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Monday, February 11, 2008
DAILY FISCAL POLICY REVIEW -- 02-11-08
Budget --
- Last week saw several congressional hearings on the FY09 budget that Bush submitted on Feb. 4, as OMB Director Jim Nussle and Treasury Secretary Paulson testfied... A particularly testy exchange occurred on Feb. 5 when Nussle was questioned Nussle closely ("raked over the coals" -- Congress Daily) by Senate Budget Committee Chair Kent Conrad (D-ND) regarding the "indefensible" assumptions and projections in the budget that shows a balanced budget by 2012... Criticism came from both sides of the aisle, with Sen. Judd Gregg (R-NH) remarking that "it's not a serious budget"
- Secretary of Defense Robert Gates testified on Feb. 5 that 2009 war costs would be upwards of $170 billion, but Gates "quickly cautioned that he has 'no confidence in that figure,'" per Gov Exec
- Within the next month, the House and Senate Budget Committees will seek to develop budgets of their own, preliminary to a budget resolution.... The key to watch: how the Democrats achieve a balanced budget by 2012
Stimulus --
President Bush plans to sign the fiscal stimulus package approved last week by Congress this Wednesday, Feb. 13.
- For a thorough account of its contents, see the JCT's Technical Explanation
- For an excellent editorial assessing the stimulus value of the package, see WaPo's Easy Stimulus
Posted by Dana Chasin
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