trade
business & economy bills 2008
Bills in Brief
Congress kicked off its year working on an economic stimulus plan, but it could get to other business-related bills left hanging from '07 later in the year.
Housing: With everyone blaming the subprime market for turning the economy sour, Congress started last year looking for ways to keep foreclosures to a minimum while taming the subprime market from future excess. It didn't get far, but this year the pressure may be on to wrap up a series of bills introduced last year - from expanding federal loans to making it harder for brokers to sign off on risky loans. See our "Housing Jitters" page for more.
Farm bill: Up for reauthorization and witha version passed already in the House, the farm bill has agricultural special interests, poverty advocates, fiscal hawks, among others, wrestling over how to rework this sprawling bill. So far, the agricultural interests and poverty advocates are winning.
trade adjustment assistance
Free trade may or may not be good for America as a whole, but one thing's for sure - it hurts for some American workers whose jobs get shipped overseas.
The feds help out some of these workers by paying for job training and income insurance (for workers over 50 who find lower paying jobs, the feds will make up 50% of their paycut up to $10,000) when their factories close as a result of a free trade agreement.
The current trade adjustment assistance (TAA) law is running out (it just got extended to March) and Congress is likely to expand the law when it gets renewed. The House passed an updated bill, HR 3920, in November '07 and the Senate is working on its own. Some of the changes the House and Senate are considering include:
issue guide: Global Warming
Links
See also the skinny, background & facts, pro & con
Fairly nonpartisan sources
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