Mike Levin: “I think the basic point is if people really care they would sit down on a bipartisan basis in this House and try to work…”

“I think the basic point is if people really care they would sit down on a bipartisan basis in this House and try to work out a package. There has been zero effort to do that in this House. Zero. I favor a stimulus package, but it should not hold up action on unemployment compensation. Five months ago the Speaker stood in this House and promised the House would act on unemployment compensation. The time to keep that promise is long overdue. And as I said, we have had no bipartisan discussions meaningfully in this House on a stimulus package. We need to work out specific tax provisions. For example, on the acceleration of tax rates, CBO has said that the proposal in this package would generate little stimulus relative to its total revenue loss; that the stimulus is probably small. And as to the AMT, CBO has said eliminating the AMT as done here does little by itself to change the near-term incentive for businesses to invest; its bang for its buck is small. So why not sit down and work out a package on a bipartisan basis? The time has come to do both. To pass unemployment compensation relief today, and then to sit down on a bipartisan basis in the Committee on Ways and Means and work out a stimulus package. That is the way to go. The way we are going today is a dead end for the workers of this country and for the businesses of this Nation.”