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Wednesday, April 16, 2008
Re-Stimulus Redux
Act II, Scene I in the legislative drama of the stimulus played out this afternoon in the House Ways & Means Committee, as the panel considered a proposal to give residents of most states an additional 13 weeks of unemployment benefits, on top of the 26 weeks already authorized under law. Residents of states with unemployment rates at or above 6 percent (today, that means Alaska and Michigan) would get an additional 13 weeks.
But the final vehicle for this measure as well as for any other measures that might become part of a second srtimulus package is yet undetermined. Some have suggested attaching a Stimulus 2.0 package to a war spending supplemental bill expected to be taken up in the coming weeks.
In Act I, the audience will recall, unemployment extension was shown an early exit, stage right, as Republicans killed cloture in a 58-41 vote-and-dagger perfectly party-line procedural play on Feb. 6.
Watch this space for further developments as the drama unfolds.
Posted by Dana Chasin
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