We need the macroeconomic benefits of the stimulus now. The Administration is in a box because they want to argue that the economy has improved because of their policies, and that the stimulus has contributed to that improvement, but they cannot show that enough stimulus money has yet entered the economy to have a measurable effect.
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Tag Archives: new york times
20 questions for the President's press conference
21 July 2009 
105 Comments
The President is scheduled to hold a press conference Wednesday evening at 8 PM EDT. I offer twenty questions about economic policy for consideration by members of the White House press corps. They cover the economy, stimulus, taxes, autos, health care, energy and climate change, and trade.
Read more How a bill really becomes a law: health care reform (part 1)
10 July 2009 10 Comments
My old boss Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott (R-MS) once told me, “Others want to win the debate. You help me win the vote.” After all the important preliminaries, practical legislating ultimately becomes a question of procedural rules and how many votes you have on any given question.
Read moreGiving thanks
10 July 2009 2 Comments
Thanks to Karl Rove for his reference in yesterday’s Wall Street Journal column, and for the shout-out on Fox and Friends. Thanks to Sean Hannity for the mention on his radio broadcast yesterday. And thanks to David Brooks for the mention in his fantastic New York Times column today.
Read more The New York Times (implicitly) calls for no climate change law
1 July 2009 13 Comments
The House passed the Waxman-Markey cap-and-trade bill last Friday on a largely party-line 219-212 vote. The New York Times editorial board now urges the Senate both to strengthen and pass the House-passed bill. But the Senate is right of the House on climate, so the choice will be to strengthen or pass a bill. Senate passage would require “weakening” the bill from the standpoint of a cap-and-trade advocate. This legislative situation provides me with a great teaching opportunity about the hard choices of practical legislating.
Read moreThe Chrysler bankruptcy sale
4 May 2009 11 Comments
Last Thursday the President announced a deal among Chrysler, Fiat, the UAW, the U.S. government, and several of Chrysler’s largest creditors. Some creditors oppose the deal, and Chrysler entered a bankruptcy process that will attempt to resolve this dispute. The creditors left out of the deal are arguing that the Administration offered better deals to […]
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