Sen. Jim Webb, D-Va., recently defended President Obama’s tax deal at an Arlington County luncheon, arguing that the plan would accomplish what previous stimulus plans could not — getting people to spend more money. While many Democrats, particularly in the House, are rebelling over the $900 billion package of tax cuts and new jobless benefits that Obama negotiated with congressional Republicans, Webb said it was exactly the kind of bipartisan cooperation he was hoping to see from Obama.
“What the president has done here is something that I’ve been waiting for him to do for a long time, and that is get out of simply the base of [the Democratic] party and move into where we need to be as Americans to solve the problems that we have,” Webb told the Arlington Chamber of Commerce.
The Senate is expected to take up the tax-cut package this week. The House would take it up once the Senate approves it, though House Democrats are hoping to force Obama to change a provision that reduces the estate tax from the current 45 percent to 35 percent and exempts estates worth $5 million for an individual and $10 million for a couple. Republicans insisted on the estate tax reduction.
The freshman senator drew criticism for his support of the tax package, which congressional Democrats say is far too generous to the rich. Webb said the reality is that a deal needed to be struck to provide the additional 13 months of unemployment benefits for which Democrats have been fighting. Unemployment benefits are also a surefire way of quickly stimulating the economy because it’s money that is usually spent immediately on basic household needs, he argued.
“It’s going to put money directly into the hands of people who spend it,” Webb said.
Webb also took time to echo the remarks of incoming Chamber of Commerce Chairman Michael Foster, who noted that despite the past several years of living and working in a poor economy, Arlington remains much better off than many other jurisdictions. Arlington has the lowest rate of unemployment in Virginia, most recently recorded at 3.8 percent, according to the Virginia Employment Commission.
