Senate Struggles on Stimulus Agreement

Instead, he advanced an alternative that highlighted the differences between the two political parties.

It carried a price tag of $421 billion, less than half the White House-backed measure. The majority of that was in the form of a one-year cut in the payroll tax, which would help all wage-earners, as well as reductions in the two lowest income tax brackets that would benefit only those who earn enough to pay income taxes.

The proposal also included provisions to help the battered housing industry, including the $15,000 tax credit for home buyers that passed separately on Wednesday.

Another proposal, by Sen. John Ensign, R-Nev., was designed to reduce mortgage rates to as low as 4% for millions of homeowners. It was defeated on a vote of 62-35.

Sen. John Thune of South Dakota was the third Republican to try. He proposed a stimulus consisting of tax cuts and unemployment benefits for laid-off workers, at a total cost of $440 billion, but lost, 60-37.

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