Capitol Briefing Archive: Economy Watch

Congress passes bill extending unemployment insurance, home buyer tax credit

By Perry Bacon Jr. and Dina ElBoghdady Congress on Thursday completed final approval of a bill that includes several measures designed to spur the economy and help people who have lost their jobs, representing its latest intervention as the country suffers through its worst recession in decades. The $24 billion...

Senate passes bill extending homebuyer tax credit, unemployment benefits

Updated 7:22 p.m. By Perry Bacon Jr. The Senate on Wednesday approved a bill that extends several measures designed to spur the economy and help people who have lost their jobs, including a provision that will extend unemployment benefits for up to 20 weeks in states with high unemployment rates....

National Debt Cap Will Need to Rise, Treasury Predicts

By Lori Montgomery Congress will be forced to raise the legal limit on the nation's credit card sometime later this year, Treasury officials reported Wednesday, focusing additional attention on the expanding national debt just as lawmakers expect to be putting the finishing touches on President Obama's trillion-dollar overhaul of the...

'Cash-for-Clunkers' Program Runs Out of Gas

By Ben Pershing, Dana Hedgpeth and Sholnn Freeman Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood called members of Congress on Thursday to inform them that the "cash for clunkers" program will be suspended at midnight because the program has run out of money, congressional sources said. Members of the House and Senate from...

How the Economy Is Helping Democrats Downballot

By Ben Pershing As Barack Obama has risen in the polls in recent weeks, we've heard much about how his ascent has been driven by bad economic news and the increasing belief among voters that Obama is better-prepared to deal with the crisis than John McCain is. But do voters...

How the Rescue Bill Politics Did (and Didn't) Change

By Ben Pershing The second time was the charm for the House of Representatives, which began the week by sending the stock market into the tank with its defeat of the financial rescue bill, and has ended the week by approving a modified version of the measure by a comfortable...

Older Entries in This Category »

Explainer: How the Senate Rescue Bill Is Different, Ben Pershing , October 1, 2008

The Morning After, Plenty of Blame to Go Around, Ben Pershing , September 30, 2008

Why the Bailout Bill Failed, Ben Pershing , September 29, 2008