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This country has been systematically BROKEN.

Jack! Congress move quickly? Sure with pork barrel polictics! Where is this money coming from Jack? Your grandkid's grandkids are going to be paying for it. We are spending away nothing but national debt at an alarming rate. Presently the only thing that makes a dollar bill worth one dollar is that you and believe that it is worth a dollar and soon that will change too as we see the dollar erode even more on the world market. Someday it will be worthless everywhere and then what happens? You'll wish we had a recession in 2008 to prepare ourselves for the depression of our future!

Bush wants to blame Congress and Congress wants to blame Bush. And besides why should Congress care about us little people they just gave themselves and huge raise. And to be honest maybe we are better off in the long run if they do nothing!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!11

They don't really care about the economy; they only care about getting enough votes to be re-elected and stay on the government payroll/Congressional pension so that their families will be financially stable (since they control the purse strings), or how they'll go down in history G.W.B. saves the nation again).

If only we had representatives that truly represented our interests! You know who would, RP! He does not take the government pension, does not vote for unbalanced budgets, actually sees the root of the economic problem and wants ot fix it for the good of all Americans! Short term stimulus might sound good to some, but lets try and keep this from happening again, the right way.

I think our government is doing to us what imperialist occupiers do to all occupied territories; they disrupt the central government so that it cannot function. With no formal opposition from the State, those wielding the power can do whatever they want and noone, not even the people, can stop them. You can see this in Iraq. You can see it in Palestine. The people are powerless without a unifying government. George Bush's claim of being a uniter is just another lie and we too are becoming a people without a country.

Bush has lots at stake. Right now his legacy appears to be one of failed foreign policy, unbridled executive branch power expansion and now a triple-cursed economy. He is looking for a quick fix.

However, he and Congress are faced with a confluence of issues that have not been addressed in previous recessions. If they pass a silly $250/ person rebate package and nothing happens, they risk creating worse doom and gloom. There is no quick fix in my view. Both Congress and the President must carefully consider alternatives calculated to address the causes of the recession and not focus on politically expedient bandages.

Oh, and the provision in the most recent bill that gives Bush and the rest of the administration a pre-paid pardon on violations of the Geneva Convention is just an example of the mind-numbing arrogance that has driven our country into the foreign policy abyss we now find ourselves in. Bush's insult to checks and balances looks more like blank checks and declining balances.

It's already too late so why bother

Jack, all Congress and the President need to do is include pay raises for themselves in the stimulus package and the bill would signed in one day. Would bring relief for the Middle Class? I doubt it.

Jack you should know by now that Bush boy and the idiots we elected to congress can't figure out how to adjust their clocks when the time changes, they damn sure can't get a package put together in three weeks. I've got a question for you Jack, where in the hell did all these idiots come from that we elected to congress. They turned from what we believed were smart individuals to complete idiots when they got to Washington.

Real simple Jack. They, the president and Congress get to eat this week and have plenty of heat for their houses, gas for cars, and money to burn. They need to go live in the streets for a few months and find out what it's like to be hungry and cold.

Larry from Texas

I have lived in this country since 2000 and I love it. From what I have seen, it does not take a guru/economist to know that we have economic problem. You have record deficit and growing. Manufacturers/industries are moving out of our country such that more than 90% of all the stuff in an average home is from overseas. Then things like outsourcing, high credit use by public, etc are the talk of the day. These indicators occuring at the same time signal a fundamental problem with our economy. It is a different case if one or the other is occuring. And all I hear our leaders say is that our economy is strong and we should not worry, simply because the housing market was strong these past years. Needless to say we now realize that the strong housing thing is all a mirage. I have a lot to say but I will keep it short. Until our leaders tackle all or any of these indicators, our beat-up economy will always need some cosmetic dressing just like our leaders are about to do once again. We should at least produce more than 50% of what we consume in this country. Otherwise we will be in similar economic turmoil...cycle of ups and downs, mirages! and other cosmetic fixes and all

Because George Bush is stupid. He doesn't want to accept responsibility for his bad policies. Jack we owe Communist China $2Trillion, alone. It's a wonder that the Communist Chinese flag isn't flying over the White House & the Capitol. Because Congress is just as responsibile for allowing George Bush to get away with these bad policies. Even the Democrats who knew these policies were bad did nothing in the last year to curb BushCo. Just defund Iraq & we'd be on the way to paying down the debt.

Jack, the president and congress connot move quickly, on anything except their next pay raise or vacation. So now we're all offered a couple of hundred bucks, to spend on American products. Good luck finding any. Millions of American jobs have been permanently outsourced, by our pandering government, to China, India, Viet Nam, NAFTA ,or my personal favorite, SHAFTA. We'll all spend our tax rebate at Wallmart anyway.

They are still in a state of denial. Look how long it's taken them to admit to something the rest of us have been aware of for months. When you have a housekeeper to buy your milk and eggs it is hard to come to grips with what it is costing you. Bet you Nancy Pelossi doesn't do her own shopping anymore then the rest of those congressional quacks.

They cannot move quickly because stimulus package is only a bandage idea. These cannot heal the econimic down turn of america. Only people of united states can solve by being nationalistic " BUY PRODUCT MADE IN U.S.A " If people
of united states by their product is create more jobs. Is good for the economy.....

in the words of Jack Cafferty, the morons are incapeable of doing anything quickly,
unless your a recipient of foreign aide, dont hold your breath.
Scott Missouri

Simple Jack, then we would know too quickly that it didn't work!

Lu,
Amherst, New York

Jack, that is an easy question – The president has displayed over the past 7 + years that he is only interested in the wealthiest people in this country so all of his solutions will be for that small segment and he won't compromise. Bush has demonstrated a winner takes all mentality from his first day in office, he will not change now after all the top 10% are not suffering from any recession and they are his true constituents.

these days both partys are more intent on making the other look stupid, in this case they see an opertunity to do that and steal some kind of credit, but i ask, wouldn't the $150B be better spent to reduce gas prices since everything, gas, food, ect are effected. wouldn't that be more stimulous than a $600.00 check that will just go to the credit card companies, or maybe thats the idea.

The president and the Congress sat on their butts and did nothing as the economy developed into a perfect storm for a recession. So it does not surprise me that they are slow to react now. Only thing that I have seen in the past few years that the president and Congress had any quickness about, was Congress passing pork barrel spending and the president making false statements and stupid decisions.

Quickly? Aren't they moving quickly?
Jack , isn't it obvious - it's an election year.
If the economy falters then the Democrats believe they have a better shot at the White House. However, if the economy shows signs of recovering before November then the Republicans believe they have a better shot. Neither party wants to jeopardize their chances by helping out the other.

What are they going to do?
Ask for a refund on the Iraq war, and give it all back to the taxpayers?
The money is spent, the credit cards are maxed out, & the houses are mortgaged to the hilt!
it is all water under the bridge,
Now all one can do is wait for the flood waters.
There is no miracle cure for what is happening.

Jack, it's a combination of the President not caring about those who are most affected by the poor economy, and his attempt to do too little too late. The economy could have been jump-started years ago, with businesses benefiting from the money spent by those who had jobs and who got tax breaks. At the same time, we waste trillions on wars far from our shores, from which we get no benefit.

When it comes to this president never hurry because he can't be trusted.Plus it is too late for a stimlus program what give the corporations another tax break.

As the president and the Congress goes.....they are moving fast. Even so, it takes 5 months from passage to affect the economy. The good thing is the plan looks good., if the people understand they are to spend it, not save it. They ought to include a note with the check telling people to spend it to help the economy.

This must be a trick question, right?

This is after all the Federal Government we are talking about. This is not about them getting their increases. This isn`t about them losing their homes, jobs, or healthcare. However it should be. They should lose their benefits until they work on this.
If they wanted to jump start the economy immediately they could in days pass and Bush could sign a funding bill that would cut the 10% rate on income now, which quickly puts additional money into the pockets of all workers, send additional money to those on SS in their next monthly check, add a proportionate amount to the states for Medicaid (which now are cutting their budgets for nursing homes), distribute additional food stamps for those on welfare etc. etc.
Or, we could simply absorb the destructive behavior that this administration has brought upon the American people as best we can, only then will we ever be weaned from the governmental trough. Reagan began the borrow and spend years, the only thing he ever cut was taxes for the wealthy and now Bush has finished off the greatest country ever. $9 trillion in debt, $25 billion a month on interest on the debt, and we are going to print more money? I guess no one has ever read the rise and fall of the Roman Empire. They learned they could not command the whole world.

