Here Comes The Stimulus

"Nobody thinks this bill is perfect," says Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.), of the economic stimulus package Congress may approve by President Obama's Presidents' Day deadline. "But… Americans urgently need our help… Working families across the country are watching and waiting. Time is running out."

The $787 billion government spending bill, an unprecedented attempt to jumpstart the economy, includes infrastructure projects intended to generate millions of jobs, numerous tax breaks, and help for the neediest in the form of food stamps, additional unemployment benefits and payments to the disabled.

Many Republicans are critical of the legislation, which prompted GOP Sen. Judd Gregg to withdraw his nomination as Commerce Secretary, citing "irresolvable conflicts" on "many critical items of policy."

Meanwhile U.S. intelligence agencies, in their annual threat assessment, have elevated the global economic crisis to the rank of most serious near-term concern for U.S. security, with the potential to spark destructive protectionist trade wars. "The longer it takes for the recovery to begin," says the report, "the greater the likelihood of serious damage to U.S. strategic interests."

While at least half of the American public appears to favor some kind of economic stimulus, opinion continues to run the gamut on what kind of action the government should take to get things going again. For a fast trip through public opinion of all stripes on the web, see "Tracking The Trillions," by Bill Hallowell, at FacingUp.org, our web site about the escalating problem of the budget deficit and national debt. And for more on our economic choices, see our Citizen's Survival Kit.