I think it is about time to kick all the incumbents out and that should start during the party primaries. If the party primaries put up incumbents then we should go and vote for an independent candidate or the opposing party's non-incumbent candidate if they put up one. I am tired of all this bickering and politicking
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Year after stimulus, partisan battle rages but economy gradually gains ground
Washington DC Bureau
6:14 p.m. EST, February 17, 2010
One year after launching the largest federal economic stimulus program in American history, a fiercely partisan political battle continued to rage over its effectiveness -- even as fresh data Wednesday showed the economy continuing to make a gradual, if halting, recovery. My comment: Kick those bastards out
In what has become a predictable pattern, Democratic and Republican leaders in Washington marked the anniversary by sniping at each others' claims about the $787 billion package of tax cuts and spending known as the Recovery Act. Again, kick those bastards out, Democrats and Republicans alike.
Defending the stimulus, Obama said that "one year later, it is largely thanks to the Recovery Act that a second depression is no longer a possibility." He said again that the stimulus had saved or created 2 million jobs and was on track to add another 1.5 million this year – figures that are in line with some private economic estimates and the assessment of the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office.
But those estimated benefits tend to be overshadowed by the fact that the economy has lost more than 4 million jobs in the last year while unemployment is hovering near 10%.
And Republican lawmakers stepped up their attacks on the stimulus plan, calling it wasteful and ineffective.
House Minority leader John Boehner of Ohio issued a report that included a list of questionable projects funded by the stimulus and expressed concern over soaring budget deficits, which some fear will trigger eventually hyperinflation and weigh heavily on future generations.
More than half of the stimulus money has yet to be spent, and Vice President Joe Biden said that work on roads, rails and other infrastructure projects will expand significantly this year.
But surveys indicate that many Americans doubt the Recovery Act has had a big effect on Main Street, and the public has expressed growing concerns about rising government debt amid the intense political fighting and gridlock in Washington.
Rep. Gary Miller (R-Calif.), who like most lawmakers was in his district this week, said that is what he's hearing from his constituents. Miller himself complained that the Senate had yet to take up his bill to help communities hurt by the housing crisis, even though the measure had easily passed the House last spring.
"The Senate just hasn't been doing its job," he said.
Miller's take on the stimulus package was no better. It hasn't been working, he said. "I think it would be better to take the balance of that and pay down the debt."
The Federal Reserve, in its latest economic outlook released Wednesday, said it did not see a threat of inflation anytime soon, projecting that it will run at a modest 2% or less over the next several years. But economic growth won't be vigorous either, the central bank said.
The economy is projected to grow 2.8 % to 3.5% in 2010, compared with the 5.7% annualized growth rate in the fourth quarter of last year.
stuck by its grim forecast that unemployment would remain near double digits in 2010 and only slowly decline over the next two years.
With joblessness high and inflation low, policymakers at the central bank are expected to keep interest rates at near zero for an "extended period," although some Fed officials recently have voiced concerns about the federal budget deficits.
Reflecting public concern over the deficit – and the GOP's relentless attacks – Obama on Wednesday named a blue-ribbon commission to explore ways to curb future spending and increase federal revenues.
He names former Republican Senator Alan Simpson of Wyoming to head the panel.
Liberal think tanks, meantime, issued their own stimulus-assessment reports Wednesday.
The Economic Policy Institute noted that the recession had begun in December 2007 under the Bush administration, and that by the time Obama was inaugurated, 4.4 million jobs had been lost, with another 1.5 million at the time the Recovery Act was signed last February.
"Without the more than two million jobs generated by the Recovery Act, the unemployment rate would now exceed 11% rather than the 9.7% rate in January," it said.
The Federal Reserve, in its latest economic outlook released Wednesday, stuck by its grim forecast that unemployment would remain near double digits in 2010 and only slowly decline over the next two years.
Fed officials don't see a threat of inflation anytime soon, projecting that it will run at a modest 2% or less over the next several years. But economic growth won't be vigorous either. The economy is projected to grow 2.8 % to 3.5% in 2010, compared with the 5.7% annualized growth rate in the fourth quarter of last year.
With joblessness high and inflation low, policymakers at the central bank are expected to keep interest rates at near zero for an "extended period," although some Fed officials recently have voiced concerns about the federal budget deficits.
Other new economic reports Wednesday indicate an uneven recovery.
American factories continued to ramp up production in January, the Fed said, with manufacturing of cars, clothing and computer equipment posting solid gains from the prior month. The Labor Department said last week that manufacturing payrolls rose modestly last month in the first increase in three years.
But a recovery in the hard-hit housing market has yet to take hold. The Commerce Department said new residential permits, an indicator of future construction, declined almost 5% last month from December as builders remain reluctant to launch new projects given the huge pool of potential foreclosures that could further depress home prices.
Many analysts worry that the fragile real estate market will drag down economic growth. Swelling commercial property defaults are weighing on lenders, and the residential market faces additional risks when the extended tax credit program for homebuyers expires this June and the Fed halts its purchases of certain securities that have helped keep mortgage rates very low.
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