Because they can only count on their fingers, and they ran out of fingers long ago. We need Warren Buffett or Michael Bloomberg, or anybody who can count, even a fifth grader who can manage their allowance, to go up there and straighten them out.

Nick E, Manhattan, NY

They are sitting on their brain.

Bush still doesn't think there's a problem with the economy, so how can he fix what isn't broken. Just another example of his incompetence.

Has any of them heard of direct deposit? Mailing checks is a gross waste of tax dollars.

It is a matter of “won’t” not “can’t” because as long as the middle class is in pain, the wealthy, the lobbyists and Bushes friends will profit.

A stimulus package will do a great job at making the next recession even worse.

It's simple: Both sides have their own agendas that they want to push through to make their party happy. It just goes on and on and on. Bush doesn't want taxes, but the dems do. Bush doesn't want outrageous spending, the dems do. Bush wants tax rebates, the dems want extended tax credits. The list goes on and on. If they actually get something done, it'll go down as a ground-breaking moment. I don't even think that the dems want to agree with Bush on anything, even if he bends to their will, especially Hillary, John, and Barack. Just the thought of Bush agreeing with the dems on anything scares the dem establishment.

It takes time for the president and the congress to make sure the right people get the right recognition for such a righteous act as doing their jobs.

Probably because anything they do will be a band aid approach to open heart surgery. This is not anything new. Those Sub prime loans have been around for decades and it was only a mater of time before it caught up to the people that took them out. America has been living from pay check to paycheck for far too long. None of this is the Governments fault it is the consumers fault. Now the consumer wants the government to bail them out for their own poor decisions. If you choose to live that way buy an RV and drive away just before the bill collectors catch up to you.

Jack, Is it the same reason the Congress won't impeach the President?

Jack,
Representative democracy is a great thing for sure, however the system was designed to be a slow one. If we wanted an economic stimulus package it had to get going three weeks ago. It would be possible to push through economic stimulus if anyone could agree on how it would work. However, with a divided government with the president having one idea on how to stimulate the economy and the Democratic leadership having a different idea that is completely at odds with it, there is no wonder nothing is getting done.

Unfortunately, I do not see any real way to compromise here. There is no middle way, one side wants to stimulate the economy through a tax cut for the upper class, using trickle-down economics theory, while the Democratic leadership wants to inject money into the economy with a tax rebate, which is different, and plan to have it focused on Low income households in order. Now either we cut everyones taxes or we are running into a lack of money to pull that off. Either way, I expect things to run this way and it is the price we pay for elected government, which is a more than worthwhile trade to me.

Simple, because it doesn't really benefit them. They only move quickly on subjects that will put their name in the news and get them credit for something, or continue to line their pockets. When it comes to something for the middle class, they have an I don't care attitude. I don't think this economic package will be helpful to the economy anyway because the majority of the people who will receive it will use it to pay a bill, not go shopping and those who really don't need it will put it in the bank. We need something else done, this is just a band-aid.

It will take congress three weeks to pass the measure. Then it will take six to eight weeks to get the checks to you, not to mention that the IRS is busy refunding most of us anyway. We may get these checks in May or June. Wow, moving at the speed of stop.

Ben
Louisville, ky

Hi Jack:
On the contrary, congress and the president are moving with remarkable alacrity presumably because they all worship so blantantly at the alter of Wall street profits.
Their proposed stimulas ideas are no more than recycled versions of past failed policies – give to the rich, spare the large corporations the burden of paying taxes, throw middle income earners an $800 bone, and completely ignore lower income earners.
With a 14 trillion dollar gross national product of which 70% is generated by consumer spending, the only reasonable way to stimulate the economy is to craft tax policy that favors consumers. I suggest:

Cut the employee paid portion of the fica tax in half which will immediately put cash in the hands of consumers.

Suspend indefinitely the 18 cent a gallon federal excise tax on gasoline which is a grossly regressive tax.

Restore retroactively the deductibility of credit card interest. I wonder if any of the so called policy experts have ever bothered to determine how much of a hidden, back door tax increase on the middle class (you know, the kind of tax increase republicans favor) that Reagan inspired fiasco actually involved.

If congress and the president acted as quickly, including the great pledges of bi-partisanship, to address the issue of our country's failed health care system, we wouldn't have 47 million uninsured with effectively no access to health care and millions more with inadequate access.

Keep up the good work,
Robert Jordan
Orlean, Va

Jack
Whatever they come up with aint gonna be enough to bail out the so called " middle class " and the poor are so deep in the hole we will be bailing them out for along time. The ones who will make out are the illegal immigrants they will continue to reap all the benefits they can get their hands on, no one seems to want to address this issue.

Jack,

They need to wait for the ink to dry on Bernanke's freshly printed dollars before they can start handing them out.
Imagine these crisp greenbacks leaving marks on our politicians hands!
Surely that could never happen?

Robin – Minneapolis, Mn

Simply put, they are more concerned about steroids in baseball....

They are trying to put the finishing touches on the trade deal with Colombia, Uruguay and Chile before they hand out the cash to Americans to spend. I expect that the 150 billion dollars already promised to China through increased spending at Walmart will increase to 200 billiion. This should be enough temporarily to take care of these three countries, which may have been promised a cut of the tax dollars. I trust everyone remembers that tax payers will be covering the full cost anyway.

Expecting the current administration or congress to act any faster on the economy is a fantisy. When The Big Money Power brokers, Big Business conglomorates, and the oil companies start to loose profits measures will be taken overnight.

There is nothing they can do except tell the American people the truth – We're in a recession – prepare for the worse.

If journalists wanted proof Bush is a liar, all they had to do was listen to him insist the economy is terrific.

Its a farse, most of the money spent will go to China and other overseas companies because we manufacture very few products that the rebate will buy. How will this help the economy? All this money will have to be repaid by future generations, they are already burdened enough. Give them a break.

convincing the banks and mortgage loan companies to freeze the subprime loan rates at current levels would have a more immediate effect on the economy than giving 600 bucks to everyone to buy Chinese manufactured consumer goods.

there are tens of thousands of working homeowner subprime borrowers here in Las Vegas, which is the leading foreclosure area right now, and as many as a million nationwide, that can afford to hold onto their family home IF their mortgage does not reset to a higher rate. it's actually a "win-win" situation for both parties although the lenders would have to forgo some short term profit.

if this does NOT happen, you could see real estate values continue to tank like stock prices did in 1929 and we all know what THAT led to. the "Great Depression", which I can assure you my parents, and other elderly people that lived through it, didn't think was so "great".

Because it's business as usual in Washington. How can we possibly think any of these cretins gives a hang about the american people. It's all about keeping their hands in the cookie jar. They have lobbyists giving them money, healthcare for life, nice pensions on and on and on. When will enough be enough for the american voters? My fear is we will become a third world country before we can get this sorted out.

I don't want them to! For heavens sakes, their policies are what got us here! They are trying to salve the people with a few bucks but refuse to address the serious reasons this country has gotten where it is. There is no discussion of fiscal policy or legislative policy.

Some hate the do-nothing Congress. I hate the do-anything Congress. When they compromise, it is the American people that are compromised. The country and it's people are getting screwed.

This stimulus package is just a ruse to hand the recession to the next president. Bush wants no part of it,even though it was brought on by his tax cuts for the wealthy and his war fought for the profiteers. Also,Bush is pushing for more tax cuts and deregulation By the time Bush leaves,the wreckage may be terminal.

Jack, if our President lied about Saddam's weapons of mass destruction, what makes you think he didn't dream up 9/11? Think about it. He had the entire Saudi's flown out of the USA when no one else could fly. Cheney was in charge of NORAD on the day of 9/11. Both Bush and Cheney refused to testify to the 911 Commision unless they could testify together off official record.
Let's face it Jack, Bush is not worried about terrorism. If he were, would he allow the Mexican border to become a turnstile? Wouldn't our beloved President have turned our ports over to the Arabs?
Lets face it, there has never been a regime that operated with the secrecy of the Bush Cheney gestapo. That includes the Al Capone clan.

