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.
BACK IN THE NEIGHBORHOOD: The planned transit by the ‘Baden-Wuerttemberg’ and the ‘Frankfurt am Main’ would be the German Navy’s first passage since 2002 Two German warships are set to pass through the Taiwan Strait in the middle of this month, becoming the first German naval vessels to do so in 22 years, Der Spiegel reported on Saturday. Reuters last month reported that the warships, the frigate Baden-Wuerttemberg and the replenishment ship Frankfurt am Main, were awaiting orders from Berlin to sail the Strait, prompting a rebuke to Germany from Beijing. Der Spiegel cited unspecified sources as saying Beijing would not be formally notified of the German ships’ passage to emphasize that Berlin views the trip as normal. The German Federal Ministry of Defense declined to comment. While
‘REGRETTABLE’: TPP lawmaker Vivian Huang said that ‘we will continue to support Chairman Ko and defend his innocence’ as he was transferred to a detention facility The Taipei District Court yesterday ruled that Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) Chairman Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) be detained and held incommunicado over alleged corruption dating to his time as mayor of Taipei. The ruling reversed a decision by the court on Monday morning that Ko be released without bail. After prosecutors on Wednesday appealed the Monday decision, the High Court said that Ko had potentially been “actively involved” in the alleged corruption and ordered the district court to hold a second detention hearing. Ko did not speak to reporters upon his arrival at the district court at about 9:10am yesterday to attend a procedural
The High Court yesterday overturned a Taipei District Court decision to release Taiwan People’s Party Chairman Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) and sent the case back to the lower court. The Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office on Saturday questioned Ko amid a probe into alleged corruption involving the Core Pacific City development project during his time as Taipei mayor. Core Pacific City, also known as Living Mall (京華城購物中心), was a shopping mall in Taipei’s Songshan District (松山) that has since been demolished. On Monday, the Taipei District Court granted a second motion by Ko’s attorney to release him without bail, a decision the prosecutors’ office appealed
The Executive Yuan yesterday warned against traveling to or doing business in China after reports that Beijing is recruiting Taiwanese to help conceal the use of forced Uighur labor. The government is aware that Taiwan-based influencers and businesses are being asked to make pro-Beijing content and offered incentives to invest in the region, Executive Yuan acting spokeswoman Julia Hsieh (謝子涵) told a news conference. Taiwanese are urged to be aware of the potential personal and reputational harm by visiting or operating businesses in China, Hsieh said, adding that agencies are fully apprised of the situation. A national security official said that former Mainland