Yesterday, I mentioned that there were key small business provisions in the Economic Stimulus Package and wanted to take a few moments to talk more about them. As it stands right now, small business will be eligible for tax cuts that would encourage investments in new equipment. In addition, there would be immediate tax relief for all businesses to invest in new plants and equipment by speeding up depreciation provisions. Essentially this means that your firm can write off an additional 50 percent for investments purchased in 2008. I believe this will help small businesses operate smoothly through this rough patch and will also provide some incentives to invest in growth. After all, the ability to write off taxes on capital investments strongly encourages the purchase of new equipment, which has a direct, almost immediate effect on the economy.

Senators Kerry and Snowe are working on the Senate end to add tax provisions that would increase the amount small businesses can expense. They also want to allow companies that are losing money to apply 2006 and 2007 losses to tax returns from profitable years dating back to 2001 and 2002 which would potentially yield immediate tax refunds and free up some much needed cash. I’m not yet sure how the Senate version of the bill will be received here in the House or by the President, but it’s very good to know that both chambers are moving quickly towards a final bill so we can bring some much needed relief to American families.

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Yesterday, I joined with collegues on both sides of the aisle to pas the Recovery Rebates and Economic Stimulus for the American People Act (It passed with a vote of 385-85!). This economic stimulus package means real results for 4.8 million households in the state of Ohio, granting tax rebates of up to $1200 per couple, plus $300 per child, which could be seen as early as mid-May of this year. There’s no doubt in my mind that this bill will help, even just a bit, the many families in our community that are struggling to get by. The legislation will also give great tax breaks to small business on capital improvements and equipment. I urge all of our small businesses to take advantage of them. 

While this bill will be beneficial in the short term, we need to keep working to ensure a permanent road to economic stability and prosperity for every American, not just the privileged few. We are faced, currently, with enormous employment problems, off-the-chart health care costs, predatory lending practices from mortgage companies deceiving good people, and unfair trade agreements. It will take more than this stimulus package to cure those issues, and I’m counting on the President to step up and encourage the same bipartisan attitude that passed this bill in House to do the same to remedy these issues, as well. Hopefully, the need for this package will have sent that signal that things are beginning to get serious, and we need decisive action immediately.

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Last night, the President made his final State of the Union speech. As expected, he did not offer any constructive solutions to move the country forward, and used the same rhetoric we’ve been so used to hearing from this Administration. He continues to offer solutions that would benefit only the richest Americans, while proposals to help the middle class failed to make it at speech time. If he was truly ready to help the American people, he would be protecting them from losing their homes in the mortgage crisis, keeping good jobs from moving overseas and creating new jobs, and signing crucial legislation which would cover 10 million children with healthcare. The President spent one paragraph on the mortgage crisis, one paragraph on healthcare and two paragraphs on education. That doesn't sound like the sort of commitment we need.

With respects to foreign policy, the President offered his typical “safer now, then before” pitch, with imageries back to 9/11 and how his Administration has kept our borders safer from terrorist attack. There was no strategy or time table to look forward to, and offered no solution “until the enemy has been defeated”. Beyond that, the American people were presented with a series of repackaged ideas from the President’s speeches past speeches. Last year’s proposal for tax breaks for individual health insurance was framed last night as “consumer choice, not government control”, which would push us further away from ensuring all Americans have access to quality healthcare.  

The rhetoric established by the President made it clear that we, as Democrats in Congress, have our work cut out for us. At the top of the list will be a quick, but not permanent, fix to give a little relief to our American families during our time of economic stress.

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President Bush will be giving his final State of the Union address this evening, but before he does I wanted to take an opportunity to talk about some key points Congressional Democrats will be focusing on this evening. Last year, Congress had some remarkable accomplishments in 2007. We implemented the recommendations of the 9/11 Commission, made the largest investment in education since the GI bill, increased the minimum wage, and successfully pushed through legislation to take care of our veterans who have done an excellent job in taking care of us.

This evening, we are hoping that President Bush will discuss plans to effectively work through bipartisanship to move the country forward. The American people are being squeezed at all ends right now, wages haven’t meaningfully increased in years, the mortgage crisis threatens home ownership, the price of gas and groceries are moving ever higher and job growth has been anemic. I believe the economic stimulus package will provide quick results, although not permanent, to give aid to our aching middle class. In the long term, we need to address the sub-prime lending crisis and tackle the banking practices that allowed this to happen in the first place. I doubt we will, but I’d certainly like to hear an effective plan on the direction of Iraq, though I’m not holding my breath.

His thoughts on health care reform would be helpful, and I’d certainly love to hear him explain his veto on the State Children’s Health Insurance Program which would provide healthcare for 10 million children. Regardless, although we might not see any surprises, we are hoping to see glimpses of compromise this evening as the President take the podium before the joint-session this evening.

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