The 12 Democratic (and 41 GOP) Senators Stifling the Economy
Posted August 22, 2010 at 3:00 pm, in From Campaign for America's Future
Bill Scher
By Bill Scher
Executive editor of LiberalOasis.com
As we try to digest another bitter morsel of economic news — higher numbers of unemployment insurance applications suggesting a return to job cutting — the White House appears handcuffed from doing anything about it.
And I can give you 53 reasons why.
Reuters’ Felix Salmon, following a blogger/reporter session with the Treasury Secretary, writes:
The big picture [from Treasury] is that although the recovery started off stronger than Treasury had hoped, the broad economy is still in a pretty weak position. The Fed is doing its part to try to keep a certain amount of momentum going, but fiscal policy is harder, because it needs the cooperation of Congress. And it’s far from clear what kind of fiscal legislation can be passed at this point.
Politico’s Mike Allen, who also attended the session, writes more breathlessly, in the voice of the collective White House:
…we can’t tell how to alter the current political constraints. RIGHT NOW, NOTHING IS POSSIBLE, except maybe the small-business package. People aren’t happy with how strong the economy is, and are worried about unemployment. But moderate Senate Rs and Ds don’t believe in the efficacy of most government efforts to mitigate that. Even where they do, they don’t want to do it without paying for them. And they don’t want to pay for anything. (more…)
