President Obama will not insist to Congressional leaders that his
proposal for a new $13 billion economic aid bill will be paid
for, according to a senior White House official.
Earlier this afternoon, the White House announced a plan to give
57 million Americans already receiving Social Security or some
other government benefits a $250 "Economic Recovery Payment," and
insisted that Obama "is committed to ensuring that the $13
billion cost of the proposal does not reduce the solvency of
Social Security or other social insurance programs."
Asked on a conference call about how Obama intends to accomplish
this, a senior administration official said that the bill would
be financed out of "general revenues" and not necessarily offset
by either spending cuts or tax increases.
"We generally think proposals should be paid for, but in this
case, we're providing temporary essential help to people as an
extension to the Recovery Act," the official said. "We plan to
work with Congress to discuss financing, but the President is not
going to go into those discussions insisting that this be paid
for."
The announcement comes a day before the Social Security
Administration is set to announce its cost of living adjustment
to beneficiaries. Last year, beneficiaries received a 5.8 percent
boost because soaring energy costs pushed up consumer prices, but
given the sagging prices in the currently weak economy,
beneficiaries aren't going to receive any raise this year. The
proposed $250 payments would represent a 2 percent increase to
the typical beneficiary.
The official was quick to push back against the suggestion that
this proposal -- likely to be financed through deficit spending
-- represented a second stimulus package. Instead, the official
argued that it was merely extending a provision of the $787
billion stimulus bill that is scheduled to expire at the end of
the year.
In addition to the $250 subsidies, other elements of the stimulus
package likely to be extended include unemployment assistance and
subsidies to those receiving health insurance through COBRA.
