English pushes for kinder stimulus package

In calling on the House Republican leadership to ensure that increased unemployment benefits, training for unemployed workers and increased health care benefits are basic components of any package aimed at repairing the economy, Rep. Phil English of Erie, R-21st, has shown that the needs of his constituents and of working men and women around the country can be part of a GOP agenda. If only President Bush and House Speaker Dennis Hastert could see it that way too.
An economic stimulus package that ignores the basic human needs of vulnerable Americans -- particularly those who have lost their jobs as a result of the current recession -- will neither restore consumer confidence nor engender support for an administration that is seen as only a friend to big business.
The White House and congressional leaders agreed Wednesday that lawmakers trying to reconcile Republican and Democratic differences should work through the weekend to arrive at a bill President Bush can sign.
Compromise essential: Whether English, Ohio Rep. Bob Ney, R-18th, Pennsylvania Rep. Melissa A. Hart, R-4th, and 16 of their Republican House colleagues will have much success persuading Ways and Means Committee Chairman Bill Thomas, R-California, to modify the bill, remains to be seen. But some compromises will have to be reached for the House and Senate to pass a measure the president will sign -- and sign by Christmas as is his intention.
Currently, the White House wants to accelerate tax rate reductions that were passed in the tax relief bill signed into law earlier this year and to eliminate the corporate alternative minimum tax. Democrats not only want to see unemployment benefits extended but also direct federal subsidies for unemployed workers to pay for health insurance.
Speaking in Sharon Monday, English said, & quot;Our stimulus package needs to get the economy back on a growth path but in doing so soften the blow on those who have borne the brunt of the economic downturn. Our neighbors are in need. Congressional leaders must recognize that and act now. & quot;
'Stronger safety net' Calling on the congressional leadership to provide working Americans a "stronger safety net," English said any stimulus package should also include an extension of unemployment benefits, a 50 percent federal subsidy for health care programs for displaced workers, more money for job retraining, and jump starting federally funded infrastructure improvements such as highway, sewer and water projects to create new jobs.
Western Pennsylvania and Eastern Ohio have been hit especially hard as factories close and unemployment increases.
President Bush should heed what English has to say.