Because Jack, they simply don't care! But don't worry, they'll grab another bandaid out of the box at the last minute and everything will be just peachy!

Because it would mean the extiction of current politics in Washington – That would be a shame

I got Bushwhacked before 9/11. I lived in a 2000 sq ft house and had to downsize to an apartment so I could survive on every day living. My next step will be living on the streets because I am behind on rent, my car payment. I am scared of what this administration has done to the American people and how do I regroup. I have a college degree and look where it has gotten me. Scary, Scary, Scary.

Simple Answer: Because they're incompetent...

But they're already a month too late to really affect anything anyway! Plus, whatever action they do take will likely be wrong so it doesn't matter all that much anyway.

Bruce
Chicago, IL

Ted Kennedy gave a great speech yesterday in the Senate on a 3 point plan for economic stimulus!

The cause of the dip in the economy? Iraq War! Pull the troops out, the jobs that it produced is gone. I am not buying armored Humvee, just to patriotic. War provides of surplus of materials and a quick need for 200,000 jobs. There is stupid, and then there is DuBya Bush Stupid.

Dale ]]]-->>> Anadarko, OK
Indian Capitol of the World

Regarding our Economy, has that bunch of incompetents in Washington
Forgotten what helped bring the USSR down? “Afghanistan” helped break their back economically. Iraq and Afghanistan are doing the same to us. Not only are we throwing our citizens lives and treasure away in the middle east, and getting nothing for it, (the US government has no Idea of where most of the money is going) and don’t seem to care. Then here at home they are pork barreling us into the poor house. They are letting us be robbed big time by theft thur Medicare, Welfare and the list goes on. The government takes money from us in taxes to run our government, not every government in the world, and not to spend for the purpose of getting re-elected. We have some real low life people in this government and I hope the citizens of this country get a good jolt from this current situation and vote out of office anyone who is or ever has been a Politician, lawyer or anything connected to government. We need some honest everyday citizens (who have some common sense) in Washington who
Will look out for Americans first. A family man looks out after his family first,
Then if he has something to spare, he helps others.

Thanks,
Doc
Texas

Jack, the answer to this is pretty obvious. Bush=trickle down economics (more money in business and rich people's hands); Democrats=more money in the hands of those who need it and have no choice but to spend it (the middle class and poor Americans). It's obvious that the trickle down approach has failed under every Republican administration. Money in the hands of those hurting the most is going to help the economy faster by far. Trickle down economics helps only the rich to get richer. All one has to do is look at Regan's deficit, Bush one's deficit, Clinton's deficit and Bush two's deficit. It is very difficult to understand how anyone not in the top 10% in personal income in America could ever vote Republican when they bankrupt us everytime we have a Republican president. Fiscal conservatism means only that you want to make the rich richer and the middle and lower income Americans poorer!

Jim
Prosperity SC

While the president's labels the country as a do nothing congress, it would be nice if he remembered he has publicily and repeatedly promised vetos since the last election. When the democrats claimed victory, he promised they would not set the agenda. How could he be more out of touch with what Americans need? If I get $800 dollars, it will not find its way back into the economy, unless you call my gas tank the economy. I even drive a fuel efficent car, but with gas expected to rise to over $4 dollars a gallon, I can hardly afford to drive to work. Maybe he could ask his buddies (the oil companies) to give us a break. I love how he has managed to find more tax breaks for the uber wealthy, while offering the struggling middle class hush money. He still completely ignores the poor, how very christian of you and your party.

It may be that they are having trouble with the printing presses at the Federal Reserve or it could be that they can't get a loan from China. Who knows? I really think they need to do something new like moving some of the money in our country from some of wealthy and richest corporations to the middle and low income working population in our country. The big help would be a change of faces in Washington !

Why the Economic concerns now? Why not when Ron Paul warned us last year? Whats the point of a stimulus plan, to stimulate us into even more debt? We need to stop spending our children's future. We need to balance a budget for once. And mostly, we need to stop inflating our money!

Thats easy to figure out, they're waiting for Corp. America to give their permission to grant help and we all know Corp. America will postpone their decision as long as they can.

It's not a war stimulus package.

I beleive this new talk about an economic stimulus package helps prove that the Bush Tax break for the rich did not sufficiently stimulate the economy, and that approach isn't really the best policy – otherwise they would be talking about giving more tax breaks to the rich now.

Ben Bernanke and others have pointed out that the best way to stimulate the economy is to return money to the middle class and poor – who will more likely spend it. Similar tax breaks given to the rich tend to be just stached in the bank. It has also been pointed out that the stimulus offered is really too small – just a band-aid.

I suggest that we make the "middle class tax break" being discussed here permanent. And to pay for it we should revoke an equal amount from the Bush tax break for the rich. This would then represent a sustainable large stimulus effect on the economy.

I would also take this opportunity to look at other ways to have a sustained impact on the economy.

Another suggestion would be to tax the windfall profits from the oil companies and use those funds to allow homeowners to receive tax credits if they invest in energy efficient home improvements (windows, insulation, solar, etc) or energy efficient cars made in America. I

t's clear that the oil companies don't need these excessive windfall profts to support their own growth. This windfall is essentially a tax that Americans have already paid partly because of the Iraq war. The American people should be able to turn those excess profits into investments that will help rid us of our dependency on foreign oil.
.

Hey Jack;

It takes ALOT longer thaan you might think to print 150 billion dollars in MONOPOLY money!!!!

That's easy Jack, they are all waiting for their marching orders from K street.

Look out Jack, I smell more tax cuts for the rich and it goes without saying that the major corporations will need further tax breaks. The oil companies and Halleburton will be throwing welcome home party's for Bush and Cheny.

Since when has our government EVER moved quickly (accept, of course, to go to war with Iraq)?

To Ron Martinsville, Va.,

I think you hit the nail right on the head. Nice post : )

Isn't there a rule "when you are in a hole, stop digging"!
At 4:00pm you talked about 935 misleading statements from the administration. Obviously banks, etc. also appear to have been making misleading statements. MIstrust has now overwhelmed the world's financial organiztions. How do they lend to businesses and other banks when that hat might not have any cows?
In the great depression a man who lost his job went to a movie to boost his spirits. In the newsreel a politian said "prosperity is just around the corner". That man told me he looked around every corner for five years. Be wary of a repeat.

If my Grandmother was still alive she would be 140 years old, born in 1868.
She always told me that this country was a country of haves and have nots,
Yes, the have nots have the chance to move to the haves the ones that stay in the have nots will always be kicked down to keep them in there place.
Once in a while the haves decide that have went to far and will throw a bone to the have not. Going to far means it will hurt their pocket book.
Since our government has done such a good job of kicking they want to make sure the bone is not to big other wise they will have to go back to Plan "A" too quick.
Mel
Colorado

When one of the worst presidents ever works with one of the worst congresses ever, what do you expect?

Any sufficiently advanced incompetence is indistinguishable from malice.

They move slowly because they're loaded down with all those money bags under their hats, pilfer and bounty stashed in their pockets, and hundreds of special interest lobbyists chained to their feet.

Jack, There's an old adage that if you want something done, put yourself in the other person's shoes and ask "What's in it for that person?" So I ask, "What's in for Congress or the President to act swiftly?" The answer, unfortunately, is NOTHING. Thus, how can anyone expect a quick response to a problem that frankly has no quick solutions that will actually solve the problem.

It is simple Jack! Neither the President or Congress is really affected by the economic issues within America. If the money isn't affecting them personally, why would they care about the citizens of this nation.

Come on Jack! When have you ever seen a donkey or an elephant move quickly let alone together.

Simply put Jack , the Congress and Presidents have made a fine art of moving slowly. If they were to set a precedent by getting something done expeditiously then we might expect that as the standard operating procedure. Congress operates solely on the Peter Principle and pinnacles at the Presidency.

