Watch a well informed discussion of the new stimulus plan President-Elect Obama offered in his weekly radio (and YouTube) address. George Stephanopoulos leads the discussion between George Will, Arianna Huffington, David Brooks and Robert Kuttner on the merits of the plan.
This is well worth the time if you want to see a well informed and civil discussion. Every point of view is represented and debated--liberal, progressive and conservative.
Discussion of President Obama's Proposal on Stimulus Spending
In another interview, Paul Krugman, 2008 Nobel Prize winner in economics, noted the need for a massive spending and employment program to get the economy away from the doorway of a major depression. We are not there, he insisted, but we could get there without an immediate implementation of a plan to get people employed and money flowing again.
Mr. Krugman also emphasized that there are two crises happening at the same time: a financial crisis on Wall Street, where the American Banking system is breaking down, and another crisis on Main Street where breadwinners are losing their jobs, can't get loans and can't make their house payments. So far, the Bush Administration has addressed only the Wall Street side of the problem. Mr. Obama's plan goes a long way to begin a remedy of the second. Mr. Krugman sees possibly another one and a half million additional jobs lost before Mr. Obama takes office.
Late breaking news on Sunday said that the Democrats in Congress would have a $700 billion stimulus plan ready for Mr. Obama's signature on the day he is sworn into office.
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