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American Morning

Economic Stimulus Bill Passed House, But Considered Dead on Arrival When it Hits Senate

Aired December 20, 2001 - 08:26   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.
PAULA ZAHN, CNN ANCHOR: It's time to bring you up on some of the latest goings on in Washington. An economic stimulus bill passed the House early this morning, but it is considered dead on arrival when it hits the Senate, a victim of the most bitter partisan showdown since September 11.

CNN's Kate Snow is on Capitol Hill this morning. Is there any shot, Kate, that there will be an agreement reached before the holiday break?

KATE SNOW, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Oh, Paula, you know, you never say never here on Capitol Hill, but I can tell you that most lawmakers are now pronouncing this bill dead as you just said. The reason is because they simply couldn't get -- the White House and Republicans couldn't get enough Democrats in the Senate to support them on this one and to support a new version of this economic stimulus bill.

Now, as you mentioned, the House early, early this morning, after 3:00 a.m., did manage to pass a new economic stimulus bill, and that bill provides corporate tax cuts -- also rebates for those who didn't get them before, individual income tax cuts and extended benefits for unemployed workers, and that includes health benefits for the unemployed. But that issue, the health benefits, was the key sticking point that divided Democrats and Republicans. They were divided over how to deliver those health care benefits, and ultimately that's why the negotiations broke down, a fact that was acknowledged on the House floor.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. J.D. HAYWORTH (R), ARIZONA: Let's put the people in front of the politics. You may disagree with us on many matters. We've tried to come halfway and find a plan that can work, at the behest of our president.

REP. JERRY KLECZKA (D), WISCONSIN: The only good part of the bill is it's as dead as the first one you passed, which was even worse.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SNOW: And the vote on the House floor will, at the very least, give some political cover to those House members. One Republican aide saying this inoculates them from criticism that they didn't do anything to help the unemployed, but ultimately, again, it will not make it through the Senate. There are not the 60 senators to support this there. And Democrats will charge that they couldn't reach a deal, because this was simply a bad bill. They'll say that providing too much help for corporate America and not enough for the unemployed they thought was a bad idea -- Paula.

ZAHN: So, Kate, I guess you could say the blame game begins, doesn't it, in earnest?

SNOW: It does. It does, and they'll -- and, you know, they'll probably spend the next several weeks. Remember, we have congressional elections coming up in 2002. This could linger into those elections. You could still see some finger pointing going on -- Paula.

ZAHN: Ouch! All right, Kate Snow, thanks for that update.

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