economic stimulus package

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Stimulus in Hand, States Race to Start Projects

NE, CA, MO, and MD all moved immediately with federal dollars

(Newser) - Four states—Nebraska, Missouri, California, and Maryland—claim to be the first to use their federal stimulus money, the New York Times reports. "Our project is definitely the first one to use shovels," said an official in California, where forest trail work started yesterday. But shovels aside, Missouri...

Scammers Set Sights on Desperate Homeowners

Calif. AG: Be 'deeply skeptical' of offers to help refinance

(Newser) - A record 5.4 million homeowners across the country are behind on their mortgages, and scam artists are looking to cash in, the San Francisco Chronicle reports. Ads offering help lowering mortgage payments are everywhere. But these "loan negotiators" usually provide services that homeowners can handle on their own,...

Obama to Reach Out to Small Business
Obama to Reach Out to Small Business
Mar 15, 2009 12:33 PM CDT

Obama to Reach Out to Small Business

Prez to unveil a $730M effort after GOP backlash on spending

(Newser) - Amid misgivings over his spending blueprint, President Barack Obama will provide billions of dollars in federal lending aid aimed at struggling small business owners, the AP reports. The package, to be announced tomorrow, includes $730 million from the stimulus plan that will immediately reduce small-business lending fees and increase the...

Summers: Stimulus Is Starting to Work

(Newser) - Larry Summers sounded a note of cautious optimism today about President Obama's stimulus plan, the Washington Post reports. While it's way too early to assess its "broader economic impact," Obama's chief economic adviser called it "moderately encouraging" that consumer spending appears to be back on track.

Texas Gov. Rejects $556M Stimulus for Jobless

Perry says coverage for unemployed would 'drown' businesses

(Newser) - The governor of Texas has rejected $556 million in federal stimulus money for the state's unemployed, saying yesterday it had too many strings attached, reports the Dallas Morning News. Rick Perry, a Republican, said that the federal rules would burden Texas businesses with new commitments; instead they should be able...

Dems Keep Distance From Possible 2nd Stimulus

GOP says talk of new bill is admission of failure

(Newser) - Nancy Pelosi said this week “we have to keep the door open” to the possibility of a second stimulus bill—but most lawmakers, including fellow Democrats, are allergic to the idea, Politico reports. “If there’s appetite, there’s not in my office,” said one. “Enough...

Obama Can't Blame Bush for His Economic Recklessness

President has raised taxes when business needs a break

(Newser) - Everyone loves a scapegoat. The American people have Wall Street fat cats, and President Obama has George W. Bush, writes David Harsanyi for the Denver Post. While Obama, "in a superbly eloquent and inspirational pitch, always reminds us that nothing is his fault," Harsanyi gripes, "nearly every...

GOP: Spare Us Stimulus Sequel

Republicans court Blue Dog Dems to fight further spending

(Newser) - Talk of a second stimulus proves the first one isn't working, Republican leaders said today in blasting the possibility. “We don't even know what was in the first stimulus yet,” one senator said, while Minority Leader Mitch McConnell noted that Congress had spent “$1 billion an hour”...

Towns, Counties Create Own Stimulus Plans

Economists see mixed results, but local boost can be psychological

(Newser) - Across the US, cities, states, and counties aren’t waiting for Uncle Sam to jumpstart the economy, the Wall Street Journal reports. Many have devised their own, often creative, methods of stimulating local economies. One Texas town, for example, has used its budget surplus to create 250 temporary, low-paying jobs,...

Pelosi Says Another Stimulus Is Possible

(Newser) - These days, $787 billion just doesn't go as far as it used to. A meeting of House Democratic leaders and their economic advisers today has raised the prospect of a second stimulus package, the Hill reports. “We have to keep the door open,” Nancy Pelosi said after the...