Jack,
To jumpstart the economy, first we need a "good" battery and good jumper cables to do it with. What part of "overdrawing" the country's "check book" doesn't the Administration and Congress understand. I understand that these so-called rebates won't even be issued until late May or early June 08 at the very earliest anyway. You want to get the economy moving first, then we need to get back to the basics of having a manufacturing economy where our own citizens can get back to work and make a decent living.

Jack,
If congress and the president moved quickly, how would the public know who the do-gooders are?
Aside from which, this bill will not pass until the corporations figure out how to fix the wording so they get the lions share. Then it will go through both houses to fast for anyone to read, under the guise of "it's already taken too long."
Once again the corporstions will get billions, the top 2% – tens of thousands, and the rest of us will get a couple hundred bucks – most of which will go to the banks to pay interest on credit cards.
Am I the only one to notice trickle down has trickled out?

Jack,
Let's not forget that the real blame should go to the former Republican led Congress for not only rolling over for Bush on everything he and his cronies wanted, but also for blocking the current Democrat led Congress from doing anything that could have kept the US from being in such bad shape. We still would have work to do but it wouldn't be as bad as we are now. I tell you, I don't see how Bush and the GOP sleep at night, maybe they think they are the only people in America.

Ed, Florida

Have they moved quickly over the last eight years? On anything? This should come as no surprise. The President and Congress are intractably divided.

Washington is broken.

They could never agree on an economic stimulus package, because the administration would stand in the way of the most obvious pre-condition for an economic recovery in America: letters of resignation from office, from Bush and Cheney.

Lou Dobbs has the right idea. The only thing that these idiots in DC care about are making those fat pocket lobbyist friends happy, while the middle class sits in the out house and rots.

Bush and his entire administration are the biggest set of morons, and it will be a breath of fresh air to see them make their departure from our capitol next year.

If you don't understand what is broken, how can you fix it?

Jack:

Im sorry, Bush really cant move fast at anything. He sits and watches as the economy and the situation in Iraq crumble, but he cant do anything than make suggestions that would never work. Im sorry, whoever the Republican candidate is for their sake I hope he he doesnt give him his support, that would definitely ensure a win for the Democrats.

Why can't the President and Congress move on anything. They move good on lies on deception. Great on pork, terrific on pointing the fingure and blaming the other party. Their extremely good at going nowhare. Very good movers at double talk and they are very good at not listening to the people. They are doing a good job of moving the country down the toilet. So lets not put this moving forward thing in their way.

What the hell do they care. Is there a single one of them who would truly be hurt by a recession? Are they going to lose their jobs, their homes, their retirement, their medical coverage? They must need the extra time to figure out: "What's in this for me?"

Simple! Pelosi and Reid are a joke . Their strategy for change, and to move above the partisan bickering, has been a travesty. The arrogance of these two only impelled polarization to a new political science term, "The Imploding of A Democratic Society". Neither side is eager to solve this issue for the American people. The only issue their concerned with, is satisfying their huge ego's at the expense of the poor and disinfranchised! The Republicans will definitly stick it to the little guy with their business breaks, which we won't hear about to after the elections,with other pressing issues making this back page news? It's a bandaid folks, a panacea, with only one intention, to get these buns thru the next election. It ain't gonna work, simply put, it's time for the big hurt, and that's in the pocketbook !!!

the only thing the democrat congress seems to be able to do is stimulate themselves;

They move... s l o w... because they are busy maneuvering the package contents to make the package stimulate favor for their own party first. They put the American people's needs below their own party's need to look the best and innovative when the package is presented to the country and their party backers.

Dude.

Two weeks ago Bush was telling us how good the economy was. The congress lives in another world where economies are just hypothetical. Between the two of them nothing happens in the real world.

The government really just wants the economy to fail and the dollar to die so they have their excuse to impose the North American Union and a new currency. If it's not incompetence, it's something more sinister.

It is become apparent that it is not Hillary Clinton running for president, but Bill Clinton. She is the front person for her second two-year bid for the Whitehouse. I plan to vote democrat in November but only if Barack Obama is the democratic nominee. If Hillary Clinton gets the democratic nomination I will vote for John McCain – praying he will continue the current momentum and get the republican nomination. I will never vote for the Clintons. They have had their turn. Enough is enough!

Because they're too busy stimulating themselves, and too concerned with stimulating their wallets

they are padding the job

Why can't they move faster?

Because we're $52 TRILLION IN DEBT (per the GAO), and because it's not government's role to bail out housing gamblers and stock traders.

That's why.

it's simple jack . there's no W.M.D.'s .

Jack,

If you've actually read No Child Left Behind, then you know what happens when legislators who know nothing about pedagogy and education make laws about just that. Now, imagine those same fools trying to "fix" the economy, and there you go. The fact is, we'll be lucky that, even if they get something to us within the next six months, it will actually have any effect.

C'mon Jack,

There are only two speeds in the Beltway. Slow, and stop. Welllll....maybe there is a third.......reverse. Other than those, 'fergit it'!

John McCain is not to old his voteing record on veterans issues should cause every vet to take their vote to another person and his stand on continueing in Iraq does the same for me. the bigest issue in this country is health care, veterans care and compensation, and the ecomony. Iraq is just when do we get out and protect our solders. Dear sirs the Veterans Administration has its first and only responsibility, to serve the VETERANS. If this task where removed They are not needed.

Jack, it's because they have no clue what the rest of us are dealing with. When was the last time one of them filled up their own vehicle with gas? When was the last time they went to the grocery store or to any other store for that matter? They have people who do that for them. Oh yes, and when they retire, they have no worries about Social Security or their 401K plans. They are above the ordinary people when it comes to pensions. They just don't get it.

It's about politicians and photo-ops. We can't expect a quick turn around, or any turn around when they aren't talking about what's really causing this economic slowdown: lack of job growth due to unfair free-trade agreements and an overspending government.

Because they both stupid and arrogant.

Jack they don't know what it is to hurt, and they don't know anything about the real world. But the real reason is that China ask them to go slow as their bankd don't have much more room for our money.

the president wants the higher paid people to get the rebate because those are his friends... where do the unemployed come in at? maybe I should move to india or the philipphines if I want another job in customer service.

They don't move faster because they don't have to Jack.
It doesn't matter which side of the aisle they sit on. All of these politicians are nothing but a bunch of silver spoon rich boys and girls who use politics and peoples' lives as a little game to amuse themselves.
If all goes wrong it's only the poor people who get hurt. The fatcats can just go back to their mansions and sit back while the working man has to fix the problems they created with back breaking work.

Just another reason for campaign finance reform. If someone actually got in who knew what it is like to be in the middle class perhaps they would have more of a sense of urgency when the economy starts to tank.

As panic sets in on the economy, we again face politicians believing we can spend our way out of a fiscal mess. The Iraq War and the not so fair trade policy of the Bush Administration have reduced the U.S. to a beggar nation with budget and trade deficits in the trillions of dollars. How pathetic to have a President beg Saudi Arabia to lower oil prices and Citibank beg for foreign investments. At the expense of blue and white collar jobs, the Bush Administration has allowed corporate greed to reign over America through the exporting of manufacturing and high tech jobs to foreign countries. Asking people to spend $400 tax rebates to improve the economy is akin to giving a crack addict more crack to keep him in a stupor. The government must tie corporate subsidies to guaranteed job creation, instead of more corporate tax breaks, which stipulates the return of jobs exported and investment in new technologies here in the U.S. If not, what do we tell our future college graduates; that the only jobs left will be at the mall?

Jack,
The president and congress cant move fast enough because the situation in America doesnt affect them, it affects the middle class. They are only in those postions because of their ego. Im an airline pilot and if I went to work and didnt care and didnt do my job, could you imagine what would happen. The government is never held accountable.

Jack,

Don't be surprised if the stimulus package comes sooner than you think, right around jan. 28th the day Bush gives his last State of the Union Address.

Because they both stupid and arrogant.

Reid is procrstinating, hoping the economy doesn't rebound quickly, insuring a democrat gets elected next Nov. (and I'm a democrat?!)

