A bailout for all seasons.
In honor of Rosh Hashanah, the Senate will wait until after sundown Wednesday before voting on its own version of a bailout bill, packed with all kinds of goodies that have absolutely nothing to do with relieving the credit crunch. A measure to raise FDIC deposit insurance from $100,000 to $250,000 is in the proposal. The New York Times reports that the Senate's bill will also include renewing the production tax credits for solar energy and wind power and "would also extend the business tax credit for research and development, expand the child tax credit, protect millions of families from the alternative minimum tax and provide tax relief to victims of recent floods, tornadoes and severe storms."
Time's Jay Newton-Small adds that there is also "a mental health parity measure that requires providers of health insurance to include mental health coverage."
That's probably a good thing, because after the events of this year, my prediction is that more Americans than ever before are going to need some quality therapy.
A draft of the bill is so far unavailable, but there's plenty of scuttlebutt to suggest that if the Senate passes its version, the House will fall into line. Marc Ambinder reports that "a substantial number of House Democrats and House Republicans are satisfied that they're on the record as having opposed the bailout," and "they seem to be open to voting in favor of a tweaked package."
Where do I sign up for my mental health coverage?
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