US President Barack Obama’s Democratic Senate allies on Friday unveiled a pared-down plan to pump at least US$780 billion into the ailing US economy and vowed to pass it this week.
“We’re doing everything we can to make sure that this severe recession we’re in does not become another Great Depression,” US Senate Democratic Majority Leader Harry Reid said, as all but a handful of Republicans vowed to oppose the deal.
The accord’s price tag would be far smaller than the US$937 billion previously under consideration, a reduction aimed at winning over elusive Republican support that was entirely absent when the House of Representatives passed its US$820 billion version of the measure last week.
If the measure clears the Senate, both chambers would reconcile their rival bills and then vote on the resulting final product — which Obama has said he wants to see on his desk by Feb. 16.
Lawmakers were to resume debate on the measure in a rare session yesterday.
Reid signaled that he believed his 58 Democrats had enough Republican support to secure the 60 votes needed to thwart any parliamentary delaying tactics and said he hoped for a vote “as early as we can next week.”
The new compromise measure emerged, under pressure from the White House and ever-grimmer unemployment numbers, from closed-door talks by a group of swing-vote Republicans and Democrats.
“We trimmed the fat, fried the bacon and milked the sacred cows,” said Democratic Senator Ben Nelson, a leader of the group.
The final cost could rise to about US$800 because of various amendments still pending, Senate sources said as Republican foes of the original package quickly trained their guns on the new agreement.
“Most of us are deeply skeptical that this will work and that level of skepticism leads us to believe that this course of action should not be chosen,” Senate Republican Minority Leader Mitch McConnell said.
Republicans said their calculations put the new bill at roughly US$830 billion, plus nearly US$350 billion in debt service — meaning the overall price tag was about US$1.2 trillion.
“We’re talking about an extraordinarily large amount of money and a crushing debt for our grandchildren,” McConnell said.
“If this legislation is passed, it will be a very bad day for America,” Republican Senator John McCain said.
PLA MANEUVERS: Although Beijing has yet to formally announce military drills, its coast guard vessels have been spotted near and around Taiwan since Friday The Taiwanese military is on high alert and is closely monitoring the Chinese People’s Liberation Army’s (PLA) air and naval deployments after Beijing yesterday reserved seven airspace areas east of its Zhejiang and Fujian provinces through Wednesday. Beijing’s action was perceived as a precursor to a potential third “Joint Sword” military exercise, which national security experts said the PLA could launch following President William Lai’s (賴清德) state visits to the nation’s three Pacific allies and stopovers in Hawaii and Guam last week. Unlike the Joint Sword military exercises in May and October, when Beijing provided detailed information about the affected areas, it
Five flights have been arranged to help nearly 2,000 Taiwanese tourists return home from Okinawa after being stranded due to cruise ship maintenance issues, the Ministry of Transportation and Communications announced yesterday. China Airlines Ltd (中華航空), and EVA Airways Corp (長榮航空) have arranged five flights with a total of 748 additional seats to transport 1,857 passengers from the MSC Bellissima back to Taiwan, the ministry said. The flights have been scheduled for yesterday and today by the Civil Aviation Administration, with the cruise operator covering all associated costs. The MSC Bellissima, carrying 4,341 passengers, departed from Keelung on Wednesday last week for Okinawa,
US president-elect Donald Trump said he would “never say” if Washington is committed to defending Taiwan from China, but “I would prefer that they do not do it [ an attack],” adding that he has a “good relationship” with Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平). “I never say because I have to negotiate things, right?” Trump said in an interview with NBC’s Meet the Press host Kristen Welker after saying he would not reveal his incoming administration’s stance on Taiwan’s defense in the event of an attack. Asked the question again, Trump, in a reference to China, said: “I would prefer that they
CROSS-STRAIT TENSIONS: MOFA demanded Beijing stop its military intimidation and ‘irrational behavior’ that endanger peace and stability in the Indo-Pacific region The Presidential Office yesterday called on China to stop all “provocative acts,” saying ongoing Chinese military activity in the nearby waters of Taiwan was a “blatant disruption” of the “status quo” of security and stability in the Indo-Pacific region. Defense officials said they have detected Chinese ships since Monday, both off Taiwan and farther out along the first island chain. They described the formations as two walls designed to demonstrate that the waters belong to China. The Ministry of National Defense yesterday said it had detected 53 military aircraft operating around the nation over the past 24 hours, as well
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