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Local Realtors Association president applauds extension, expansion of homebuyers' tax credit
Northeast Tennessee Association of Realtors President Carla Dunn applauded Congress' decision to extend the $8,000 first-time homebuyer's credit and to offer existing homeowners a new credit to continue stimulus support for the housing recovery.
Congress took the steps to right the staggering economy by expanding a popular homebuyers' tax credit and extending unemployment checks for the growing legions of people running out of benefits with few job prospects.
The House passed the bill on a 403-12 vote Thursday, a day after the Senate ended a month long stalemate with a 98-0 vote. With some 7,000 people exhausting unemployment benefits every day and the $8,000 tax credit for first-time homebuyers set to expire at the end of November, President Barack Obama is expected to quickly sign it into law.
The $24 billion package also contains tax credits aimed at struggling businesses.
The IRS says some 1.4 million people applied for the homebuyers credit through August, helping enliven the moribund housing market. The legislation would extend the program through June of next year, as long as the buyer signs a contract by the end of April. It also offers a $6,500 tax credit to those who have lived in their current residence at least five years.
The measure doubles the income ceiling for eligible individuals to $125,000. Homes must cost less than $800,000 to qualify.
Dunn said both measures would go a long way toward helping both first-time and existing homeowners who have been sitting on the fence to get back into the housing market. As that happens it will help ease the excess supply of homes on the market, something that is needed for the housing market to return to a "normal status."
The nearly 2 million who have exhausted their unemployment benefits or face termination of benefits, usually about $300 a week, before the end of the year would receive 14 weeks of additional benefits under the bill. The unemployed in those states where the jobless rate tops 8.5 percent would get six weeks on top of that.
House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer said the bill would also help the economy because the unemployed quickly spend their checks on living necessities. "We help people in very bad straits and we help our economy and help us all."
All but 12 Republicans voted for the bill, although several took the opportunity to swipe at the Obama administration's efforts to produce new jobs. "Make no mistake, the unemployment benefits are no substitute for a good job,"said Rep. Kevin Brady, R-Texas.
The extension would be the fourth since June of last year and the first since the $787 billion stimulus package was enacted last February. The unemployed in the hardest-hit states could, once the bill becomes law, receive a maximum of 99 weeks of benefits, well above the previous record of 65 weeks in the 1970s.
Lawmakers said aggressive measures are needed because the unemployment rate, now at 9.8 percent, is expected to hover around 10 percent into next year and more than one-third of the 15 million unemployed have been looking for work for at least six months, a record.
The nation has lost 8 million jobs since the "great recession" began at the end of 2007, said Rep. Jim McDermott, D-Wash., a chief sponsor of the legislation. Even with the recession winding down, "we know it will take considerable time to restore those lost jobs."
"A stunning 600,000 workers ran out of jobless benefits in the past two months alone, and thousands more are projected to by the end of the year," said Christine Owens, executive director of the National Employment Law Project. "Workers need this extension, the economy needs this extension."
The bill only applies to those running out of benefits before the end of the year, and McDermott reminded his colleagues that Congress may have to revisit the issue before it adjourns for the year.
The bill would also allow businesses that have incurred losses in 2008 and 2009 to seek refunds for taxes paid on profits over the past five years.
The two tax credits, each costing more than $10 billion over 10 years, are paid for by delaying enactment of a law giving international companies more leeway in how they allocate interest expenses between U.S. and foreign sources in determining tax liabilities.
The $2.4 billion cost of extending unemployment benefits is offset by extending through June 2011 the federal unemployment tax that employers pay for each employee.
The three measures would add $43 billion to the 2010 deficit and then be repaid over time.
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The unemployment rate just came out 10.2%. How does that hope and change and saved or created a million jobs work for you liberals?
Mr Johansen. The Workforce investment Act has incentives for business to hire. They offer OJT assistance and other activities to offset the cost of training. Most every county in Southwest Virginia and East Tennesse have a branch office.
Mr. Johansen, I don't often agree with your point of view. We come from two different places. But I do recognize that you seem to have good business sense. When I read your words,
"We have yet to lay off any of our 22 employee's and we don't plan on it." and also when you said that if the government offered an incentive, you would hire a couple more just to help out,
I have to take a moment to tell you that I think more highly of you now. That's very decent, and I'm sure your employees appreciate it.
You clearly do not remember or were not aware that when Obama took office there was still 240 Billion in the bailout fund. Obama should have gave that back to China. Nope he Spent it.
Clearly the Trillion dollar Stimulus bill that Obama came up with along the way stating from his own mouth that unemployment would not exceed 8% show's he really knows what he's doing and is being fiscally responsibly.