Stimulus Not Big Enough to Save Us: Krugman
Stimulus Not Big Enough to Save Us: Krugman
OPINION
Mar 9, 2009 9:53 AM CDT

Stimulus Not Big Enough to Save Us: Krugman

Obama's economic policy is falling behind the curve

(Newser) - Pundits are constantly complaining that Barack Obama’s stimulus is too big and too ambitious, but Paul Krugman has a different complaint: It’s too small. Obama’s promise that the bill will create or save 3.5 million jobs by 2010 “looks underwhelming to say the least,”...

Obama Team Pushes for Global Stimulus, Euros Resist

Worldwide spending plan has fans in China, detractors in Europe

(Newser) - The Obama administration will press for a global stimulus at next month's G20 conference in London, setting up a possible showdown with European nations wary of further deficits, reports the Wall Street Journal. US officials, supported by Britain and China, say that more public spending is needed to reverse the...

Hey, Obama: Centrist Opposition Is Stirring

(Newser) - Be careful, President Obama. Your poll numbers are high, but political danger lurks, writes Fred Barnes in the Weekly Standard. The moderate candidate has shifted left as president, just as Bill Clinton did to his own detriment, and an "embryonic" centrist-right opposition is stirring. “Obama may be fostering...

We May Need a Bigger Stimulus, Say Analysts
We May Need a Bigger Stimulus, Say Analysts
OPINION
Mar 7, 2009 12:35 PM CST

We May Need a Bigger Stimulus, Say Analysts

(Newser) - The lousy unemployment numbers released this week—and they're bound to get worse before they get better—cast the effectiveness of the Obama administration’s fiscal plans into doubt, analysts say. The stimulus package intended to “save or create” 3.5 million jobs now has to keep up with...

Why Obama Is Like Bush
 Why Obama Is Like Bush 
OPINION
Mar 7, 2009 12:00 PM CST

Why Obama Is Like Bush

Apart from being ideological opposites, Bush and Obama are identical!

(Newser) - Barack Obama is often compared to FDR or Ronald Reagan. But what about the last guy? Obama has taken office in the midst of a crisis and has lofty approval ratings—much like the 80% Bush had after 9/11. And both have taken a fairly similar political approach to their...

Obama Vows to End Cycle of Job Losses

(Newser) - President Barack Obama promised today to end the cycle of US job losses. Addressing a graduating class of police officers in Ohio, Obama called today’s unemployment report “astounding,” noting that, were it not for his stimulus package, the recruits would be among the 8.1% of Americans...

Stimulus Flows Into Patchwork of Road Projects

Thousands of small p

(Newser) - Although the stimulus package that Barack Obama signed last month contains eye-watering sums, the earliest projects out of the gate are far from monumental: widening a highway in Kansas, resurfacing some roads in Missouri. More than a dozen states have announced their plans to spend their share of the $50...

Bernanke Backs Stimulus Bill
 Bernanke Backs Stimulus Bill 
Mar 3, 2009 12:00 PM CST

Bernanke Backs Stimulus Bill

Bigger deficits are worth the benefits, Fed chair tells Congress

(Newser) - Ben Bernanke supported the Obama administration’s economic policy before Congress today, the Wall Street Journal reports. The $787 billion stimulus bill should boost “demand and production” and soften job losses over the next 2 years, the Federal Reserve chief told the Senate Budget Committee. The expansion of government...

Obama's Plans Require a Lot More Hands

Federal workforce could expand by 100-250K, experts say

(Newser) - President Obama’s ambitious budget and stimulus plans will require the government to hire scores of new workers, the Washington Post reports. Analysts put the number between 100,000 and 250,000 spread among various agencies, the biggest expansion of the federal workforce since Lyndon Johnson’s Great Society days....

Two Voices, One Economic Plan
 Two Voices, One Economic Plan 
ANALYSIS
Mar 2, 2009 8:20 AM CST

Two Voices, One Economic Plan

Geithner and Summers speak loudly, cohesively, driving Obama's agenda

(Newser) - Among the policymaking din at the White House, the voices of Larry Summers and Tim Geithner have emerged as the loudest—and generally in unison, the Washington Post reports. The duo first teamed up to battle financial crises in Asia and Mexico in the mid-‘90s at the Treasury Department;...

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