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NEW SPENDING
Obama: $200 billion in new economic "stimulus" initiatives, including payroll tax cuts, continued write-offs of business equipment purchases, extended unemployment benefits, help for borrowers "under water" on their mortgages, and new spending on infrastructure.
House GOP: No proposal.
Obama 2011: $43 billion to extend unemployment benefits to the long-term jobless.
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DEBT LIMIT
Obama: Permit the president to obtain increases in the government's borrowing cap, currently set at $16.4 trillion, without approval by Congress.
House GOP: Retain longstanding requirement that debt limit increases be enacted by Congress.
Obama 2011: Immediate unspecified increase in the debt limit and additional increase not subject to congressional approval.
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