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Subscribe to RSSThe $42 billion Small Business Jobs Act took a step forward, clearing a key procedural hurdle in the Senate, 61-37. Republicans George Voinovich, who is retiring, and former Gov. Charlie Crist (I-FL) Chief of Staff George LeMieux voted for it, helping Democrats overcome a filibuster.
President Obama strongly supports the bill, which would provide loans and tax breaks to small businesses, and its swift enactment seems assured. ... That vote all but assured that the Senate will pass the bill later this week, and the House is expected to then put its final stamp of approval on the measure without delay.
But efforts to repeal or roll back a new tax-reporting requirement for the nation’s businesses failed on Tuesday when neither party managed to muster the 60 votes needed to advance their competing approaches to the issue.
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I wonder how quickly this money will be available, how quickly it will be used, what the measure of need will be, and how we will measure its success or failure.
And will we ever get an accounting of where it goes? I still have no earthly idea where the original $800 billion went. Does anybody?
Where did this money come from? Where exactly is it going and to whom?
kirby, you can google it. it's been out there for all to see regardless of what Fox news tries to tell it's older and confused followers. by the way, a good chunk of it was in the form of Tax Cuts. that's right, tax cuts.
My, my glen, what a cute little insult. I don't watch Fox, but I'll bet you get most of your news from MSNBC. Older and confused. How fun and how stupid.
And google doesn't say where most of it went, only a portion. I know a goodly portion hasn't been spent yet at all. All those "shovel ready" jobs?
Kirby, when you assume you make, well, you know the rest. i watch a little of everything. there are plenty of places to look at what has been spent and how much (try Stimuluswatch.org, etc...) . i realize that it's more interesting for guys like you to bark at the moon, but it's ok to be a Low Information Voter. as far as the "goodly portion" that has not been spent, not sure where you are heading with that one. you are complaining the money already spent appears to have been wasted so you want the remaining of the money to be spent and wasted as well?
How fun and how stupid.
Kirby, Glen is right - you can find tracking of the stimulus funds spent to date. How reliable the information is, I can't say.
My questions were aimed more at figuring out the effectiveness of the program. I'm all for extending loans and liquidity to those that need it, but I don't know that this bill will be enough/will properly do the job. I don't think the tax cuts are necessary either.
And I guess it is okay to be low IQ as well or you wouldn't be posting. Save your talking points for people that don't know better.
I didn't say the money spent was wasted did I? I am sure some of it was, because government is inherently inefficient but no, there is that assume thing you were talking about. My, my pot calling kettle.
You are what my hispanic friends would call a bobo.
Kirby, if you are referring to wanting to know about the stimulus funds, every dollar is accounted for at recovery.gov, which has been online since the stimulus bill was passed.
By the way, in Idaho, Motive Power just got a $114 million dollar order for train engines, which was part of the stimulus bill.
Hey Kirby--
You especially have cemented your low-info, low-tolerant, low-IQ status on previous posts. I know you and your Bagger ilk conveniently suffer memory loss and dismiss everything factual unless it serves your aims but stimulus spending info is readily available even to you if you step away from the french fryer and Fox news programming long enough. Nice try denying your frequent-viewer status.
Kirby--
By the way, you are what my latino friends and family refer to as "una mentirosa. Llena de mierda!"
It is hard to believe that with elections just 6 weeks away, Republicans would vote against this bill. It looks like 37 did vote against it. They must not be up for re-election or coming from very red states.
Three cheers for Voinovich and LeMieux, two republicans who put the Country ahead of their party. Senator Voinovich made good on his words last week when he declared the Senate GOP blockade was hurting people and the country. Can't say much for the rest of the GOP blockade; this bill has everything republicans claim they support yet they vote no. Grassley has a brochure sent to Iowans, and in his newsletter he talks about supporting tax cuts for small business, making credit available to them--but he voted NO.
Not long ago RNC Michael Steele was talking about tax cuts for small business and making money available specifically for small business credit lines; then he realized that was what President Obama and democrats had put in legislation--suddenly, the big flip flop, such a bill is bad for the economy.
I seem to recall that not more than a couple weeks ago, conventional DC wisdom claimed that this bill would not get passed.
Jody
It's about time!!! They should have passed it back in March of this year.
yes, like you said three cheers for Voinovich and LeMieux.
Yes, they should have.
TRRR - and we know why they did not pass it back in March like they should have - it would have been sucessful and the republicans would not have wanted to have to run against the small business they claim to support, I say claim because most of my family members who own small businesses say that the republicans have never done anything to assist them with anything.
And your relatives are right. The repugs never help anyone that's not rich or a member of big business it's against their party's creed.
