by Ben Rosenberg
Sports Editor
      President Barack Obama and his administration certainly are not wasting any time in the White House, as leaders of the Senate and House of Representatives negotiated a new economic stimulus bill on Feb. 12, calling for a 787 billion dollar package. Such a large sum is intended to give money back to everyday citizens and companies, which the government hopes will spark job opportunities and catalyze a dynamic economic recovery. However, both the House and Senate originally proposed a larger budget, which was cut by over 30 billion dollars in order to gain three necessary Republican votes. The Democrats were forced to compromise, and decreases were mainly to education and health programs. As a result, the bulk of the package is based on tax cuts, which were already focal points of the plan prior to the reduction of other programs.

     The effectiveness of the new package is yet to be seen, as it is much smaller than many economists believe necessary to rally the nation out of crisis. However, most critics believe that the 787 billion dollar bill was the maximum price that would convince enough borderline Republicans.

     President Obama expressed very optimistic views on the new package, claiming that it will create or save over 3.5 million jobs. His swift action in office demonstrates how the Democrats truly have control over the government and are addressing the economic crisis with what Obama says is “the urgency that this moment demands.” The president hoped that an economic stimulus bill would allow him to claim bipartisanship in legislation, but no Republican members of the House voted for the bill, and only three Republican senators buried the hatchet in order to allow the stimulus to pass. In fact, most Republicans are in direct opposition to the bill, refuting Obama’s claim that it will “get the economy back on track.” For instance, Representative John Boehner of Ohio called the economic bill an instance of “wasteful government spending,” and Louisiana’s Governor Bobby Jindal claimed it will “increase our taxes down the line, and saddle future generations with debt.”

     With such an economic decline, it is possible that a failed stimulus package could exacerbate the situation and cause the nation to spiral into another Great Depression. However, success could keep the current crisis from worsening and possibly restore America’s economy to its previous state in the long-run. President Obama hopes to have cut the deficit in half by the end of his term in January of 2013, pledging that “the United States of America will emerge stronger than before.” The first big move by the Obama administration is a risky one, but desperate times call for desperate measures, and a 787 billion dollar stimulus package might be their first step in the right direction.
 
(sources: nytimes.com, mercurynews.com, news.yahoo.com)