House Minority Leader John Boehner watches as President Obama speaks to the press before a meeting with bipartisan congressional leadership in the Roosevelt Room of the White House, January 23, 2009. (Jason Reed/Reuters)
Posted on 01/23/2009 12:52:36 PM PST by NormsRevenge
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – President Barack Obama said on Friday he expected an $825 billion economic recovery plan to be approved by his target of mid-February and urged congressional leaders to work swiftly to pass it.
"We are experiencing an unprecedented economic crisis that has to be dealt with and dealt with rapidly," Obama told reporters as he met with lawmakers from both parties at the White House four days after being sworn in as president.
Republicans, who have voiced concern over the shape of the stimulus package, left the meeting praising Obama for being open to suggestions on amending the plan. They had complained earlier that Democrats, who hold a majority in both the Senate and House of Representatives, were ignoring their views.
Winning Republican support for the package will be an early test of Democrat Obama's promise to forge consensus and overcome the partisan politics that bitterly divided Washington under his Republican predecessor, George W. Bush.
"I recognize that there are still some differences around the table and between the administration and members of Congress about particular details on the plan," Obama said.
But he added, "It appears that we are on target to make our Presidents Day weekend (target)."
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, a California Democrat, told reporters after the meeting she, too, believed Congress was on track to have a bill on Obama's desk before the February 16 holiday. "Again, if not, there will be no recess," she said.
(Excerpt) Read more at news.yahoo.com ...
House Minority Leader John Boehner watches as President Obama speaks to the press before a meeting with bipartisan congressional leadership in the Roosevelt Room of the White House, January 23, 2009. (Jason Reed/Reuters)
Chris Matthews is going to have to work out every day to meet the deadline.
So when should I look in my bailbox, I mean mail box for my money?
I'll sign anything you put in front of me.
U.S. President Barack Obama (C) smiles alongside House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) and Senate Majority Leader Harry Ried (D-NV) during a meeting with bipartisan congressional leadership in the Roosevelt Room of the White House in Washington, January 23, 2009. REUTERS/Jason Reed (UNITED STATES)
Are they going to provide cover for the new, New Deal or are they going to let the dims walk the plank alone?
I personally think McConnel doesn't have the cajones bigger than God gave a gnat, but I'd be glad to see him prove me wrong.
Appears to me Obama is a blithering idiot. Not up to the job.
The GOP should pull out every stop to block it and slow it down. Every point of order, every quorum call everything they can muster. Never vote to give unanimous consent even on procedural matters
Why not on Feb 14th? They could put little heart stickers all over it. They could write “USA + BHO 4EVA!”
All the women in the congress could put on red lipstick and put a big kiss on it!
email:
A or L
A = Argentina = Depflation.
L = Japan = Deflation.
As we enter a depression there seem to be one of two paths that we can travel. One path accepts that there has been a debt bubble, that this is the cause of the depression. The other path does not accept there was a debt bubble and that it will be policy responses that will stop a depression: Bernanke Panky is a master of the the 30s and Japan’s slump, his wisdom will save us from a depression.
If you accept the L then you accept that it is better to let the market find it is price and not bailout the badly run businesses. You go cold turkey. You do not run up massive debts on the State’s balance sheet, which only leads to higher taxes. You want people to save. You want the State to cut it’s cloth, to face the new reality that the high tax take from the debt bubble is not coming back. The delusion is dead. You want the State to cut business regulations and taxes. You want all your focus on nurturing wealth creating industries that can sell their goods and services globally. You give grants to such companies.
If you accept the A then you accept that you can manipulate the price in the market and bailout badly run businesses. You put off the day of reckoning. You run massive debts on the State’s balance sheet. You want people to borrow and spend. You want the State to expand and you expect the pre-bubble days to reappear like magic. The delusion lives on. You continue to over regulate and tax business. You want all your focus on spending and piling up debt. You give money to the profligate who ran up too much debt, you start printing money.
Life in the L is like hell. Many lose their jobs and GDP collapses.
Life in the A is horrible. Many lose their jobs and GDP collapses.
L lasts three to ten years as the economy is re-engineered to sustainable wealth creating industries. House prices fall 50%+ from peak to trough, with little chance of rising for many, many, years. People start saving. Money is sound and the Pound holds up relatively well, considering the situation. With sound money the populace is able to clothe and feed themselves, the lights stay on. The State supports those in trouble. It invests in retraining.
A leads to a collapse in the Pound as the markets realise that the country can never repay interest and principal. This leads to unsound money and rising inflation as import prices explode. Interest rates need to rise but this will gut the debtors. Wage policies are enacted and a spiral of inflation takes hold. This leads to hardcore poverty for millions as the Middle Class sees it’s wealth vanish. With a collapsed currency few are able to holiday abroad. The IMF are called in and State spending is slashed.
Both A and L lead to a drop in living standards for the populace. The key plus for L is that once the pain is out of the way a new base for growth and prosperity can be engineered. The balance sheet is strong enough.
With A the balance sheet is wrecked and the Middle Class has been devastated. Argentina is a prime example of what happens when the wealth of the Middle Class is squandered.
In the L one gets a sharp painful deflationary depression.
In the A one gets a multi decade long depression that could lead to inflation = Depflation. The country becomes an Undeveloping Nation.
Our ruling elite and most of the punditocracy are taking us to A.
No Way Back: http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=OMshcL5P7v....
My thought exactly. Why don’t they return some of my money to me, then let me decide who I’ll bail out. I would like a new Pontiac G8 GT and my wife and I are looking for a new home. The stimulus package that we offer would do a lot more good than the one that the government has been offering.
I hear ya, those GTO’s are sweet. Talk about stimulating the economy, give everyone 20K that got a stimulus check last year, problem solved. I personally would like to do my part in bailing out American Education Services, although Im betting their ok.
If there's going to be government money handed out, how about giving it to the people who actually pay taxes based on how much they paid, not those who got checks last go-around. Redistributuion of wealth is socialism.
LBJ's Great Society will look like budget dust.
I thought the stimulus checks were given out by how much you paid in taxes?
Thanks. That explains some things, and yes they would rather have the worse one. Socialists gain power in bad economies. There is a lot of power still to be had in the US.
Inversely proportional to how much you paid in taxes, for the most part.
I paid more in income taxes than the average american makes, and didn’t get anything last go-around. Oh well.
Oh My! Does that picture ever speak a million words!
That would be lipstick on a pig...on both ends:)
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