Senate postpones vote on stimulus plan

WASHINGTON — Politics and some tough lobbying by senior citizens combined to derail a planned vote Thursday in the Senate on a stimulus plan, delaying passage of legislation until next week.

Even as Senate leaders announced their delay in voting, phone lines to many Senate offices, such as that of Florida Republican Mel Martinez, were jammed and a large volume of e-mail slowed congressional Web sites.

"A chord has been struck," said David Certner, federal affairs director for the AARP. The 39 million-member lobby for U.S. seniors added its weight to a growing number of complaints from seniors and disabled veterans.

The AARP says the $150 billion stimulus bill passed by the House this week and supported by President Bush leaves out 20 million older Americans who depend largely on their Social Security checks to get by.

The House package, approved Tuesday, would provide tax rebates of up to $600 for individuals and up to $1,200 for couples filing jointly. It would make minimum payments of $300 to individuals with at least $3,000 in earned income, and for families, an additional payment of $300 a child.

The rebates would be phased out for individuals with adjusted gross income of more than $75,000 and couples with more than $150,000. The plan also would provide several short-term tax breaks for businesses to encourage spending and investment.

The Senate Finance Committee, with support from the AARP, modified that late Wednesday in its $157 billion stimulus package.

The Senate measure would deliver flat rebates of $500 for individuals and $1,000 for couples to anyone earning at least $3,000, with income limits of $150,000 for individuals and $300,000 for couples. The rebate would phase out for those making more, disappearing for people with income of $160,000 for individuals and $320,000 for couples. The caps would be higher for those with children.

The Senate would include rebates to seniors or disabled persons getting more than $3,000 yearly in benefits from Social Security.

Seniors and the disabled who don't pay income taxes would have to apply for tax rebates, creating the need for an outreach and education effort. The House bill, on the other hand, would provide automatic rebates for those who pay payroll and/or income taxes.

"Complexity is our enemy, and I am concerned that the bill that has come out of the Senate Finance Committee is already too complex," Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson said Thursday.

Adding to the complications, New York Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton and Illinois Sen. Barack Obama, both Democrats, are outside Washington running for president. Several senators who back one or the other also were heading out for several days of campaigning before next week's Super Tuesday voting.

Republican Sen. John McCain of Arizona also is out on the campaign trail.

If the Democrats can't overcome the procedural obstacles, they plan to take up the House measure and tack on amendments to expand food-stamp programs, provide home-heating assistance and extend rebates to seniors and the disabled.

The Senate Finance Committee bill also would extend unemployment insurance benefits by 13 weeks. It would include a trigger that would allow another 13 weeks of benefits if a state's unemployment rate averages 6.5 percent or higher in a three-month period.

The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office believes extending unemployment insurance is the quickest fix, because it would reach people within weeks. Tax rebates couldn't go out until mid-May at the earliest.

Material from The New York Times and The Associated Press is included in this report.