By Lisa Mascaro

Published Wednesday, Jan. 30, 2008 | 5:27 p.m.

Updated Thursday, Oct. 30, 2008 | 2:14 p.m.

WASHINGTON — Nevada Republican Sen. John Ensign found little support today in the Finance Committee for his idea of including a tax break on corporate overseas profits in the economic stimulus package.

Ensign engineered a similar corporate tax holiday in 2004 that he said pumped $360 billion to the economy – more than twice the amount being sought in the surplus package.

His proposal would cut temporarily cut the corporate tax rate from 35 percent to 5.25 percent on companies that reinvest profits in the United States rather than hold them off shore.

Ensign told his colleagues the reinvestment would spur job development and growth that otherwise would not happen because “tax rates are too high.”

“If we want to stimulate the economy and want to do it on a short-term basis, we should include this,” Ensign told his colleagues.

But critics weren’t buying it. They believe such tax cuts would lead to corporate windfalls and job layoffs.

Just four of the 10 Republican senators on the panel joined Ensign in voting yes. Eleven Democratic senators voted no.

Congress is moving speedily forward on the stimulus package in hopes of halting the economic downturn, and the full Senate is expected to take up the stimulus package on Thursday.

The Senate bill faces opposition for having diverted from the bipartisan House version by including new provisions. It would offer tax rebate checks for those earning higher incomes as well as for senior citizens who don’t earn enough to pay taxes, and would extend unemployment benefits. The Senate version also adds renewable energy tax breaks sought by geothermal and solar energy companies.