Thursday
Jan222009
Steny Hoyer pen and pad session
Thursday, January 22, 2009 at 5:52PM
House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer repeatedly stressed a desire for bipartisan cooperation at a Capitol briefing.
The first item on his agenda is the Recovery and Reinvestment act. He confirmed that this the deepest recession in 70 years.
Mark Zandy, chief economist and cofounder of Moody’s Economy.com, was McCain’s financial adviser. This is important, Hoyer said, because Zandy recently described the proposed package as large enough to provide a real stimulus, but not so large as to drive interest rates up. “In other words, it’s just about right,” Hoyer said. The net effect may be enough to stop the downward slide, though the recovery is going to be a protracted process, Hoyer said. Only diligent, consistent government action can make a long-term improvement in the nation’s financial health, he said.
Hoyer said that the concurrence of McCain’s and Obama’s top advisers should encourage bipartisan support of the bill. He noted that the Democratic Congress had worked with Former President Bush on TARP in a way Republicans did not.
The first item on his agenda is the Recovery and Reinvestment act. He confirmed that this the deepest recession in 70 years.
Mark Zandy, chief economist and cofounder of Moody’s Economy.com, was McCain’s financial adviser. This is important, Hoyer said, because Zandy recently described the proposed package as large enough to provide a real stimulus, but not so large as to drive interest rates up. “In other words, it’s just about right,” Hoyer said. The net effect may be enough to stop the downward slide, though the recovery is going to be a protracted process, Hoyer said. Only diligent, consistent government action can make a long-term improvement in the nation’s financial health, he said.
Hoyer said that the concurrence of McCain’s and Obama’s top advisers should encourage bipartisan support of the bill. He noted that the Democratic Congress had worked with Former President Bush on TARP in a way Republicans did not.
Pelosi: “Recovery Act Is A Gift That Keeps On Giving”
Today, at her weekly press conference, Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi brought good news when she announced that $250 checks were on their way to 50 million seniors and disabled veterans. The check is part of the $700 billion The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, which was passed by Congress in February 2009.
“The recovery act is a gift that keeps on giving,” Pelosi said, adding that “Right now these checks are in the mail, and in June the checks for the disabled veterans will be there. Of course we hope that this will continue to stimulate the economy as it helps people make ends meet.
“In the past seven days there’s been good news for consumers and taxpayers. We’ve had the Credit Card Holder’s Bill of Rights which passed at the end of last week. Today we have the Anti-Fraud Bill which contains a Commission to look into how the financial collapse occurred and we can make sure that it doesn’t ever happen again, and tomorrow we will have the Predatory Mortgage Lending Bill. So as part of the President’s initiative to stabilize the economy to protect the taxpayer and the consumer we have three important pieces of legislation,” she said.
Pelosi joked at the end of her address, and said, “Aren’t you glad the first hundred days is over?”