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Even more stimulation

By Tom Temin FederalNewsRadio Could another stimulus package be on the way? It’s a possibility according to top House democrats. Q: This would be on top o...

Federal News Network Staff

March 11, 2009 7:30 am

2 min read

wfedstaff | June 2, 2015 7:32 pm

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By Tom Temin
FederalNewsRadio

Could another stimulus package be on the way? It’s a possibility according to top House democrats.

Q: This would be on top of the $787 billion dollar stimulus package that just passed in Congress. Why do House Democrats think this could be a good idea?

A: The Democratic Steering and Policy Committee met yesterday with a group of economists – the same group of economists that advised them when they were crafting the last stimulus package that was just passed. Some of these economists, like Mark Zandi of Moody’s Economy.com, believe that billions more will need to be spent in the coming months to pull the country out of the current economic crisis. They say another stimulus package may be the answer.

Keep in mind that the stimulus package that was just passed – its real name is the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act – has barely begun to spin out money. Most federal agency managers are still figuring out how they will account for the money they have received. Never before has the government received a figure equal to nearly twice the annual budget, with orders to spend it as fast as possible.

Q: Which Democrats are leading the charge for another stimulus package?

A: House Speaker Nancy Pelosi agreed yesterday that another stimulus package could be in the works. Pelosi says the door needs to be kept open. In fact, she had pushed for a larger stimulus bill the last time around. The bill the House initially passed was worth $819 billion dollars.

The Obama Administration hasn’t specifically responded to Pelosi’s comments from yesterday but it hasn’t ruled out the possibility of another stimulus package. Last month, White House press secretary Robert Gibbs said there were no particular plans at that point for a second stimulus package but he wouldn’t foreclose it.

For more, see FoxNews – Pelosi: Congress Needs to ‘Keep the Door Open’ to Another Stimulus Package and The Hill – House Dems eyeing another stimulus bill