For general discussion and debate. Possible talking point: Bailout Nation!
President-elect Barack Obama's team is considering a plan to boost the recession-hit U.S. economy that could be far larger than previous estimates and might reach $1 trillion over two years, the Wall Street Journal reported on Saturday. Obama aides, who were considering a half-trillion dollar package two weeks ago, now consider $600 billion over two years "a very low-end estimate," the newspaper said, citing an unidentified person familiar with the matter.
On Friday, Sen. Tom Coburn (R-Okla.) predicted the FY 2009 budget deficit will be $1.6 trillion. Might that end up being conservative, and the deficit next year will exceed $2 trillion? Is all this supposedly Keynesian stimulus worth that addition to our exploding debt? Didn't the failure of the New Deal prove that government can't spend its way out of economic downturns? Isn't this all very dangerous with the first baby boomers now being eligible for Social Security and Medicare? Or is the economy in so much trouble that this is all necessary?
