Stimulus package

It sure looked last week like allowing bankruptcy judges to modify mortgage loans and keep people in their homes finally was getting somewhere. After two years of opposing any such move, Citigroup announced it was getting on board with the idea, with some limitations. Sen. Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) praised the bank’s “courage” and predicted others [...]

Has the economy scared you into cutting back on your spending, paying down your credit cards, getting your budget in order? Good for you, but bad for the country’s financial health, the Wall Street Journal points out today. Big-spending Americans have dramatically changed their habits, and economists expect the savings rate, which has dipped below [...]

The states’ collective budget shortfall is estimated to be $30 billion and rising. Required by law to balance their books, states are cutting social services even as demand is rising. Can Congress come to the rescue?

In what might be a preview of a tough partisan battle ahead, the Bush administration’s chief economic adviser said Thursday that the Wall Street bailout (the Troubled Asset Relief Program, or TARP) is “the appropriate” strategy to address the nation’s sputtering economy.
Congressional Democrats are hoping to move a new stimulus package next month that would [...]

Not only would new investment in neglected road, bridge and other infrastructure strengthen the country’s structural backbone, experts argue, it would replace lost jobs and help the country climb out of the current recession.

Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke gave a boost to congressional Democratic leaders, bolstering their plan for additional economic infusion.

U.S. consumers have cut back spending — which should be good news because economists and financial counselors have long urged them to pay down their debt, especially on credit cards. But when everyone does it, you get a nasty recession. Congress may have to come to the rescue with a second stimulus package.