
JONATHAN KARL, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Kyra, the Democratic plan will be announced 3:00 Eastern Time. We do have the essential details, though. The first thing about this plan is it is much smaller than what's being talked about at the White House. The White House is talking about something that would cost about $600 billion. This plan would be $130 billion. The biggest chunk of it would be essentially a repeat of the tax rebate the taxpayers were given two years ago when they got a $300 tax check. What this would be is a refundable tax credit that would go to every worker, regardless of whether or not you pay income tax under the Democratic plan, You would get a $300 per worker refundable tax credit; for couples that would be $600.
It also includes some money for business tax incentives, give businesses the incentive to go out and buy new equipment. It would also give aids to states who have been hit terribly by the economic recession with their budgets, give some direct money to states to help them pay for things like homeland security and Medicaid.
And then finally, all it would give an extension for the unemployment benefits to those that saw their benefits begin to expire on December 28th. So it's a smaller tax -- a smaller tax cut, and it's a temporary one. This is essentially an effort to get an immediate infusion into the pockets of workers so they'll go out and spend some money and hopefully revive the economy.
PHILLIPS: Well, Jon, Let's compare it to the Republicans' much more expensive package, I guess you could say.
KARL: Yes, the Republican plan costs much more, $600 billion, and it's more targeted in terms of looking at -- obviously the biggest piece is that exemption for the tax on dividends. The idea is to provide some incentives to get the stock market moving again, to get companies moving again. The Republican plan, the Democrats will say, simply helps the rich, Republicans say what the Republican plan does is helps get the economy going, doesn't just give this temporary infusion that the Democrats are talking about, but does something more fundamental in terms of giving businesses the ability to go out and create jobs. Republican plan, the Republican people will tell you is about jobs. Democrats will say it's about helping the rich.
PHILLIPS: Of course, we can't forget the Trent Lott debacle. You were telling me about a meeting that Senator Frist was holding to reach out to African-Americans.
KARL: Well, this is -- Senator Frist is having his first meeting as majority leader with his leadership team today. It's starting right now. They're going to talk about the agenda, talk about this economic stimulus plan, but one of the key items, I am told, is how Republicans can work in African-American outreach. The Republican Party, of course, suffered a terrible blow with the Trent Lott controversy last year, especially their efforts to make inroad among African-American voters, who overwhelmingly vote for Democrats to the tune of about 90 percent nationally. So one of the thins Republicans will be talking about today and for much of the several months is what they can do to try to repair some of the damage that was caused to the party by the Trent Lott controversy.
PHILLIPS: All right, Jon Karl on Capitol Hill, thank you.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
