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Why Stimulus Gets a Bad Rap

By Kevin Spak, Newser Staff

Posted Aug 20, 2009 10:04 AM CDT

(Newser) – The Democrats’ $787 billion stimulus package is less popular than ever—even though it’s already working, writes David Wessel for the Wall Street Journal. The case against it is weak: Fed rate cuts hadn’t slowed the recession, already a year-old at that point, making the stimulus an appropriate move. Now the economy is improving, yet 43% of poll respondents say it was a bad idea, compared to just 27% who thought so in January.

“Marketing, it turns out, matters,” he writes. Obama wanted the bill passed quickly, so he let Congress work out the details, making it look like old-fashioned Democratic profligacy. “To the public, this is more Nancy Pelosi’s stimulus than Barack Obama’s.” Democrats also caught criticism for loading the bill with slow-acting measures, like spending on education and infrastructure—something that now seems welcome. Climbing out of this recession will be a slow process, Wessel concludes, and sustained stimulus will help.

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People take part in a tax day protest at the Capitol in Nashville, Tenn., Wednesday, April 15, 2009. (AP Photo/Mark Humphrey)

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There's no doubt that Mr. Obama and congressional allies used the stimulus as a way to pursue their spending agenda. Still, though it wasn't obvious in January, it now looks like a slow-acting federal stimulus is welcome. - David Wessel

The case that fiscal stimulus was a mistake altogether is weak. The recession was more than a year old when Mr. Obama took office, the Fed already had cut interest rates to zero and the economy was still in free fall. - David Wessel

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COMMENTS

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Showing 3 of 17 comments

Shannonals

Aug 21, 2009 2:36 AM CDT

Your not an independant rightthing, heck your not even a Republican. Each and everytime you insult others all your doing is reflecting just how ignorant a person you truly are. Perhaps if you gave an opinion without attemtping to come across like a know-it-all than you would have a better chance of getting your train of thought taken seriously

Doctor-Zaius

Aug 20, 2009 7:22 AM CDT

Sorry Annie. I'll try to sqeal like a little girl with emotion filled arguments. You know, like mr. Rightthing does.

AnnieChrist

Aug 20, 2009 7:13 AM CDT

And let me point out rightwingthing's perceptive knowledge of economic history. Under his reading of history, Jimmy Carter was the first President, the Presidencies of R Nixon and G Ford never existed, with their 10-12 % yearly inflation and double digit interest rates. Just as Barack Obama inherited a perfect world, so did Jimmy Carter. The republican presidencies that preceded them, running up record deficits primarily from wars of aggression, are just figments of the librul media's making. Rightwingthing, I've tried MapQuest, Google Maps and a host of others to find directions to your alternate universe, but to no avail. Help me out here.

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Nancy Pelosi • Barack Obama • recession • infrastructure • economic stimulus package • financial crisis • American Recovery and Reinvestment Act

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