A 2nd stimulus package the answer to economic woes?
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FROM CNN's Jack Cafferty:
The Democrats think it might be time for a second round of rebates to taxpayers, in order to help millions of Americans deal with rising energy prices and unemployment, declining home prices and tight credit.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi says they'll be working on another stimulus package and hopes it will be a bipartisan effort again.
Democrats say such a package might be about more than just rebate checks, probably including more spending for roads and infrastructure, additional unemployment benefits, help for low-income families to heat their homes and aid for states struggling with deficits.
Former Treasury Secretary Larry Summers calls our current economic situation "serious" and says the government is "in much more danger of responding inefficiently than in responding excessively."
But the Republicans are saying not so fast. President Bush says we should let the first stimulus package run its course. And Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke agrees. Republicans say the best way to boost the economy is to pass legislation to limit home foreclosures and increase production of domestic oil. They would likely push for more tax cuts for businesses if they agree to another stimulus package.
The initial $168 billion package included rebates sent to more than 100 million households, with checks of up to $600 dollars for individuals and $1,200 for couples.
Economists say some stores have seen more business as a result of those checks, but it hasn't meant more hiring by companies or more lending by banks. Some say the only way to solve the financial crisis is by injecting banks with a lot of money.
Here’s my question to you: Is another economic stimulus package the answer to our shaky economy?
Interested to know which ones made it on air?
Would McCain or Obama more likely capture bin Laden?
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FROM CNN's Jack Cafferty:
John McCain says he knows "how to win wars" and if elected, he will "get Osama bin Laden and bring him to justice." Remind you of anybody? Bring 'em on. Dead or alive... you get the picture.
McCain's comments come as he and Barack Obama are focusing on the so-called "forgotten war" in Afghanistan, where the Taliban have staged a comeback. Nine U.S. troops were killed in Afghanistan on Sunday. And in the last two months, more American and allied troops have died there than in Iraq. McCain insists that the strategy of increasing troops in Iraq has worked, and the same thing should be done in Afghanistan.
He says the U.S. should send three more brigades there along with a presidential envoy. He says Obama's call for withdrawal from Iraq would mean defeat.
Obama is also speaking out on Afghanistan, saying that Iraq has been a distraction from the fight against terrorism. Obama insists as president he would quickly end the war in Iraq, which he says hasn't made the U.S. any safer and was never the central front in the war on terror to begin with. Obama has been saying for a year now that more troops should be shifted from Iraq to Afghanistan. As for John McCain, yesterday was the first time he suggested such a move.
Both men also talk about military assistance to Afghanistan and Pakistan, nonmilitary aid to foster goodwill in the region and building alliances to fight terrorism.
Meanwhile, McCain – who touts his foreign policy credentials – has made the same blunder twice in two days: he has referred to events on the ground in "Czechoslovakia", a country that ceased to exist 15 years ago – in January 1993.
Here’s my question to you: Who would do a better job of capturing Osama bin Laden: Barack Obama or John McCain?
Interested to know which ones made it on air?
Obama in danger of taking himself too seriously?
FROM CNN's Jack Cafferty:
One of the jobs of American presidents, whether they realize it or not, is to make us laugh.
You need look no farther than George W. Bush. But if you want to look farther, there's a gold mine of yucks. Whether it's Bill Clinton with his blue dresses and cigars, Al Gore with his robotic seriousness, Ronald Reagan sleeping through cabinet meetings, or Dan Quayle trying to spell potato. And of course, President Bush's dad meeting a grocery store scanner for the first time was priceless – as was President Carter's tale of being attacked in a rowboat by a rabbit.
But what about Barack Obama? The writers for the late night television shows admit they're having a tough time coming up with jokes about the presidential front-runner. Letterman and Leno lampoon John McCain on a regular basis, but not Barack.
Maureen Dowd wonders in her column in the New York Times this morning why not. When the New Yorker magazine cover came out, people didn't laugh. Even though it was a cartoon, they got mad. Dowd suggests with the rather dark mood of the country these days it wouldn't hurt Barack Obama to lighten up a little, because if he does, the rest of us will feel freer to have a giggle at his expense. And that's good for everyone.
Here’s my question to you: Is Barack Obama in danger of taking himself too seriously?
Interested to know which ones made it on air?
@jackcafferty on Twitter
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