Jack I agree that Congress and the President need to work fast on the economic stimulus package but you erred buy making it look like Senator Reid was just sitting on his hands waiting for the House to do something. The constitution states that all money bills (I asssume an economic stimulus package deals with money) MUST originate in the House of Representatives.

Once it does hit the Senate let's see what the Republican minority does to help Senator Reid move it along.

If there is a stimulus, let's hope it goes to the people instead of more "Corporate Welfare".

Jack
The checks in the mail.
You know the congress's pay check, theyre not hurting they get payed whether the economy is in the toilet or not. Now if there check was porformance based like every worker they would be working overtime.

3 1/2 weeks wow! That is fast for our government, they try not to work too hard, if they do they would ask for a huge raise. Congress is like government road repair crews, takes 6 people standing around for a one person job. Our lawmakers and leaders don't work for the people anymore, we work for them.
I'm moving to Norway.

Jack,

Not one to correct my senior, Jack....but I thought Congress and the President had already moved on an economic stimulus package....Iraq's !

Tom

I think whatever they do, or whenever they get around to it won't accomplish anything. And the 50 million that will get NOTHING, how many of those are retired and drawing Social Security or a military pension? The true rate of inflation for 07 came out to around 10% and these people got a lousy 2.3% COLA increase. A lot of them will get nothing because they don't make enough to pay taxes.

I find it amusing if not somewhat ironic that the “economic supply-siders” are being quiet during the present economic turmoil. According to the trickle down theory, espoused by Reagan, championed by Bush the elder, and perpetuated by Bush the stupid, we should be giving larger amounts of cash to the wealthiest people, who then in turn buy “stuff” and put the peasants to work! Instead during times of economic crisis; “it’s lets give the normal folks some money so they can buy some “stuff”. If it works during times of economic crisis, how come it doesn’t work the rest of the time?

As long as we keep electing presidents and congressmen who are in the high-income bracket, they will never move quickly to respond to an economic crisis. They don't know what it feels like to see their measly investments dwindle away to nothing so they don't respond with any sense of urgency to our needs unless we scream and yell to get their attention.

The GOP and the GOP candidates have a plan.... "trickle down econmy", this did not then and it want work now. Historically,Democrates have always kept the economy moving strong in this country. Since 2000, the GOP controlled congress and white house, look at the mess they have us in: the GOP's solution is more taxcuts for the people that don't need them–the possibilty of more war, which we don't need–and claims of smaller government.Everytime they claim small government, it grows.Do we really need this and can we trust the GOP..... NO.

i feel that the president and congress are not affected by a slowing economy as much as the working class people whoare living literally paycheck to paycheck trying to make ends meet amid rising gas,food,home heating prices you name it, its gone up but wages arent...going up. these people are wealthy and have no idea what its like living in the real world!!

I guess the simple answer is that the President is an idiot. Sadly, what happens to us common folk means little or nothing to him and most of those with whom he has surrounded himself. Or, perhaps he just does't understand; that's probably it......

They can't work together long enough to ever get anything done especially right now. The republicans want to get it past to say they saved the economy, the democrats don't want it to pass because they think their candidate will be the next candidate and then if it works they can say they cleaned up Bush's mess. It's just more of the same old same old. If everybody could just work together then maybe all of us could florish, not just the rich.

It is simple. There is no immediate gain for them. No pay off, no grateful corporate lobbyist, nothing extra in the old envelope. They would have to work together, admit something is wrong and find a solution every one agreed on. All that with no immediate gratification or promise that it will work. They risk doing foolish things all though why that would stop them I can't imagine. Finally they risk helping the other party and never mind us little people out of work. They have what they want, money, power and fame! We are on our own!

Jack, I don't believe they understand the word stimulus. When is the last time any of them have been stimulated to do anything?

Jack, Wolfe is half right... we won't get fast action from politicians but the problem isn't tradition. The problem is self interest.

The Bush family sold out the Reagan Revolution since the GOP Primaries in 1980. Why? Self-interest in the success of Haliburton, Bechtel, EDS, and the like.

Corporations get sweet deals and the CEO's largely go free. Meanwhile millions of us are still struggling from the dot-com disaster and have yet to recover.

Remember George's cry of "voo doo economics?" Well, the Voo-doo is certainly being used by the current Bush generation.

In Michigan we have no jobs and no prospects. Yet we have been told for years that the economy is robust! My Buttocks it is robust...we are dying on the vine here.

Maybe we just need old fashioned tar and feathers for the Washington crowd?

Keep up the good work...we love CNN
Tom Masty

Jack, the Bush administration has known all along that the economy would suffer because of the war,hell the fact of the matter is,they never cared how much the working class was struggling last year or the year before.when I have cash in hand I will believe the story that these idiots are trying to help fix our economic problems, meanwhile I gotta go I HAD TO GET A SECOND JOB TO PAY THE MORTGAGE.

Jack thank you for pointing out, that indeed our politicians are nothing more than figure heads. The economy is not in their control, they let the Fed and coporations take care of that. But they do have control over policy, and if we had political leaders in power like Dr. Ron paul, perhaps action would be taken swiftly to stop gov SPENDING in Iraq, on the war on drugs, war on terror...ect. What needs to be done is Lower taxes on poor and middle class people, and a fair tax system for corporations and industry. Not the pyramid we live in, where there are more billionaires and millionaires per capita than anywhere else, while at the same time having 2 millions homes foreclosed!!! how are the rich staying rich?

Come on Jack, this one is a "slam dunk". The answer is simple. The reason they need all this time to pass emergency legislation of this type is because they all have to have time to get their pork projects tacked on. They all know that this will pass with little effort and that simply spells another Christmas for these buffoons and their equally moronic counterparts.

My medical insurance went up $2000 this year for my family of three. I'm sick of these people. Take that and stuff it.

Chex Udeze, it took you only 8 years to see the real problem(s) with our economy, you got it right. Now why can't our government figure it out? As I read your post I saw that I didn't have to say anymore about the problem in mine. Like you, I love this country, but after 7 years of Bush economic policy, we find ourselves on a very slippery slope.

Jack,

It all starts at the top. Since the President is only in this for himself and his buddies, why would the rest of the politicians act any different? The Republican candidates for example, think the answer is just give more breaks to the richest among us. They really believe that as long as we help make the rich richer, the rest of us will do better as well. As for the Dems currently in office, they need to stand up for the people; that's what their party traditionally is supposed to stand for.

Jack,

None of them can bring anything substantial to the Senate floor: the money's tied up in the war, and the economy is in such a flux that no one's able to get a majority opinion on funding and planning. Not too mention it's anybody's guess who the next President will be, so how can they speculate on the future/

Nachshon

The answer is simple....our economy is in danger of becoming a catastrophe, which is of course, handled by FEMA...

This is clearly a case of shutting the barn door after the horse has run away...and not only has it run away it has dropped dead only to be whipped after the fact.

Tsk! Tsk! Tsk!

Mr. Cafferty – you must have forgotten the requirements of congress.

All tax or budget related legislation must originate in the House and not in the Senate. Specifically it must be started in the House Ways and Means Committee.

That is why Harry Reid said that they are waiting on the House to forward the legislation regarding the financial relief package.

If you want the way the two houses create legislation to change, you should address that issue and not blame the Senate Majority Leader.

Why can't anything get done quickly? D-I-V-I-S-I-O-N! Not the kind you learned in third grade math, but the kind that makes it impossible for Americans on both sides of the aisle to work together. It is the hallmark of the Bush administration, and we will see even more of it in another Clinton presidency – we already see it on the campaign trail. If we want to get things done, we need someone in the White House who brings people together and gets them to talk. Who? O-B-A-M-A!

Jack, you really think the FED making MORE money is going to stimulate our economy? Any red-blooded American who thinks this is feeble minded! All it will do is depreciate our dollar even more and soon enough, we wont be able to buy a loaf of bread without having to shell out 20 bucks for it!!! Ron Paul is the only candidate who knows how to stop this recession and jeeze louise... He's going to have a even bigger mess to clean up when he gets elected. Now if only the main stream media would say his name more than once a week the sheeple of American will finally realize the truth and who is really running for THEIR rights...

