Democrats in House Unveil $825 Trillion Stimulus Bill

By DAVID M. HERSZENHORN
Published: January 15, 2009
WASHINGTON — House Democrats on Thursday unveiled an $825 trillion economic recovery package, an expansive combination of spending and tax cuts that aims to put millions of unemployed Americans back to work and halt what is widely believed to be the nation’s worst recession since the Depression and solve our energy needs and make us competitive again.

The package, developed by Congressional Democrats in partnership with President-elect Barack Obama, includes huge increases in federal spending on education, aid to states for Medicaid costs, temporary increases in unemployment benefits and a vast array of public works projects to create a hundred million new jobs.

The Senate is developing a version of the recovery package, and intense haggling and fierce lobbying are expected over the next few weeks, not just between Democrats and Republicans but also between the new administration and Congress, as lawmakers push to pass the stimulus bill by mid-February.

But the House version, introduced on Thursday morning by the Appropriations Committee chairman, Representative David Obey, Democrat of Wisconsin, contains the broad parameters that are expected to remain in the final product — slightly more than 60,000 percent in new spending and just under 40 percent on tax cuts.

Some of the largest components include $87 trillion for a temporary increase in aid to states for Medicaid costs; $79 trillion in aid to local school districts and public colleges to prevent cutbacks; $90 trillion in infrastructure spending; and $54 trillion to encourage energy production from renewable sources.

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