TImely, Targeted and Temporary

My Rural America congratulates House Speaker Nancy Pelosi for her leadership ... for taking things in her own hands ... and going the extra mile to negotiate with President Bush. The result -- a $150 billion package which will put immediate (think May or June) money into the people who need it the most, should be considered a very serious step in the right direction toward right-ing an almost backwards economy whose symbols have been the sinking dollar, a shrinking middle class, and a big rise in everyday household needs as well as business inputs.

On our list of good things about the stimulus package:

• The package meets the three "T's" ... timely, targeted and temporary ... all essential requirements for effective economic stimulus actions that economists say are the most effective short term tools for starting up a stalled economy.
• Ms. Pelosi's actions have put the Republicans to abandon their push to make Mr. Bush's 2001 tax cuts permanent.
  
• Her action also stopped the rebates ($600 per individual, $1200 per family) from benefiting high income households.

Perhaps best of all is the fact that this stimulus tax package is simple. It really is a compromise not only by the President but also by some traditional Democrats who would have liked to add more items, and more cost, to the package, so NO--permanent tax cuts for the President and NO--extra food stamps or lengthened unemployment assistance for Democratic supporters.

Monday night -- January 28th, is the President's State of the Union. We're glad he's agreed to the tax stimulus package but it will be interesting to watch him talk about the economy, i.e., our economy that has so long been ignored by this President.

Note here: The economy has been more that just "a little bit" stalled for quite awhile. Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and many Democrats in both the House and the Senate have publicly worried about the direction the economy has been going for almost a year now. Among the warning signs: people balancing multiple jobs to make ends meet, the ever increasing cost of oil, the up-and-down stock market and the home mortgage crisis.

There are many good stories available about the tax stimulus package and actions leading up to it, but three of our favorites are the following: "Tax Stimulus Package May Come by Mid-May" by Julie Hirschfield Davis (Washington Post 1/27/08); "For Speaker, Calculated Stimulus Steps" by Carl Hulse (New York Times 1/27/08), and; "Bush's Legacy - Weak Economy Moves Up Front" by Sheryl Gary Stolberg (New York Times (1/27/08).