Within the U.S., the Obama presidency will be mainly measured by the success or failure of his economic policies. And here, I fear, the monstrous stimulus package with which this administration stumbled out of the gate will prove to be Obama's Waterloo.
The Obama 'stimulus' plan is a $1 trillion dollar gamble more suited to Las Vegas than Washington.
Rebate checks, a rate reduction on tax day and a stimulus package helped turn three quarters of decline into two quarters of growth,
President Bush unveiled his new economic stimulus plan this week. It was reported that if the plan passes the president himself would save $44,000 in taxes, Dick Cheney would save $327,000, and you could afford to take the whole family down to Burger King to pick up job applications.
The rhetoric over the fiscal stimulus package heated up this weekend, reducing the likelihood of passage, ... In what may become a famous remark, President Bush said that Congress would 'raise taxes over my dead body.'
Consumer spending grew almost 4 percent in the spring quarter, before the tax stimulus package. In the third quarter it looks like consumer spending is going to be up 6 percent or so.
O'Neill's departure removes an impediment for a big stimulus package, ... He had been lobbying against a package, worried about a budget deficit.
O'Neill has been more optimistic about the economy and resistant to additional stimulus, so I suppose one could read between lines that he was losing that battle, and the administration is more likely to propose aggressive stimulus now.
While it remains manageable, it can be argued that it is the rate at which debt levels are growing that may cause no further stimulus from the central bank.