House to Vote on Stimulus Package; More Icy Weather
HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: He's pitched and now they swing. House members to vote on the president's stimulus plan this hour. We'll answer your e-mail questions on what's in the package for you. Plus, icy roads, dicey travel. Even where a winter storm has passed, the danger remains. It's Wednesday, January 28th. Hi, everybody, I'm Heidi Collins. You are in the CNN NEWSROOM. Just in now. I want to get straight out to you. A mix of profits and losses. Defense contractor General Dynamics shows earnings up nearly 6 percent for the fourth quarter of last year. Now that's $612 million. On the other hand, financial companies, Wells Fargo, took a hit after buying Wachovia. For the final three months of the year, the bank reports a loss of $2.6 billion. Countdown on Capitol Hill now, President Obama's stimulus package now just hours away from a House vote. The goal of the $825 billion plan is to shore up the sinking economy, of course. The president calls the crisis urgent. Republicans say the rescue plan, though, is bloated. And there was little common ground that the president did reach out to GOP lawmakers. CNN's senior congressional correspondent Dana Bash begins our coverage.</s>DANA BASH, CNN SENIOR CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice over): Barack Obama spent 2 hours and 37 minutes at the Capitol, entirely with Republicans.</s>BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I don't expect 100 percent agreement from my Republican colleagues, but I do hope that we can all put politics aside and do the American people's business right now.</s>BASH: The new president's walk across the aisle in the House and the Senate, a carefully choreographed move to show he's making good on a promise for bipartisanship. But several GOP lawmakers said that behind closed doors, the spirited discussion and critical questions did not lead to much common ground for his nearly trillion dollar economic stimulus plan.</s>REP. MIKE PENCE (R), INDIANA: The bill that House Democrats will bring to the floor tomorrow will literally be a catchall of traditional pet programs and more government. The only thing it will stimulate is more government and more debt, and the president heard that message today.</s>BASH: Mr. Obama got an earful from several GOP lawmakers complaining they've been shut out by his fellow congressional Democrats. Several told him his tax cuts were not deep enough and misdirected. One Republican lawmaker complaining his plan gives tax cuts to Americans who don't pay income tax. On that, Mr. Obama would not budge. One GOP source saying he responded, "Feel free to whack me over the head because I probably will not compromise."</s>OBAMA: There are some legitimate philosophical differences with parts of my plan that the Republicans have, and I respect that.</s>BASH: The reality is, Mr. Obama didn't have much of a shot at changing GOP minds. Before he arrived, CNN is told that House GOP leaders urged their rank and file to vote against his stimulus plan. Even moderate Republicans tell us they're wary.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Not intending to be a rubber stamp for any particular president, regardless of whether they're Republican or Democrat.</s>BASH (on camera): Several GOP lawmakers in the House and the Senate tell us behind closed doors, Mr. Obama did not make any immediate concessions to assuage GOP concerns about too much spending and not enough tax cuts. But we're also told the president reminded Republicans, this is just the beginning of the process, and he did say he would go back and talk to his aides about some of the Republican gripes, especially the fact that they don't believe there are enough tax cuts for small businesses. Dana Bash, CNN, Capitol Hill.</s>COLLINS: And speaking of those tax cuts, we do have CNN correspondents covering all of the angles. Christine Romans looks at the tax breaks in the rescue plan. The big question, will you get some of your money back. And Suzanne Malveaux has a view from the White House. Let's go ahead and begin with Suzanne. Suzanne, you have a lot to talk about this morning. In fact, you have new details as well about the new direction in dealing with Afghanistan.</s>SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, that's right. President Obama's going to go to the Pentagon later today. He's going to meet with Secretary of Defense Gates and the Joint Chiefs and I've spoken to a senior administration official, this meeting is going to be about Afghanistan and Iraq. And, essentially, the administration officials saying look, they're going to expect a lot more from Afghan leader, Hamid Karzai, in fighting corruption. They say Afghanistan, not Iraq, is the central front on the war on terror, so they want him to be able to govern outside of Kabul, the nation's capital, to be able to provide services to Afghans outside of the capital city, so they're talking about, not only a robust military effort. We heard Secretary Gates talking about perhaps as many as 12,000 additional troops or three combat brigades. But also nonmilitary resources going to Afghanistan to make sure that people have jobs outside of this huge drug business. But, Heidi, they are saying they're going to expect a lot more from Hamid Karzai in exchange for that robust effort. Nonmilitary and military effort going after al Qaeda, but also certainly making sure that the Afghan leader understands this is not business as usual. They want him to crack down on corruption in his own government and to provide services for the Afghan people -- Heidi?</s>COLLINS: Yes, a lot more to talk about with that. Really interesting information today regarding that. Also, we've got to get back to the economy, because clearly moving forward today this is what the administration's going to be talking about for quite some time. What exactly do we think that the president will be doing now to sell his stimulus package? Obviously, there has been a lot of talk with GOP lawmakers.</s>MALVEAUX: Well, some things you're going to see in front of the cameras and others behind closed doors. Today he's going to be meeting with his economic advisors, his team, to sit down once again to try to figure out a way, A, what the economy looks like, the state of the economy, the crisis. And, B, how to deal with this. And he's going to be meeting with some business leaders here at the White House as well, obviously, to -- sell this package, $825 billion. There are still some meetings that are taking place behind the scenes, Heidi, a little bit of charm and arm-twisting combination, if you will, to try to see if there are other concessions that they can offer Republicans. We've seen just over the last 24, 48 hours, some programs that have been eliminated, some provisions taken out of this bill. They're looking for other possible ways, other programs, that they might be able to eliminate as well -- Heidi.