[southernwind]

President Obama first proposed a $3,000 tax credit for businesses that add to their payroll when he was campaigning for president and the U.S. economy had taken a serious nosedive. After winning the election and taking office, he began working on a stimulus bill with Congress. But this idea soon stalled and appears to be dead.

It never got any significant support in Congress, even from Democrats. Lawmakers said they were concerned the credit wasn't enough of an incentive to get companies to hire additional workers. Tax policy analysts said the credit would be an administrative nightmare to implement. Companies might eliminate a job and then create it again later in hopes of getting the tax credit.

Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., said at a news conference on Jan. 14, 2009, that both Democrats and Republicans had problems with the measure.

"If you have a company and you're selling fewer shingles, $3,000 isn't going to get you to hire somebody when your sales are shrinking," Schumer said.

The credit was never part of the stimulus legislation as far as we saw, and it was not included in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, which Obama signed into law on Feb. 17, 2009. Likewise, we see no indication that this idea might re-emerge. So for now, we rate it Promise Broken.

Sources:

Thomas, The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 , accessed Feb. 17, 2009

The Tax Policy Center, Obama's $300 Billion Tax Cut: Lots of Buck, Not Much Bang, Jan. 5, 2009