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Pork or Stimulus? Wrangling Sharpens Over 2nd Bailout
Partisan battle lines already being drawn as economic slump appears to worsen
By Ambreen Ali
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Posted Oct 16, 08 12:25 PM CDT
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(Newser)
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Congress’ partisan battle over the Wall Street bailout could look amateur compared to what lies ahead, the Los Angeles Times reports, as lawmakers consider a second stimulus package to keep the nation out of a steep recession. Republicans want tax cuts, while Democrats are pushing infrastructure projects and other federal spending—and relief might have to wait until after the election.
As consumers shrink from spending, Democrats suggest spending $150 billion on road and school construction, unemployment benefits, Medicare and tax incentives for businesses to hire. Republicans, who advocate dropping corporate and capital-gains taxes to boost jobs, say the Democrat bill is “pork-barrel spending masquerading as stimulus” and threaten it could “dramatically aggravate” an already-worsening situation.