Editorial: Stimulus plan assists low-income seniors

The economic stimulus package signed by President Bush on Wednesday included $300 rebates for low-income senior citizens and disabled veterans.

Incredibly, the provisions would not have been included in the package if not for a last-minute flurry of e-mails and phone calls to Capitol Hill.

Seniors and disabled veterans were not in the original bill passed by the House. The Senate wrote seniors and veterans into the legislation before foolishly trying to tie extended unemployment benefits and tax energy provisions to the stimulus package. Realizing it was delaying relief, the Senate sent passed the bill overwhelmingly.

With the economy regressing, and with foreclosures at an all-time high, the stimulus plan will offer short-term relief for 20 million seniors and 250,000 disabled veterans.

The $300 might not sound like much, but when you consider the average senior citizen’s annual Social Security increase equals $288, the money will make a difference.

When President Bush signed the $168 billion bill Wednesday, Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson said the first checks would go out in May. With the tax season in full swing, asking the Treasury Department to turn around stimulus checks is a tall order. But considering the stakes are so high, we’re surprised it will take until May. For many, the money cannot come soon enough.

The plan includes $600 payments for individuals and $1,200 for couples, plus $300 for each child younger than 17. It phases out eligibility at $75,000 in adjusted gross income for individuals and at $150,000 for couples.

Workers who earned $3,000 last year — too little on which to pay income taxes — would be eligible for payments of $300. Those $300 payments would also go to seniors, disabled veterans and veterans’ widows who could show $3,000 in Social Security or veterans’ disability benefits.

For all their bold talk on the issue, the two Democratic presidential candidates, Sen. Hillary Clinton and Sen. Barack Obama, missed the Senate vote on the measure. Republican Arizona Sen. John McCain, who has missed dozens of votes since he launched his presidential campaign, voted for the plan.

We agree with President Bush’s assessment. He said the stimulus plan is “robust, broad-based, timely, and it will be effective. This bill will help to stimulate consumer spending and accelerate needed business investment.”

A special salute goes to Sen. Blanche Lincoln, D-Ark. She pushed the amendment to add veterans to the package.

“This is an immediate stimulus package that we’re hoping will give the economy a jolt,” Lincoln said.

With work on the stimulus plan behind them, we encourage Congress and the president to dig deeper into the mortgage mess. Earlier this week, the Bush administration announced agreement with some major lenders to allow homeowners to catch up their mortgages. Borrowers who are 90 days behind, facing foreclosure, will have a 30-day window to negotiate new terms on their loan.

When the mortgage crisis was deepening last year, we encouraged banks and lenders to solve part of the problem by rolling late payments back into the principal. The solution is much easier than banks foreclosing and having unwanted properties on their hands.

Many do not understand the importance of government involvement in the mortgage crisis. In fact, every taxpayer has a stake in stabilizing the housing market. A glut of homes on the market decreases value. Potentially, your home value will fall. Government tax collectors will be faced with shortfalls. Politicians and bureaucrats will have to make ugly budget cuts. None of those prospects are good for the economy.

We’re not asking President Bush and Congress to start wearing WIN! (Whip Inflation Now!) buttons — remember those from the depths of economic gloom in the President Gerald Ford administration? But we are asking them and their advisers to stay alert and overcome gridlock to find solutions.

Error on the side of helping families, senior citizens and disabled vets, not lecturing us on the pitfalls of government-induced stimulus.

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