Economic Adviser Defends Stimulus Plan

By Courtney Ann Jackson-Talk Radio News Service

The economy is far from healthy according to Christina Romer Council of Economic Advisers Chair, but the adviser is still optimistic over the effectiveness of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.

“We are urging serious medicine for serious economic problems. If we can accomplish these important changes we will not only come through the current crisis, we will emerge even stronger and healthier than before.” said Romer Thursday at an Economic Club of Washington event.

The Recovery Act provided $787 billion of tax cuts and government spending. Romer said that makes it “the boldest counter cyclical fiscal stimulus in American history.” She noted that the economy was deteriorating rapidly when President Obama announced his economic team just before Thanksgiving.

While the plan has garnered a substantial amount of controversy, Romer pointed to the use of fiscal stimulus to help weak economies by past presidents including Dwight Eisenhower, Gerald Ford, and George W. Bush.

“In the past few months, some have tried to portray fiscal stimulus as an exotic tool with a questionable pedigree,” said Romer. “To use a medical analogy, fiscal stimulus is a well-tested antibiotic, not some new-fangled gene therapy.”

She said the effects of the Recovery will increase over time and they expect the fiscal stimulus to be “roughly $100 billion in each of the next five quarters.” Initially the stimulus was focused more heavily toward tax changes and state fiscal relief, but there will be more direct government investments as it continues.

“The President aimed for a package that was large and got good employment bang for the fiscal buck,” said Romer.

Ambulance Called In: Health Care Reform In Serious Condition

By Courtney Ann Jackson-Talk Radio News Service

Senate Democrats are pushing to get a health care reform bill moving forward and closer to passage. Senator Chris Dodd (D-Conn.) and Senator Patty Murray (D-Wash.) held a press conference Wednesday to discuss the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee’s efforts to improve the healthcare system. Dodd is leading the committee’s mark-up of the health reform bill and said over 200 amendments to the bill have been made in the past five days.

The Senators appeared in front of an ambulance that featured the words "Pass Health Care Reform." The ambulance from Families USA included a ticker of the number of families losing health care coverage.

“The present situation on health care is not just unacceptable, it’s unsustainable from an economic standpoint. You cannot have as much of our gross domestic product be consumed by health care costs [that are] mounting everyday in this nation and expect our economy to thrive and prosper in the years ahead. This is the issue that makes our economic recovery, in the long term, the most difficult,” said Dodd.

Murray said reform is not just for the uninsured since families with health care coverage are having to pay for those without. The current system is not working, according to Murray, who assured that Congress will “do what’s right for America.”

Dodd said he would like to have the bill out of the committee before the Senate’s July 4th recess, but noted that doing so may pose a challenge.

“I would love to complete all of it but realistically it may be impossible to get all of that done,” said Dodd. “I hope during the 4th of July break what we have done already could be melded with what the Finance Committee is dealing with so they don’t lose the opportunity of time over the following week.”

Just a Spoonful "Economic Medicine"

By Courtney Ann Jackson-Talk Radio News Service

The Recovery Act is doing just as its name promised, according a press conference Wednesday from the office of Vice President Joe Biden. Biden released his first of a series of quarterly reports to President Barack Obama Wednesday morning.

In an on background conference call, a senior administration official from the Vice President’s Office said the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act has shown “early progress providing immediate financial relief for American families.”

The recession has been broad-based, causing unemployment to rise across the country. However, the Recovery Act has been responsible for creation of 150,000 new jobs so far, across all 50 states, including those in areas where it is most needed. “There are programs targeted to specific high unemployment
areas,” the official said.

The report discussions on state fiscal stabilization funds highlights Wisconsin’s application. It is is a good example of how states are “ramping up,” according to the official.

“The report find the anticipated funds are already having an effect on economic and job growth as private sector companies step up to meet expected demand for their projects under the act and state governments adjust their spending plans and they expect to received additional funds,” the
official said.

The Cost Of Swine Flu Unknown

By Kayleigh Harvey - Talk Radio News Service

A hearing on the economic outlook turned to swine flu today and raised the question “are we ready to cover the costs?”

Dr. Christina Romer, Chair of the Council for Economic Advisors, came to the House Joint Economic with upbeat news that, “during the first one hundred days if the Obama administration...the Recovery Act has already saved or created about 150,000 jobs,” said Romer. Adding “that most of the benefits of the Recovery Act are yet to come... our
estimates remain that the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act spending will create or save 3.5 million jobs before the end of next year.”

This information was over-shadowed however when Congressman Vic Snyder (D-Ark.) turned the topic to the developing outbreak of swine flu. He asked Dr. Romer, “How should we view the added uncertainty in the economy both here and abroad that may be created the threat of a major health flu pandemic around the world?”

Romer said that swine flu was of “major concern” to the administration. In terms of the economic effects caused by a swine flu pandemic, Romer said effects would depend on “how severe it is,” and that they are working on collating information concerning the swine flu outbreak. At the moment the true cost factor looked “uncertain,” said Romer.

Adding to her point Romer said, “uncertainty is probably the biggest effect at this point. Whether it will make consumers nervous. Whether it will, you know, government will have to take actions, that unfortunately will have economic consequences, that is what we are facing.”

Closing on this topic Romer stressed, that the top priority of the administration was to, “do whatever it takes to ensure that lives are saved.”

The cost of the swine flu pandemic to the American citizen remains unknown until the severity of the outbreak unveiled.

Bi-partisan Bill Gives Obama More Power Over Iran Sanctions

By Kayleigh Harvey - Talk Radio News Service

Liberals and Conservatives stood together at a Senate press conference today to discuss the Iran Refined Petroleum Sanctions Act.

Senator Evan Bayh (R-Ind.) author of the bill, along with Senators Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.) and Senator Jon Kyl (D-Ind.), said that bi-partisanship had been achieved on this bill because of the “critical importance of this issue.”

The purpose of the legislation, which expands on the Iran Sanction of 1996, Lieberman said is, “to empower President Obama...by providing him with the explicit authority to target Iran’s achilles economic heel, which is its dependence on imports of petroleum...most notably gasoline.”

Lieberman accused previous legislation of being “quite ambiguous” and said that this legislation would “eliminate” that ambiguity. The new proposal would provide the President with a “powerful new weapon to use in the negotiations with Iran,” said Lieberman. Adding it is up to President Obama to decide, “when, where and against whom to use it.”

Bayh said the bill would help to “strengthen the President’s outreach” to Iran. Adding “if events continue go as they are currently going, then at some point during the next two to four years Iran will have a nuclear weapon”. This would have a “destabilizing” effect on the entire world,” said Bayh. This bill, he said, “gives us our best opportunity to avoid that outcome without the resort to military force.”

Kyl said the bill gives the President the tool to “stop companies who continue to sell refined gasoline to Iran or provide refining capacity from doing business in the United States or through the American banking systems.”

“In effect what we are saying to the few companies in the world who provide this refined gasoline to Iran is, ‘You can either do business in our $13 trillion economy with us, or you can do business with Iran with its $250 billion economy, but you can’t do both,’” said Kyl.

In closing Lieberman said, “this is important legislation introduced at a critical time whose consequences for the people of America, Iran, Israel and the Arab world are going to be quite serious.” Adding that he hoped this bill would make it “more likely” for the “diplomatic engagements” between President Obama and the Irani government to succeed and that “they will peacefully abandon their nuclear ambitions.”

Twenty-five U.S. Senators, from both parties, have currently signed their name as a co-sponsors to this piece of legislation.