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The Democrats’ Definition of Bipartisanship?

January 23, 2009

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
No Democrats supporting

Herger

Add an above-the-line deduction for heath insurance premiums

REJECTED
No Democrats supporting

Johnson

Exempt unemployment benefits from income taxation in 2008 and 2009.

REJECTED
No Democrats supporting

Brady

AMT Patch for 2009

REJECTED
No Democrats supporting

Ryan

Make permanent the dividends and capital gains tax rats and index the latter for inflation.

REJECTED
No Democrats supporting

Linder

Add a GED / training requirement for those getting extended unemployment benefits

REJECTED
No Democrats supporting

Brown-Waite

GAO study of impact of COBRA provisions on employer costs

REJECTED
No Democrats supporting

Davis

$7B transfer from federal to state unemployment accounts to prevent state payroll tax increases

REJECTED  
No Democrats supporting

Reichert

Prohibit HIT money from being spent until interoperability standards are in place

REJECTED
No Democrats supporting

Boustany

Prohibiting Medicare from using comparative effectiveness research to restrict access

REJECTED  
No Democrats supporting

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
One Democrat supporting

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
No Democrats supporting

Johnson

Strikes the HIT funding provisions and replaces it with tax incentives

REJECTED
No Democrats supporting

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
No Democrats supporting

Davis

Increase to $5,000 the cap on tax credits for individuals purchasing energy efficient property (windows, furnaces, etc)

REJECTED
No Democrats supporting

Boustany

Strike the HIT privacy language and replace with a report

REJECTED
No Democrats supporting

REJECTED
No Democrats supporting

Johnson

Allow seniors to opt out of Part A of Medicare

REJECTED
No Democrats supporting