Jobs and Tax Bill to Cost $134 Billion

According to this new article on CNN Money.com, Congress is scheduled to consider a new bill this week that is expected to increase the federal deficit by $134 billion over the next decade.

The bill, which is likely to become a flash point in the debate over the federal debt, would raise $40 billion worth in additional revenue, according to estimates by the Congressional Budget Office and the Joint Committee on Taxation.

But that's not enough to fully offset the $174 billion in additional federal outlays that would occur as a result under the bill. CBO released its cost estimate late Friday.

The legislation would extend a host of tax breaks, give continued relief to the unemployed, delay cuts to doctors' Medicare reimbursements, provide support for job growth and fund disaster relief, among other things.

The bill, a melded version of proposal passed earlier by the House and Senate, won't be free of opposition on either side of the aisle. There is pressure to pay for more of the bill's provisions, and there is strong disagreement over some of the pay-fors that are included.

Continue reading at CNN Money.com…

Obama Signs Jobs Bill, Says More Must Be Done

After signing the jobs bill in to law this morning, President Obama stressed that there was still a lot more to be done to stimulate job growth in the country. The bill – which includes $18 billion in tax breaks and $20 billion to fund highway and transit programs – has been the center of debate since it was first unveiled, with many critics claiming that it will do little to help the unemployment problem. The Associated Press published a story on the new bill’s passage into law this morning, checkout a section of their article below.

President Barack Obama on Thursday signed into law a package of tax breaks and spending designed to give the nation a jobs boost by encouraging the private sector to start hiring again.

It's the first of several such measures Democrats have promised this election year to address the public's top worry: jobs. The measure includes about $18 billion in tax breaks and pumps $20 billion into highway and transit programs.

At a ceremony in the sunny White House Rose Garden, Obama said the bill is necessary "but by no means enough."

"There is a lot more we need to do to spur hiring in the private sector and bring about full economic recovery," he said.

There is plenty of skepticism that the new law will do much to foster hiring. Optimistic estimates are that the tax break could generate perhaps 250,000 jobs through the end of the year; some 8.4 million jobs have been lost since the start of the recession.

Continue reading at Google News.com…

Senate OKs Jobs Bill for Obama's Signature

As many had expected, the new legislation providing employers that hire unemployed workers a tax break has passed the Senate with a 68-29 majority vote. The legislation will now go to President Obama’s desk to get signed into law. You can learn more about this new law in the following story from the Associated Press.

It will be the first of several election-year jobs bills promised by Democrats to be enacted into law, though there's plenty of skepticism that the measure will do much to actually create jobs. Optimistic estimates predict the tax break could generate perhaps 250,000 jobs through the end of the year, but that would be just a tiny fraction of the 8.4 million jobs lost since the start of the recession.

The measure is part of a campaign by Democrats to show that they are addressing the nation's unemployment problem, but that message was overshadowed by Congress' feverish final push to pass health care overhaul legislation by this weekend.

The bill which passed Wednesday contains about $18 billion in tax breaks and a $20 billion infusion of cash into highway and transit programs. Among other things, it exempts businesses that hire the unemployed from paying the 6.2 percent Social Security payroll tax through December and gives employers an additional $1,000 credit if new workers stay on the job a full year. Taxpayers will have to reimburse Social Security for the lost revenue.

Continue reading at Google News…

How the Jobs Bill's Tax Credit Affects Business

The jobs bill passed by the Senate yesterday is already under fire, with critics claiming the legislation is all talk, and very little action. According to this article from SFGate.com, although the bill is meant to create jobs it is actually more likely to give tax breaks to business owners that are likely to hire new employees anyway. You can find more of their story below:

Desperate to look like they're working on jobs, the Senate passed a bill Wednesday that its backers say could create more than a million new positions by giving employers tax incentives to hire and retain the unemployed.

Critics say the bill is likely to reward employers who would have hired people anyway and will lead to little net increase in employment.

"If demand is not out there, they are not going to hire workers," says Sophia Koropeckyj, a managing director with Moody's Economy.com. "Obama and the Congress are under pressure to do something and this is something."

The bill includes what sponsors call the Hire Now Tax Cut. Under this provision, private-sector employers that hire a "qualified" unemployed person would not have to pay its share of the new worker's Social Security tax - 6.2 percent of wages - for the rest of the year. They say this would give the employer an incentive to hire sooner rather than later.

Continue reading at SF Gate.com…

Jobs Bill Likely to Be Delayed in Senate

Although the Obama administration is hoping to sign the job create bill into law before the end of this week, yesterday Senate Republicans denounced the efforts of Democrats to pass the lengthy legislation in a hurry. It is now reported that the Senate will need to wait until at least the week of February 22^nd to vote on the $80 billion job creation package.

"It's a cake that isn't quite baked yet," said Senate Minority Whip Jon Kyl (R., Ariz.), following a Senate nominations vote.

"Not enough of our members have had an opportunity to review it, for a consensus that would permit us to move forward on it that quickly," he added.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D., Nev.), had announced earlier Tuesday that despite another snowstorm rolling through the Washington region, he hoped to bring the jobs-creation bill for a vote by the end of the week.

Both the Senate and the House are in recess the week of Feb. 15 due to the Presidents' Day holiday.

Democratic leaders were still weighing procedural options late Tuesday. But with 15 senators absent from Tuesday's vote because the weekend snowstorm impeded their travel, it didn't appear that Democrats had the numbers to limit debate and push the bill to a vote without Republicans on their side.

Continue reading at the Wall Street Journal…