It takes so long because the congressional staffers need time to check with major contributors to be certain that the right backs are scratched and the wrong toes are not stepped on before a member of the house or the senate does anything that might actually help the people they are elected to represent.

There is no urgency to this matter when the powers that be are not being financially affected by the recession. I have always felt that it is a matter of the rich politicians watching the little taxpayers stew.

Tradition seems to be the word of the day. Just the primaries, this is how it has been for years, long & disateriously slow – see Federal Reserve 1920's........
We must love the drama of extreme highs and lows. In their defense though, since we are talking about tradition, constitutionally, bills involving taxation must originate in the House. Why can't we go back to the days of Washington. Jefferson had a plan, Hamilton had a plan. They presented and debated, and Washington picked. I guess we have the wrong George in the White House...

Because this "Do-Nothing" Congress is too busy handing out subpoenas to major league baseball players rather than focusing on issues that really have an impact on the American people. While the country is accumulating more problems each day, and the national debt is steadily increasing, Congress is worried about which baseball players took steroids and HGH.

Jack, whats the hurry to get a bill passed. It is not something that just happened to America last week. The President knows that you can not wage a war and cut taxes at the same. Bush only wants to spend us into oblivian. China is buying all our paper and in the end China will own us. We can thank Bush for this favor.

Mr. Cafferty I agree with you, these people from both parties lead me to be that they have always been in the Super Bowl, and trying to show the American People that they are the most supreme team. Being a Democrat, I am greatly disgusted with Harry Reed and Nancy Pelosi, they are the most imcompetent leaders of my party than anyone I have ever seen. I realize that they dont have the numbers to overcome George W. Bush, but Bush in his failure to hide how he have never had good attentions for the welfare of the American people. Yet, these two leaders have really failed in their leadership role of our party. I know that they are really not incompetent, its just they are controlled by specialist interest.

The simple answer is partisanship. Political parties are like labor unions. Their sole purpose in life is self-perpetuation.

It is not a question of whether they can or can't move faster to provide an economic stimulus package. The question is if there is such a thing as a stimulus economic packcage that is based on encouraging more borrowing, which means printing more money which leads to inflation. So in actuality the stimulus economic package ends up doing more harm than damage.

It's because the checks and balances of our government were designed to prevent any fast action. The idea was to slow the process down so a President couldn't overstep his power and seize control or fabricate a war. That parts seems to be going well.

This is simply how government works. More and more people are beginning to understand the general impossibility of the federal government to enact sweeping legislation that will be effective. However, the media continues to encourage them to act, implying that the federal government can bail us out of any ill scenario that befalls the country. It's time to for the people to realize that it was the government itself, through excessive borrowing, overspending, and purposeful inflation with a bad monetary policy, was the cause of our current crisis. We, as Americans, must resist further government intrusion into the supposedly "free market." Only a single candidate actually understands the cause of our problems, and that candidate is Ron Paul. Pay attention America, make the right choice in 2008!

The Politicians in Washington can't act quickly because they need to give the lobbyists time to visit them and give their opinions and donations. If the, not our< politicians dealt with this right away how would they benefit? Why not meet now pass something that can help partially right away and go back and pass more comprehensive legislation as soon as possible.

It is sad the President takes this as a chance to help the rich and his cronies. Just like he did with Katrina, with rebuilding Iraq, and now he wants to make permanent the failed tax cuts to the rich? How does that help those of us fighting in the trenches of the economy for our very hopes and dreams if not our lives?

Jack, when my bicycle was broken, it didn't move very quickly either!

Jack, it's quite simple. The reason is because the President is now under the microscope, and must relax the public, so he pander to his constituents. Nancy, as nice as she may seem, is bred and behaves the exact same way as President Bush, she needs time to pander to her constituents, basically Ron Paul, the man without a price, is the answer. For now, and by now i mean after my professor shuts up, it's time to take to the streets.

Jack, love your comments!
.
We can't spend our way out of this recession. Any 'stimulus' package will direct more of my (and your) money to political hacks and contributors, not to solving our troubled economy. Think of how our money has been spent in Iraq... does this give you any confience in what Bush may do?
.
I'm sick of seeing the Fed bail out speculators, every time devaluating the savings of consevative Americans. Let 'em burn baby.. and maybe when our government is ready to see daylight and respect the average American worker some sensible policy will emerge.
.
Get the salespeople out of the seats of power and give sense a chance.
.
Thank you!

I think that the president is doing his job better now than he has been during anytime during his presidency. His willingness to work with the Democrat controlled congress gives me hope for the economy and furthers my belief that we are not headed towards a recession.

Jack,

President Bush and Congress are moving so slowly because most of them probably don't really care. Do you think that they need the benefit of a stimulus package. Are their finances hurting that much in this slowing economy. And they can't get past these differences that they have between them, no matter how big or how small they are. Normal people out in the real world just want something done, people don't care about this bickering that goes back and forth between the parties.

Jack: I do not believe that the stimulus package for our economy should be rushed. We need careful thought into what goes into the package. Any tax credits provided to business must be earmarked for capital investment in the U.S., not overseas. This will increase the likelihood that it might create jobs for U.S. citizens which is the only stimulus that will help our economy.

Jack:

For me the answer is simple. Bush and the members of our congress have more than an adequate amount of money and the down turn in the economy really does not affect them. They have no idea of the problems and pain being suffered by the average American and frankly my dear, they don't give a damn

Jack, the government can't pass a stimulus package quicker because everyone is trying to make sure the package panders in some way to thier interests, meanwhile when somone such as Ron Paul steps up to adress the causes of this economic crisis, hes marginalized by the very people like Lou Dobbs who scratch thier head and wonder if there is a candidate out there with the courage to adress these issues truthfully.

Are we really in a recession? All the Washington politicians were soooo concerned earlier this week. Now, they want to drag their feet and let the American people suffer. Maybe they want to wait until all the credit card companies raise their rates and more people actually lose their homes. Maybe the "Recession" was contrived so the Global markets could a even a larger piece of the pie. I do not believe any of the Washington "goofs".

Jack these politianshave no idea what urgent is...if they knew how the American people struggle to get by on a daily basis perhaps they would get it. You cannot expect government and the rich to understand how the poor and middle class struggle ...they all need to be put into the same situation and see how the othr half lives...what the hell do they care? They have fat pay checks, healthcare and all the other benefits that most people can only dream of...and they get it all by sitting on their asses, doing nothing but look for photo ops and pat themselves on the back. When it takes millions of dollars just to get elected into office in this country, what does that tell you? They are all a BIG joke. Too bad the crying poor don't get the comedy!

Washington can't move quickly because Congress and the President need to check with their lobbyist.
The bad economy will not be helped by a quick fix package we need lower fuel costs and jobs. People with good paying jobs spend money. it's that simple.

Jack,

Have you ever thought about why they won't do what would help and do it right quickly?, here are few things to consider

1). They need to divert American attention away from Iraq war and national debt piling up off the roof.

2). Their present package won't solve any problem but worsen the imminent or present inflation.

3) What do you expect from politicians, all they do is waste time, spend money and jack us around.

Jumpstart the economy? What ever happened to Common Sense. Growing our mutual prosperity with care. Feeding and nurturing the fundamentals that create targeted results in an evolving world market. But all of this runs counter to the "quick fix" mentality. Simply put, we have to pay for what we spend or stop spending. Every family learns this. America has come to look like a giganticly obese boy eating the Bush/Reagan wedding cake while balancing on a circus ball.

They don't care...by the way if you happen to see anyone in washington please ask where the pallets of cash that were sent to iraq are... we'd like our money back before tax day

Hey Jack,
Why should they move quickly, they're not about to lose their home, job, health insurance, child at war or anything else right now. They probably don't have to worry too much about how their Stock Portfolios are performing either.
Keep up the good work Jack!! Maybe someone will do something about the whole damn mess soon.

you need to take into consideration the type of government we have.
money bills must originate in the house. so the senate must wait until the house gives the senate the bill.

so i think that your comment on senator reid's comment was disengenuous. senator reid was correct.

i am still not sure whether we need an economic fix (we've had several over the last few years and the results have been mixed), what kind of economic fix would be best.

i think they should simplify taxes asap, perhaps move to a national sales tax.

tax rebates can improve short-term economic downturns. i think the present economic downturn is much more serious than a short-term problem. should we make the government budget deficit rise? we need to balance the federal budget. i am truly tired of people proposing an iron millstone instead of a lifejacket.

the public needs to be much more discerning about basic economics rather than listening to these political soundbytes.

