As a member of the Senate Budget Committee, I am committed to taking timely, targeted, and temporary steps to lessen the effect of this recession. Congress recently passed the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA), a $789 billion package that is needed to restore confidence in our economic system. We are currently facing a "deteriorating economy," and conservative, moderate and liberal economists all agree that our economy requires strong action that will put Americans back to work and restore confidence in our future.
A crisis in the housing market precipitated the current economic downturn, and President Obama has unveiled a $75 billion plan to fight home foreclosures for approximately 9 million Americans. I support his goal of "rescuing people who have played by the rules and acted responsibly."
I also have...
- Voted for the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) to help save more than 3.5 million jobs nationwide and 66,000 jobs in Maryland;
- Authored a provision in the ARRA that provides a refundable tax credit that does not have to be repaid for first-time homebuyers who purchase a home from Jan. 1, 2009 through Nov. 30, 2009.
- Co-sponsored the 2008 stimulus package to provide rebate checks to middle-class and low-income Americans, 20 million seniors and 250,000 disabled veterans, and
- Co-sponsored the Foreclosure Prevention Act, to help families keep their homes by allowing finance agencies to issue bonds for refinancing and allow judges to modify primary residence mortgage debt;
- Supported a permanent fix for the Alternative Minimum Tax (AMT), which is affecting an increasing number of American families
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