This bill will not help small businesses. It was a bill for political purposes only with the November elections just around the corner. Small businesses have said it's not tax breaks or loans but assurance from Washington that the current tax breaks will be extended and clarification of how the HCR bill is going to effect small businesses.
Stop telling lies!!!!!!
And businesses of any size aren't at all interested in making more money, right? I'm sure we can take them at their word when they say "uncertainty" is killing their potential new hires, and not a lack of demand.
sfcret
According to whom, Michael Steele? One week he says that business need the loans and credit and the next this is the sone of TARP, something I might remind you, that Paulson, a Repub Treasury secretary under the Lil Shrub put together. You Repubs need to figure out your talking points or else you end up on Olbermann's "Worse person in the World" segment.
Phillip, maybe you should listen to someone other than Olbermann and the other Obama stooges on MSNBC. Personally I didn't like Paulson I was not in favor of TARP, which by the way was written and passed by a democratic controlled congress, including a yes vote from Obama. Also try talking to some small business people and organizations that support small businesses, they will tell you the same thing I mentioned above.
sfcret
You mean like the Chamber of Commerce. At least the Congress made your guy Paulson go back and redo that entire thing. I mean a 3 page bill that gave him immunity. That bill was written by the Repubs and your guy Blunt was doing the cheerleading on the Repub side to sign on. I'm no fan of TARP, but the original bill would have definitely made matter far worse.
Philip the TARP was still passed by a democratic controlled congress including votes from Obama, Pelosi, and Reid. The democrats could have stopped the bill, and I wish they would have. I trust the Chamber of Commerce before I would Obermann and the MSNBC crew. You also failed to address my comment about what small businesses really need and want. BTW I have always wondered with the bias shown by Obermann, that he doesn't put himself on the "worse person in the world" list.
There is nothing in the bill that will get small business to hire more at this time. We will wait and see if repubs take house and senate in November. If the repubs succeed they will put forth a more friendly tax cuts for small business that will promote owners to hire because there will be less uncertainty for business owners and no government strings attached so business owners can use the tax cuts to grow their business the way we see fit.
At this point my buisness will not be hiring untill Dems are out of power, in fact I'm looking to cut back so I have less of a tax burden because I don't think it's patriotic to fund Obama's administration's agenda which is anti-capitalist and pro-socialist.
Myopia, thy name is anative texan. I am a small businessman and personal income tax rates have nothing to do with my business decisions. If you decide to take action to expand your business and revenue based on whether you might have to pay 3 or 4 percent more on the portion of that revenue that you count as personal income, your business reasoning is suspect. I don't understand the logic in saying "I am not going to do what I can to make myself an additional 50K, because I will have to pay a few K more on my income tax." I make those decisions based on whether it will result in the additional income.
Oh shut up with your stupidity. If you are running a business based on who is in office you are no business person at all. It is difficult to hire now because there is no demand for services or products. Any help will be appreciated. The republicans are becoming mind dead zombies.
Really? So, what you're basically telling us is small business owners are saying, "Vote Republican or we won't hire employees and we'll make unemployment rise!"
Right?
Da Noid
Really? So, what you're basically telling us is small business owners are saying, "Vote Republican or we won't hire employees and we'll make unemployment rise!"
Right?
Da Noid, I am almost ready to say "right". The actions of the minority party in the past 18 months trend to this conclusion. They have said from the beginning that they would not vote in any way to help the President's agenda and they have delivered even when the issue (s) was what they themselves had wanted, such as the tax cuts for small businesses.
This is such a joke. To borrow the Presidents favorite line, let's be clear about this. First, by extending the tax cuts to everyone including the rich is NOT borrowing $700 billion to the rich. You can't borrow money that was never yours...your simply not taking it. What this bill is effectively doing is saying to small business owners, yes we're going to tax you, however in return we are going to let you borrow against your own money for a very reasonable interest rate. Doesn't that sound like a great deal? How many of you folks reading this would make that deal with your bank? Ummm...'yes Mr. Banker I would like to get a car loan for $20k. Why certainly Mr. Stupid just give me $20k and I will loan it back to you at a mere 5% annually. This will surely promote job grow!!...in Neverneverland.
the gop continues to blink ;
I rarely post here due to bias on both sides, but have to ask a question.
Who really believes this stimulus money will get to many of the businesses that want it, assuming they take it with the banks strings attached.
The first thing banks will do is shore up their cash reserves with this free money to stay solvent , increae profits and what is left might be loaned out.
If you don't believe this, why do you think little of the bail out money to the large banks, never was loaned out and than banks got great returns on free money, leading to record bonuses?
This is nothing but another trojan horse in form of yet again, another bank bail out.
Sadly, that is probably what will happen.