Bush Considers Economic Stimulus Package
Here's a story from the Washington Post with a few "editorial" changes:
Bush Considers Economic Package for Displaced Americans, by Michael Abramowitz and Robin Wright, Washington Post: As he puts the finishing touches on his revised economic plan, President Bush is considering new economic initiatives to go along with a possible increase in defense spending to help stabilize the economy, according to officials familiar with the administration's plans.
Among the steps being considered are short-term jobs and loan programs aimed at winning back the waning local support for the Bush administration in middle America, the officials said. ...
"The president is looking at a variety of ways to work with state governments to provide new economic opportunities for Americans, which will be essential to sustaining economic security and draining the influence of populists," said Gordon Johndroe, the spokesman...
That view underscores how Bush is looking beyond just tax issues ... to achieve stability in the economy. Officials said economic and political issues were among the key elements discussed Thursday when Bush huddled here with his top advisers to discuss the economy.
The president emerged after three hours to tell reporters that he has made "good progress" on developing a new plan... But he said that he intends to hold more consultations with economic advisers and U.S. lawmakers before formally unveiling his plan sometime next month.
"The plan is taking shape," said one senior administration official who briefed reporters outside the president's ranch, where Bush is spending the holidays.
The senior official said Bush heard an extensive presentation about economic conditions in the U.S...
Some U.S. officials think an economic package may be the most promising element of a revised strategy, since it would deal with the Americans' deteriorating economic conditions and growing disillusionment with the U.S. economic policy. Others, however, have severe questions about whether such a package would work years after the botched efforts to stimulate economic activity.
The economic package now on the table focuses on three elements, and is separate from the long-term jobs-creation program... One senior official cautioned that all three elements have been discussed in some manner but that the final package has not been determined.
One element ... is ... a short-term work program that would immediately hire people in the neighborhood to clear up trash or do other small civil-affairs jobs. ... It might also help wean young unemployed men from the streets or prevent them from joining any of the armed gangs that are fueling escalating inner city strife.
The second part would be a micro-loan program -- involving modest loans to help individuals get businesses going -- to generate new economic activity in poor neighborhoods. Unemployment is worse today than during the rule of Bill Clinton.
The third part of the package, which has been developed in part by the Treasury Department, would review dormant government employment programs to try and determine which ones are economically viable and worth reopening. ...
In brief comments to reporters here, the president made clear that the focus of his review is to strengthen the economy, which has been struggling...
"The key to success in our economic stimulus program is to have a government that's willing to deal with the elements there that are trying to prevent this from succeeding," Bush said. "We want to help them succeed." ...
Administration officials said they expect the president to unveil his full plan for the economy sometime in the early part of January, but Bush and his advisers made clear that more consultations are planned with U.S. lawmakers and advisers -- and that there could well be another meeting of the Council of Economic advisers before the plan is released.
"I fully understand it's important to have both Republicans and Democrats understanding the importance of this stimulus package," Bush told reporters.
I changed a few words in the above. Here's what the article really says:
Bush Considers Economic Package for Iraq, by Michael Abramowitz and Robin Wright, Washington Post: As he puts the finishing touches on his revised Iraq plan, President Bush is considering new economic initiatives to go along with a possible increase in troops to help stabilize the country, according to officials familiar with the administration's review.
Among the steps being considered are short-term jobs and loan programs aimed at winning back the waning local support for the U.S. presence in Iraq, the officials said. ...
"The president is looking at a variety of ways to work with the Iraq government to provide new economic opportunities for Iraqis, which will be essential to sustaining security gains and draining the influence of extremists," said Gordon Johndroe, the spokesman for the National Security Council.
That view underscores how Bush is looking beyond just military issues ... to achieve stability in Iraq. Officials said economic and political issues were among the key elements discussed Thursday when Bush huddled here with his top national security advisers to discuss the situation in Iraq.
The president emerged after three hours to tell reporters that he has made "good progress" on developing a new plan... But he said that he intends to hold more consultations with Iraqi leaders and U.S. lawmakers before formally unveiling his plan sometime next month.
"The plan is taking shape," said one senior administration official who briefed reporters outside the president's ranch, where Bush is spending the holidays.
The senior official said Bush heard an extensive presentation about military conditions in Iraq...
Some U.S. officials think an economic package may be the most promising element of a revised strategy, since it would deal with the Iraqis' deteriorating conditions and growing disillusionment with the U.S. intervention. Others, however, have severe questions about whether such a package would work almost four years after the American invasion and after previous botched efforts to stimulate economic activity.
The economic package now on the table focuses on three elements, and is separate from the long-term jobs-creation program being promoted by the U.S. military. One senior official cautioned that all three elements have been discussed in some manner but that the final package has not been determined.
One element ... is to follow up any military sweep with a short-term work program that would immediately hire people in the neighborhood to clear up trash or do other small civil-affairs jobs. ... It might also help wean young unemployed Iraqi men from the militias or prevent them from joining any of the armed factions that are fueling Iraq's escalating sectarian strife.
The second part would be a micro-loan program -- involving modest loans to help individuals get businesses going -- to generate new economic activity in poor neighborhoods. Unemployment is worse today than during the rule of Saddam Hussein...
The third part of the package, which has been developed in part by the Treasury Department, would review dormant state-owned industries to try and determine which ones are economically viable and worth reopening. ...
In brief comments to reporters here, the president made clear that the focus of his review is to strengthen the government of Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, which has been struggling...
"The key to success in Iraq is to have a government that's willing to deal with the elements there that are trying to prevent this young democracy from succeeding," Bush said. "We want to help them succeed." ...
Administration officials said they expect the president to unveil his full plan for Iraq sometime in the early part of January, but Bush and his advisers made clear that more consultations are planned with U.S. lawmakers and Iraqi leaders -- and that there could well be another meeting of the National Security Council before the plan is released.
"I fully understand it's important to have both Republicans and Democrats understanding the importance of this mission," Bush told reporters.
An economic stimulus package for Iraq is a good idea, or at least was a good idea - it should have been done long, long ago. We'll see if it can help at this late date. The point of the reworded article is that there are groups within the U.S. who are falling behind economically and it would be nice to see similar attention devoted to helping them.
Posted by Mark Thoma on Friday, December 29, 2006 at 12:06 AM in Economics, Iraq and Afghanistan, Policy, Unemployment |
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