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Challenging period. Downturn. Continued instability. Jeopardy. Presidents don’t use those kinds of words willingly to describe the American economy, but President Bush did in his weekly radio address today. Bush said the economy is in such bad shape that it needs an artificial boost from the government.

“After careful consideration, and discussion with members of Congress, I have concluded that additional action is needed to keep our economy growing and creating jobs,” Bush said. “Congress and my Administration need to work together to enact an economic growth package as soon as possible.” He said enactment of a stimulus package is “our most pressing economic priority.”

Bush’s goals for the stimulus package are for it to equal about 1 percent of gross domestic product, to encompass broad-based tax relief, and to be immediate and temporary. He said it should be aimed at boosting both business investment and consumer spending.

Separate from the short-term economic stimulus package, Bush urged Congress to make previous tax cuts permanent. “Unless Congress acts,” he said, “the marriage penalty will make a comeback, the child tax credit will be cut in half, the death tax will come back to life, and tax rates will go up on regular income, capital gains, and dividends.”

Democrats also emphasized America’s economic woes in a weekly radio address delivered by House Financial Services Committee Chairman Barney Frank of Massachusetts. He agreed with Bush that “the need for action is now undisputed, so we should act together and we should act quickly.”

“Democrats stand ready to work with the president and congressional Republicans to put together a bipartisan package, including tax rebates for most Americans and one-time increases in programs directed at those who are bearing the heaviest burdens in this economy,” Frank said. Democrats are “guided by the need for increased assistance to those who are unemployed, to those hit hardest by the increases in food and energy costs, and, importantly, to those who have lost their homes or are struggling to avoid foreclosure.”

Categories: Podcast of the Week, Weekly Radio Address, Taxes, Economy

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Categories: White House, Taxes, Economy

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Federal Reserve Board Chairman Ben Bernanke testified about the economy today before the House Budget Committee.

Here’s a clip of him being questioned by Texas Democrat Chet Edwards about making permanent the tax cuts from earlier this decade, about short-term actions to boost the economy and about the need for long-term fiscal responsibility by the federal government.

For more on Bernanke’s testimony, read coverage in the Los Angeles Times, The New York Times, U.S. News & World Report and The Washington Post.

Bill Beach, director of the Heritage Foundation’s Center for Data Analysis, testified to the Joint Economic Committee yesterday about plans to stimulate the economy. He argued that Congress should let the Fed take the lead on stimulating the economy in the short term and instead focus on the long term.

“Congress should take this moment of slow growth to do what it does best — to set broad economic policy.”

Categories: Texas, Producer's Picks, Budget, Taxes, Economy, Chet Edwards, Federal Reserve Board

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At least that’s what folks at The Club For Growth see as the most important legacy of Mike Huckabee, the former governor of Arkansas — and they want to make sure Michigan voters know it before they cast any ballots. Here’s the club’s latest anti-Huckabee advertisement airing in Michigan:

Categories: Arkansas, Politics, Taxes, AdWatch, Mike Huckabee

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The mortgage industry is a mess, and President Bush thinks it’s time for the federal government to help the private sector do something about it. He outlined a three-step plan in his weekly radio address:

• Giving the Federal Housing Administration greater flexibility to offer refinancing to homeowners who have good credit histories but cannot afford their current payments;
• Assembling an industry alliance that has agreed to standards for refinancing the existing loans of struggling homeowners into a private mortgage, among other steps;
• And taking regulatory action to make the mortgage industry more transparent, reliable, and fair.

Bush urged lawmakers to pass legislation to modernize the FHA and provide funding to support mortgage counseling. “Congress has not sent me a single bill to help homeowners,” he said.

In this week’s Democratic address, Sen. Richard Durbin of Illinois chastised the Republican minority for what he sees as their determination to “make this a ‘no-can-do’ Congress.” One complaint focused on the GOP’s efforts to block mortgage-related bills.

“The mortgage crisis isn’t just your neighbor’s problem any more — it’s everybody’s problem,” Durbin said. “… Yet Senate Republicans blocked two bills this week that would help families facing foreclosure hold onto their homes and keep the mortgage crisis from spreading.”

Categories: Podcast of the Week, Weekly Radio Address, Taxes, Economy

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