I have said it and will say it. I got nothing against him. I had hoped he was the real deal. He is only 8 months in and has failed miserably. I needed to see a President that would stop the spending.
Prepare your children they will bear hardships we can't imagine and the blame is on this government, The last two and every American walking the earth.
A government should be scared of it's people not the other way around
Bobby your right about the billions that have been spent on the wars and while if the war was about hunting down Osama Bin Laden and his cronies I would be gun ho. Since it's not about that and most have all but forgotten what they did to our country it is a complete waste. As you put it the billions spent on the war for the last 10 years. It's over a trillion but Thats 10 years of warmongering. This government has spent a TRILLION in 8 months imagine how much more of our children's future's he can auction off in the next 3 years. Pretty soon there will be another Trillion for those that feel health insurance is a right when in reality its nothing more than a service. So that will be 2 TRILLION this government has spent in a fraction of the time.
I am not justifying the wars, we forgot why we are there and now we are doing nothing but occupying when we should be hunting people down like dogs. Point is this government is proving to me at least to be worse than the last to spend this much in unprecedented time.
Bad Eye,
I think I already gave my idea not to inspire but to entice business to hire.
No I don't want to pay someone to sit around on the internet for a better part of the day, That is already happening. It's called unemployment benefits. Not all are in this category but even the ones hungry for a job are beginning to give up.
Yes, I have work for people to do. Work that anyone can do. My business is slow. But if the government had any business sense which we know they don't, Instead of extending benefits for people to sit at home. I would be offering business' some form of tax credit or payroll tax rebate to help pay for every new hire that a business hires for the first year.
I would hire 2 tomorrow, Honestly just to help out if uncle sam would help me pay for them for 6 to 12 months. Instead this government would prefer to extend benefits so people can do exactly what you described. Sit at home and do nothing. Granted not all but eventually even the ones hungry for work get discouraged. Which in the end will end up with a lot of people sitting at home not looking for work collecting a check.
I'm not worried about Eastman or General Shale, could really care less what they do or how they run there business. As a small business owner if the government offered help in paying for new hires for the first year I would hire them. Not everyone has that mentality but a lot do. We have yet to lay off any of our 22 employee's and we don't plan on it. When we are real slow we paint the shop, wax our service trucks or pressure wash the warehouse floors but everyone earns their keep and I would love to bring on a couple more just because this tide will turn and when it does it would be nice to have people ready to go. Bottom line is my bottom line can't handle that. But if the government put some money into real job creation like this, I would gladly hire some more.
A government should be scared of it's people not the other way around. To bad American's never got the memo.
How do you propose to "inspire" businesses to hire workers?
And you truly want to hire employees when there is no work for them to do? That's why we've had layoffs in the first place.
What incentive would you have given to the General Shale company's site in Kingsport? What incentive would you have given to Eastman in order for them to keep their contracted workers?
Over two years ago I was a contracted worker at Eastman and I was let go due to budget issues. Oh, there was plenty of work for me to do. So what incentive would you have given them to keep me on the work force?
You really want to pay workers to sit around and twiddle their thumbs or surf the Internet for the better part of the day?
Uhhmmm...the war in Iraq & Afghanistan have cost in in excess of 920,000,000,000 thus far...that's BILLION. In addition to the first 'bailout' of the Bush administration of 700,000,000,000...again that's BILLION.
Far more than any bailout or proposals to fix health care being handled under the current administration.
Conservatives...that's funny stuff.
This is not the last housing crash we will see, There will be another in my lifetime and I fear a depressions that is worse than the depression we are in now.
Sorry but just because a government pumps money into an economy to raise the GDP does not mean its over. It will never sustain these levels. It's all smoke and mirrors. Yeah we got change alright.
Can we go back to invading countries for no reason instead of this selling off our children's futures from printing worthless money. Don't like either of them but we keep spending like this China is going to want to cash in someday and then what.
"Congress took the steps to right the staggering economy by expanding a popular homebuyers' tax credit and extending unemployment checks for the growing legions of people running out of benefits with few job prospects."
I reiterate
So it pays to be jobless or buy a house. What a joke this country has become. If all they are going to do is continue to extend benefits. A lot, not all but a lot of those jobless are just going to get comfy with no job and a little check.
Inspire business to hire and maybe that will change, Granted the work isn't there but if there is an incentive to help pay for that new employee I might be enticed to hire just to help out, If I have to do it all alone those employee will just have to wait until the economy picks up enough so that I can.
If uncle sam was to entice business to hire by helping pay for that employee for the first year that could take the place of those benefit payments that they are getting nothing for and help get the work force moving again.