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Tuesday, October 14, 2008
House Democrats to Begin Crafting Stimulus Package
 Following a closed-door meeting with economic experts, Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) said that she is instructing various committee chairs to begin holding hearings on what should be included in an economic stimulus package that could be voted on in November should the House return to Washington for a lame-duck session. No price tag has been placed on a potential, a backtrack from statements made last week an adequate stimulus package would cost $150 billion.
The package would likely include funds for infrastructure projects, an unemployment insurance extension, a boost to the Food Stamp program and Medicaid, and financial aid to states. While Pelosi stated that tax cuts were "in the mix of consideration," she emphasized that other components would be prioritized.
But first we want some of the issues that were not dealt with in the last package, because we want this to truly be a recovery package.
And therefore we have to make the investments in rebuilding America, and in doing so in a green way, with innovation and job creation; and to, again, recognizing the unemployment in our country, have an extension of unemployment benefits and some improvement on that policy, as well; to have emergency food assistance, recognizing the dire straits of many people in our country; and to do, also, in this very strong component of aid to the state to meet the health needs of our children and our seniors, to name a few.
Those would be our priorities. We'll look at what else we might do, in terms of tax cuts.
The Democrats' push for economic stimulus comes days after the president signed the $700 financial rescue plan. But, as we noted in The Watcher last week, the Wall Street bailout would do nothing to mitigate the effects of the impending recession. Quick action on such a stimulus indicates that Congress believes more action is necessary to protect millions of American families.
Photo: REUTERS/Hyungwon Kang
U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) is flanked by former Securities and Exchange Commission Arthur Levitt (L), and Joseph Stiglitz of Columbia University (R) at a forum with economic experts to help Congress develop an economic recovery plan that focuses on creating jobs and strengthening our economy in her office on Capitol Hill in Washington, October 13, 2008.
Posted by Craig Jennings
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