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The Senate HELP Committee staff has filed an official copy of their draft legislation with the Senate clerk.  A friend and I were discussing today two possible tactical scenarios:

The weekend leak forced the majority staff to release their official text as damage control.  Under this scenario, filing the official copy is a damage mitigation strategy:  [...]

This page contains the most recent version of my list of “things you should know about the Kennedy-Dodd health care bill,” interspersed with parallel observations about the leaked outline of the House Democrats’ health care bill.
I will post each time I update this page, so you can track it incrementally.  If you bookmark this page, [...]

I began this blog at the end of March after the stimulus bill had become law.  I had been struck by how much the stimulus debate had focused on whether the bill was efficient.  (It clearly was not.)  There was much less discussion of whether the stimulus would be effective, and of the timing of [...]

2001
What: H.R. 1836, The Economic Growth And Tax Relief Reconciliation Act Of 2001
When: Signed into law June 7, 2001
Effects: Cut marginal income tax rates, created a new 10% bracket, provided marriage penalty relief, put death tax on path to extinction, repealed pease and pep, increased the child tax credit, increased contribution and deferral limits on [...]

We are frequently asked whether there should be a “second stimulus” bill.  Unfortunately, what is being considered on Capitol Hill is a very different animal from what we did earlier this year.

10-second macroeconomic review
GDP    = Consumption + Investment + Government spending + Exports – Imports
= C + I + G + X – M

In January [...]

About three hours ago, the President signed into law H.R. 5140, The Economic Stimulus Act of 2008 , less than four weeks after he first proposed Congressional action.
We are enormously pleased with this rapid and bipartisan legislative success.  The final bill passed the House 380-34, and the Senate 81-16.  Here is a one-page summary of [...]

Some have been arguing that the growth package should extend the availability of unemployment insurance (UI) benefits.
I’d like to cover three points in response:

Unemployment benefits have never before been extended when the unemployment rate is as low as it is now, or before the economy has been in a recession.
Extending unemployment benefits will not [...]

The House passed the bipartisan growth bill (aka the “stimulus bill”) yesterday on an overwhelming 385-35 vote.  93% of Democrats and 85% of Republicans voted aye.  That vote is a direct result of the cooperation among Speaker Pelosi, Republican Leader Boehner, and Treasury Secretary Hank Paulson on behalf of the President.
The bill now heads to [...]

Last Friday the President spoke about the need for additional Congressional action on the economy.  Outsiders are referring to this as “fiscal stimulus”.  We’ve been calling it a “growth package”.
There’s a lot to say, so I’m going to break this up into three big parts.

what the President proposed;
why the President proposed it; and
today’s [...]