Bush, Obama Camps at Odds on Rescue Plans

Paulson, too, mulls more aggressive action, tapping bailout funds

(NEWSER) - Barack Obama’s financial team is constructing a $500 billion stimulus plan that it hopes to rush through Congress early in 2009, the Wall Street Journal reports. Obama would sign the bill, which is far more ambitious than anything discussed during the campaign, almost immediately after his inauguration. “This is an extraordinary time,” an aide said, “and extraordinary responses are needed.” More»

Bush-style hedging on possible 2nd stimulus isn't helping anyone

(NEWSER) - A second economic stimulus package looks increasingly necessary, and President Obama may get "caught in a political-economic trap" if he doesn't act soon, warns Paul Krugman in the New York Times. The Fed is out of the picture, and the White House has to deal with legislators convinced that "government spending is bad, even in the face of the worst slump since the Great Depression." And Krugman can't help observing: "As I said, I was afraid this would happen." More»

Ex-Bushie: Media won't call White House on its unmeasurable metric

(NEWSER) - President Obama confidently declared yesterday that the stimulus plan had already “saved or created” 150,000 American jobs and would “save or create” another 600,000 by this summer. Which is pretty surprising, former Bush official William McGurn writes in the Wall Street Journal, because the economy’s lost nearly 1.6 million jobs since the stimulus passed. But that’s the magic of the “saved or created” metric, which doesn’t actually measure anything. More»

(NEWSER) - At a White House “fiscal responsibility summit” today, President Obama opened fire on what he called the Bush administration’s “casual dishonesty” about the federal budget, Politico reports. “Contrary to the prevailing wisdom in Washington these past few years,” Obama said, “we cannot simply spend as we please and defer the consequences to the next budget, the next administration and the next generation.” More»

Request likely to set off more hand-wringing in Congress over bailout tactics

(NEWSER) - Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson called today for Congress to release the second half of the $700 billion bailout fund, but his plea isn’t being echoed at the White House—which would have to make the formal request, the Wall Street Journal reports. “It’s not necessarily true that this administration, in the remaining 31 days, I believe, will go back to Congress,” an aide to President Bush said. More»