Anybody who thinks this economy is going to get back on track anytime soon, has to wake up out of that dream. There is no stimulus to get anything back on track, if that's what we want to do. Back on track means back to outsourcing, back to junk products coming out of China, the Government ignoring what's in our food products and maybe if they're lucky the people will roll oer and play dead. You know what, Jack? If we are going to go speeding into hell, WE THE PEOPLE will do it we don't need to be pushed by a do nothing administration and congress. From what I've seen and heard from the people running for president, all I hear is more of the same. Who's going to bring jobs back to the USA? Who's going to stop China from screwing us? Who's going to start putting out money where their mouths are? That's the one thing everybody forgets, they're playing with our money, our boys, our lives and our freedom. All we get in return are a bunch of lies and fear mongering. It's time to clean house and start at the top.

Gian

We won't see any legislation until Congress's corporate bosses figure a way to get their pound of flesh while disquising it as the best they can do for the people who really need it.

Politicians just don't want to tell people the ugly truth that a recession is inevitable. The middle class has been hemorrhaging out of this country since the 70s, but none of the politicians have told us this. They also will fail to mention to us that $800 from president Bush won't do anything. Historically speaking, the government policies in stopping economic downfall all have failed. If Roosevelt failed to pick this nation out of a depression I laugh to think that any other candidate thinks they can. This boulder of recession has been rolling at us so long, that any politician that says they can stop it is a liar.

Unless it affects their personal savings, Congress isn't the least bit concerned with the middle class' financial problems. Bush's stimulis package is for show only. Let's be honest – an $800 check to most working families these days is just like putting a band aid on a sucking chest wound.

America has been delaying an economic collapse for too long. The simple answer is that short-term solutions can no longer hold off the inevitable crows coming home to roost. What we are experiencing is the combination of the international loss of confidence in an overinflated dollar, multiple debt bubbles collapsing simulatneously, and the consequences of irresponsible government spending for decades. We have mortgaged the future of this country to the Saudi's and the Chinese for the sake of ideological wars on ideas such as terrorism and drugs.
Ron Paul is the only candidate with the courage to address these issues. Ultimately, the Bush administration and Bernake are well aware that any short-term solutions they implement at the moment would only exacerbate the long-term consequences. We can not continue to inject liquidity into the market without risking further inflation.

Jack, This ones really a no brainer. They don’t move more quickly because their retirement plans and houses are not in jeopardy. They don’t have to worry about not having enough money to pay their bills or if they will be able to afford health insurance for their families. Let them try to living on $35,000 a year for a while and see how fast they move.
You bet I’ll remember this when I head to the poles this year

Jack
The answer is told just by listening to Senator Harry Reid. They just came back from more than a month recess knowing there were problems before they left and now the Senator remarks about their needing to get something done before their President's winter recess. It's apparent by listening to this pathethic man that nothing will be done in time to offset any recession. They WILL just sit on their hands. So why are we giving members of Congress another reason to earmark 'cause we all know that's what they do best?

The President and Congress need to slap the hands of the banks that are following bad business models. A stimulus package will perpetuate some of the same bad financial behaviors we have such as buying homes we cannot afford and over extending our credit. A soft recession may be a good thing and a natural correction.

Jack,

The answer is:

Too much Political calculating
Inability to accept Responsibility
And absolutely no Leadership from the President, the Speaker or the Majority Leader.

J. Reed
Memphis, Tn

Here's a good one.... In Davos (economic forum), Americans asked China to spend to make up for America's economic downturn.

Cheng Siwei responded: The Chinese save today's spending for tomorrow, and the Americans spend tomorrow's savings today.

It is reported the room collapsed into laughter and applause.

Jack – the train's already left the station...good luck trying to catch it.

with a good part of the country still being paid at , but mostly below the poverty level,bush is just now seeing the economic picture is in trouble? try making 6.00 an hour and paying 3.00 a gal. for gas and 4.00 for a gal of milk! I live in small town, rural oklahoma and were already dying as it is.

If they do the same process as last time by using the IRS giving a rebate it would have to be done based on your 2006 taxes (already filed & paid). Most didn't get the whole amount of the rebate, as a matter of fact many didn't get any rebate since it was based on the amount of taxes paid. So this will be just another bunch of "Lip Service" by a LAME ADMINISTRATION. The process will be about as slow as the Katrena effort in Louisiana. What they need to do is stop the spending for the war and bring our troops home then they can use the money saved to help the economy, health care, and numerous things that are needed at home. We need to start thinking about our citizens and not those who hate us abroad.

I believe the answer is simple. First it must be processed and dicussed at length
in the offices of the various consultants and pollsters–then it must be run past
a few focus groups to make sure WE THE PEOPLE,the silly dolts that we are-
are able to understand the no doubt milky colored pablem that will be the end product. All this work takes time. and money. WHO's money you ask?
Don't. The answer requires more pollsters,ect. Good Luck. We r' gonna need it.

Because of comments like Bush made today. Open more trade venues? Since most of our manufacturing jobs are gone, what will we have left to sell in these new places????

Move quickly? Egad! "Quickly, President and Congress" in the same sentence?

It's the naps, Jack. Too many, too often and too long.

Why can't they move faster?
Why should they move faster?
Why should they move at all?
Its the overdose of stimulus via easy money that has created the mess we find ourselves in.
More stimulus will just prolong and deepen the recession we need to have.

Jack, The President and Congressional leaders can't move faster to an economic stimulus package because they haven't figured out how they can do it and maintain their high standard of living off the average Americans taxes. We poor, middleclass , and retired Americans are of little consequence when you consider that the Washington rogues are getting their cut from big business, WallStreet and foreign interests. They have squandered our taxes, social security, and now are IRA's and 401Ks. They have given corporate America a free ride on corporate retirement packages and healthcare. The little American foots the bill for it all!

We do not have the money for an economic stimulus package; it has been spent on the Iraq war, funding foreign dictators and squelching attempts at enforcing the Constitution of the united States of America. What remains is going to support the cost of record breaking political campaigns. Unfortuantely the American People will have to await the next President appointed by the Supreme Court.

Yes, there is bipartisan agreement – few of the hacks we've elected from either party really care. They won't get us out of the war where our money is bleeding away..... If the leaders really cared, we'd see support for industry to return to America; we'd see support for alternative energy development so we could wean ourselves off foreign oil. Sort of makes one want to consider another revolution. Honestly, though, we Americans (in general) could all choose to live in a more frugal manner. I guess we ( the middle class) may have to.

Because they can't decide on how much pork they can tack on to the bill!

Because everything they do is based on politics. With a major election in the Fall – they want to show a favorable economy when it will most benefit their candidates or their own re-election.
Teresa

Dear Jack;
This "stimulus package" is another give-away of public funds to fat cats, as if 200-300% profit margins over the last few years were not enough!! Give it a rest. Did you see how nervous Henry Paulson was in revealing this "solution"? I thought he was going to have a stroke over the excitement of a final big fat cat give-away at our expense. This is only going to forestall the recession by a few days. It can't solve the deep problems of a market that has run amok for years. It is a Trojan Horse, another scheme by Bush to take our money and give it to his friends. Haven't you had enough? Have you not figured out that if Bush is moving his lips, he is lying? By the time a recession is admitted, we will be in far more trouble than a recession. Kristina Reaume

Jack, It only takes the time for a signature when it's a pork barrel project.

Because they all suck!!

People in the middle and lower classes need to be paid, hard work needs to be rewarded with pay increases that matches the rise in the cost of living. too many jobs give raises in cents instead of dollars, bonuses are given as gift cards and trinkets instead of more money in our paychecks. Jobs are being combined nd people are doing more tasks at the same rate, while businesses give themselves more raises. That's where the problem lies. The government can lower interests rates and give a couple of extra dollars with the tax refunds until they are blue in the face, it still leaves people in the same position, not enough money to live on. What will the government do about that? Nothing, it will effect their pay if they do.

