The Democrats’ Definition of Bipartisanship?
Outside of the White House today, Speak Pelosi claimed that Republican voices have been heard in the discussion of the House Democrat’s trillion-dollar spending bill.
Majority Leader Hoyer went as far as to say, “This week, the Appropriations, Ways and Means, and Energy and Commerce Committees held markups on the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act to include important feedback from Members to improve the package.”
The Table below paints a different picture…
At yesterday’s markup of the stimulus bill only 1 of 18 amendments, a GAO study, were accepted by the majority.
Markup of H.R. 598
The American Economic Recovery and Reinvestment Plan
Amendments offered by Republican Ways and Means Members
|
AUTHOR |
DESCRIPTION |
ACCEPTED/REJECTED |
|
Camp |
Strike “Making Work Pay,” reduce the 10% and 15% individual income tax brackets to 5% and 10%, respectively, for 2009 and 2010. |
REJECTED |
|
Herger |
Add an above-the-line deduction for heath insurance premiums |
REJECTED |
|
Johnson |
Exempt unemployment benefits from income taxation in 2008 and 2009. |
REJECTED |
|
Brady |
AMT Patch for 2009 |
REJECTED |
|
Ryan |
Make permanent the dividends and capital gains tax rats and index the latter for inflation. |
REJECTED |
|
Linder |
Add a GED / training requirement for those getting extended unemployment benefits |
REJECTED |
|
Brown-Waite |
GAO study of impact of COBRA provisions on employer costs |
REJECTED |
|
Davis |
$7B transfer from federal to state unemployment accounts to prevent state payroll tax increases |
REJECTED |
|
Reichert |
Prohibit HIT money from being spent until interoperability standards are in place |
REJECTED |
|
Boustany |
Prohibiting Medicare from using comparative effectiveness research to restrict access |
REJECTED |
|
Heller |
Extending homebuyer tax credit through 2009, allow it to be claimed by anyone purchasing a primary residence (as opposed to just first-time homebuyers), and require buyers to have at least a 5% down payment to get the credit |
REJECTED |
|
Roskam |
GAO study to assess success of program in creating private sector jobs |
ACCEPTED |
|
Herger |
Conditions Health IT funding on providers giving patients additional price transparency |
REJECTED |
|
Johnson |
Strikes the HIT funding provisions and replaces it with tax incentives |
REJECTED |
|
Brown-Waite |
Remove the provision requiring states to make permanent changes to their benefit eligibility rules to be eligible for a temporary transfer of federal unemployment funds |
REJECTED |
|
Davis |
Increase to $5,000 the cap on tax credits for individuals purchasing energy efficient property (windows, furnaces, etc) |
REJECTED |
|
Boustany |
Strike the HIT privacy language and replace with a report |
REJECTED |
|
REJECTED |
||
|
Johnson |
Allow seniors to opt out of Part A of Medicare |
REJECTED |