IPFS News Link • Economy - Economics USA
Proposals to create jobs add up to second stimulus
• GoogleThe program is scheduled to run for 11 months this year and cost a projected $6.6 billion. Extending or expanding the program would add to the costs.
Lawmakers are also working on proposals to award tax credits to companies that add jobs. Obama's economic team proposed a similar incentive during negotiations over the stimulus package enacted in February but the idea was abandoned amid questions over its implementation.
A proposal by Sen. Arlen Specter, D-Pa., would provide a $4,000 tax credit, to be paid out over two years, for each new employee. His office could not provide a cost estimate.
Pelosi said lawmakers need to hear from economists before settling on a package to create jobs. "What is it that we can afford? What works the fastest?" Pelosi said.
Rep. Dave Camp, R-Mich., the top Republican on the Ways and Means Committee, said: "The fact that they're putting forward all of these things is really an indication that the stimulus was a failure. It didn't work."