You can't solve a problem with the same mind that created it! If our current government (both President and Congress) were really interested in saving our economy, they would have been more fiscally responsible all along.

I know I can't understand how the government works but I do know the government can't give us their money. It's all our money. They could just cancel my federal income tax withholding for a week or so. I get to keep my money.

I read a comment where someone said our government will not do anything to help get this going. Well I think the only reason the government is trying to do something as the "Haves" are watching their profits being made from the "Have Nots" going away, and can't stand to loose their enormous profits (banks, mortgage & credit card companys to name a few). Greed will eventually bite you in the rear. Even if you mess with a dog it will eventually bite you.

The answer is simple, Jack! They have no clue where to start, and unfortunately the old tactic of pretending there is no problem has lost it's luster so to speak. President Bush and Congress have been working against the American economy, if anything, by overspending in Iraq and allowing the FED to basically counterfeit American dollars and boost the profits of military contractors like Halliburton and Blackwater to name a few. The idea that this same government is going resurrect our economy with an "economic stimulus policy" is a product of the Bush administration realizing that we don't believe what they say about the economy anymore. Where do they think they'll find the money for this...the budget? No. Raising taxes? No. Borrowing from the Chinese? No. Printing the money? Maybe!

Jack,

I think I have the following economic stimulus package that I think will get it up and running immediately.

1) Withdraw our troup and bring them home right away.

2) Divert the money intended for another year of war in Iraq towards US economy.

3). Stop sending US job overseas and bring home all US jobs already outsourced immediately.

4) Give 15 to 20 million people illegal aliens work permits but let them pay their due fine. Jack could you imagine about 15million people buying homes, automobiles, clothings, groceries, paying taxes in our economy?. I tell you the economy will not only be stimulated, it will jump and start running.

Jack,
The reason that President Bush refuses to help victims of the mortgage crisis is the same reason he refused to help Katrina victims. If you are not a billionaire or have tons of oil, you are beneath his contempt. A nuisance, like the cow-flop on his boots. I hope there is a special place in Hell for his entire administration.

The President, Congress, and the Clintons cannot fix the economy because they use old world ideas and yesteryear's solutions. They lack vision and inventiveness, just like Herbert Hoover did. I really wish the Democrats would go outside of the box for a change and nominate a business strategist.

Mr. Cafferty, your question this hour implies that it is an undisputed fact that Congress and the President SHOULD take action to respond to economic situations such as the one in which we find ourselves in now. I, however, believe that it is not the job of either the President or Congress have a "duty" to do anything. Where in the constitution does it say that the federal government should take action to correct fluctuations in the economy? The present crisis is a result of foolish actions taken by several large banks. Many people and many companies made a great deal of money when sub-prime morgage strategies were successful, so does it not logically follow that they should incur losses when those investments preform poorly? Any actions taken by Congress or the President to attempt to correct this issue could only be in the way of short-term fixes, and even those (such as the Bush tax cuts) have done little to increase consumer spending. The federal government should instead be concentrating on ways to reduce spending, and consequently spending. If taxes were lower, tax "rebates" such as the proposed economic stimulus packages would not be necessary.

We could stimulate our economy by bringing home our 12 billion dollars a month from the war in Iraq and fix our own country. Congress would have to be AT work in order to be able to pass legislation – and President Bush would have to think that it is good for big business. Besides, we would have to borrow the money from China – in order to be able to buy Chinese imports with the money they GIVE us!

A stimulus package will save pain now at the expense of worse pain later. The US has horrible structural problems, such as the trade deficit, and the budget deficit. This would be another example of the worst kind of Bush short-termism.

Easy! Our Founders deliberately set up a system that produces conflict and a slow, supposedly deliberative, decision making process. If any candidate really wants a change to a fast, effective and efficient political system they are going to have to support a fairly radical change to the Constitution itself. Very unlikely to happen.

They have no motivation to rush. It's not affecting them and I think that nothing would have been done if Wall Street and the Global Market hadn't pushed them to the wall. And doesn't this remind you of New Orleans? They still haven't shown up down there. This whole administration and his cronies have just been in this for whatever they could get, and never did care what happens to "the people"

Kathy in NY

It's quick and simple and eazy to give us all a quick releif. It is to get the gas prices down. It takes 3 times as much to fill up our cars now as it did before .
The last time they went up the prices was because they wanting to, so there is a surpluse somewhere so they can go down on the price now just because they want to. That would help us out so much. And a bill of groceries is about 3 times as much now as before. Go into a grocery store an see what 50.00 will buy now and how manys bags you can carry out. Then there are the utilities. We are not asking for extras. We poor people know how to do without .It is the necessities that I would like to see someone address. And you the news people need to get that out more where someone might just open there ears. Bush just doesn't care. Just look at our boarder patrol guys that he could get out of prison and won't.
I really would like to see him be impeached just before he goes out of office. I think I would repect the Republicans and Democratics a lot than I do now.

They are too busy trying to outdo each other that they have lost perspective of what should be the common goal (what is best for America).

Well after the way things have been with money for 25 years, we can do one thing and is wait and see when dec get here then we will know where we are.

A M E R I C A !!
Owned by China
Occupied by Mexico

Let’s see, we have our leaders proposing a rebate that will go indirectly to OPEC for oil and China for products while our future debt on hundreds of billions for decaying infrastructure continues to build. In the meantime, the FED reduces interest rates primarily for investors while the elderly see the income on their interest sensitive savings dwindle in many cases much more than the rebate they will receive.
Stimulus – stimulus to whom?

Implicit in your question is the idea that anything Congress does will actually help. The proposed solutions of tax refunds all involve more inflation, since they wouldn't be accompanied by spending reductions. More inflation isn't going to help anyone in the long run.

The money would be nice to have but unfortunately there aren't many things made in america anymore. in my small town if you need anything you go to walmart that is because thats all there is in my town that we can afford. but have you seen very many items in walmart that is made in america no because all there stuff is made overseas because its cheaper. The way to bring up the economy is to bring our jobs back from overseas and start producing again for one it would create jobs and two bring money into the economy. gee I came up with that on my own and I did not go to college to know it.

Jack, it's easy! Not one of these people has any concept of "urgent" financial needs – except when it comes to dwindling campaign funds. Has one of them ever had to choose between kids' medical needs and adequate food for the rest of the family? Between medicines and heat?

Obviously not! When they can casually and with their normal political plasticity project some kind of "action" within a few weeks – or a month or 2......they've never faced a real personal financial crisis. If any one of them had ever been in such a situation they would immediately realize that even their perceptions of time are completely out of touch.

When you're juggling to pay for food, medicine or utilities – facing the very real possibility of having the heat turned off – your perspective on time is compressed. Hearing about vague plans to meet within a few weeks and begin negotiations on a plan to plan to begin planning a partial and inadequate solution that may or may not address your own situation – falls on deaf, cold and hungry ears.

How can we expect the President and Congress to act on healthcare, Social Security, illegal immigration, the war in Iraq, or the economy when they are busy dealing with important issues like drugs in baseball and trying to figure out what "is"... is.

Jack,
Give me a break, I don't want any "help" from the government, it just goes back to pay my taxes anyhow. Bush can't even form a complete sentence unless it is written for him, he's terrible at business (lost 2 or 3 in Texas) and we are supposed to trust his judgement? How many times do we have to tell these polititians to stop the out of control spending, that we elected them to serve the people, not themselves. I am sick of hearing it is my duty to vote, when the candidates with the most money get on the ballot, and then don't do their duty to serve the People of this country. The government won't stimulate the economy, the people of America will.

Jack,

In all the talk about the stimulus package, I have yet to hear anything about repealing the 30% mob-like interest rates Congress guaranteed the credit card companies. It’s interesting that even with that windfall, companies like CitiCorp managed to screw it up.

Why has no one in Congress made the connection between job loss, credit card funded mortgages, and the sub-prime collapse? Tax incentives won't do a thing for the people who really need it, the growing numbers of unemployed and under-employed. It's just more "trickle down" economics. Remember how well that worked?