</s>COLLINS: All right, very good, CNN's Suzanne Malveaux at the White House for us this morning. We know you'll be covering that. Thank you, Suzanne. The Obama stimulus plan, tax breaks, turf wars and deepening battle lines between the Republicans and the Democrats. Is this really about economics or is it politics? CNN's Christine Romans is taking a closer look at what exactly is in this plan regarding the tax breaks and, of course, some of that debate. Good morning, Christine.</s>CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Heidi. You're right. There have been some distractions here, haven't there? Squabbling over whether we should spend stimulus money to make-over the National Mall, to pay for contraceptives, to pay for jobs in the arts. Let's forget about the</s>COLLINS: Right.</s>ROMANS: ... and more aid for college students. There's also $275 billion in tax cuts. So let's take a look. Among those tax breaks here that we're looking at, a lot of different things. But there's a child tax credit there. 16 million children will be affected. 95 percent of Americans are going to get $500 to $1,000 tax break. The full credit on that, folks, will be limited to people making $75,000 or less for the $500 a year -- for the $500 a year break. $150,000 for filing joint returns to get the full benefit. There's also some direct aid to states. There's food stamps to feed the needy. That's going to help some, I think, gosh, 30 million Americans there.</s>COLLINS: Right.</s>ROMANS: Disabled and elderly benefits, $450 in Social Security benefits, but it's the tax-cut stuff that really is fulfilling a promise that the president made on the campaign trail. The Republicans and conservatives, some Republicans and conservatives, zeroing in on the fact that some people will get tax credits, who do not pay income tax, but they do pay Social Security and Medicare tax. And the president, as you heard -- Dana Bash report, he's not -- he's non-negotiable on that one. That's going to happen. It's a promise he made on the campaign trail. He's going to follow through with that one. So there's a lot of tax relief in here. The Republicans would like to see more small business tax relief. It's one of the reasons why they were screaming about resodding the mall or whatever that big distraction was because they said that there was more money to do that than for the small business tax relief they'd like to see. But, indeed, there's -- this is, this is a little bit of everything. There's -- 35 percent is tax cuts. 65 percent is direct assistance, investments, new spending and the like. There's an awful lot in here. We're going to have a long time to really be digging through every little program, Heidi.</s>COLLINS: Yes, and some of those seem to be, you know, valid questions. If I'm a guy who's an entrepreneur, I have my own company, I brought myself up from nothing and then I see the National Mall being returfed and revamped, I'm wondering, you know, what's in it for me and the others like me so...</s>ROMANS: Well, that's -- and that's gone. Let's be clear.</s>COLLINS: Yes.</s>ROMANS: That provision is gone. But there were people yesterday who were telling me, look, it takes people to resod the mall. Isn't this whole thing about putting people to work?</s>COLLINS: True.</s>ROMANS: Just getting people to work.</s>COLLINS: Yes.</s>ROMANS: It takes people to resod the mall.</s>COLLINS: All right. Well, we are looking at all the angles as usual.</s>ROMANS: Sure.</s>COLLINS: CNN's Christine Romans. Thanks, Christine. The proposed stimulus plan, yes, a lot to digest, to say the least. So is there anything you don't get? Later in the hour, America's money answers man will be joining us live to answer some of your questions about this. I'm sure there's a lot out there. You can go ahead and e-mail us at CNNNewsroom.com. Republicans say the president's stimulus package has too much wasteful spending. So where is the pork? Our Josh Levs is on the case. We'll have his findings after the half hour. The Obama administration, day nine. Next hour, the president is due to meet with business leaders. The topic, of course, the economy. That will also be the focus of his comments during the following hour. And then at 3:30 Eastern, as we mentioned here, the president turns to the Iraq war and his promised withdrawal of U.S. troops. Expected to be at the Pentagon meeting, Defense Secretary Robert Gates and the president's senior uniformed military advisers. And just a reminder, we'll have live coverage of President Obama's remarks on the economy scheduled for 11:15 Eastern, 8:15 Pacific. One of the other major stories that we are following this morning. You're looking at it now, the aftereffects of a winter mess. No doubt about it, it is dicey driving. From Texas to Delaware and the northeast is in for it today. The storm already blamed now for at least 19 deaths. Power is out to hundreds of thousands of homes, and many could be in the dark for days. Driving treacherous at best. Hundreds of schools and government offices are closed. Want to take a moment to get straight over to Rob Marciano in the weather center now with more on all of this. We talked about yesterday how big this ice storm is going to be and now we're really seeing the effects of 19 deaths so far.</s>ROB MARCIANO, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Yes, and then hundreds of thousands of people without power. The problem with the power outages is one, without the power, it's cold. And two, with ice storms it just takes longer for them to get the power back online. Typically, the crews won't go out until a big chunk of that ice has been melted and then they have to get through the tree limbs and the trees, big trees, in some cases, that are just down because of the weight of that -- of that -- of the ice.</s>COLLINS: Yes, absolutely. All right, hopefully we'll warm up just a tad. Sure do appreciate it, Rob. Thanks. We'll check back later on. Meanwhile, the president and the Pentagon. President Obama leaving the White House again today, going down the street this time to meet with his top military minds.