The Evening Wrap: The 1% Solution
At the end of a rough week for financial markets, the White House today threw its full weight behind efforts to get an economic stimulus package through Congress, even if the measure has yet to take its final shape.</br></br>Speaking at the White House late this morning, President Bush said passing a growth package was "our most pressing economic priority." Later, after traveling to a manufacturing plant in nearby Frederick, Md., Mr. Bush said, "We need to get this deal done and get it out." Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson pitched in with an afternoon press conference, in which the former Goldman Sachs CEO appeared with Ed Lazear, chairman of the president's Council of Economic Advisers. Referring to a stimulus package, he said, "If it's broad-based and simple, I believe we'll be able to get it out quickly, in time to make a real difference this year." Mr. Paulson said individual tax payers would receive the lion's share of the incentives in the package, which -- in its entirety -- would be in the ballpark of $140 billion and $150 billion, or roughly 1% of the country's gross domestic product. A Republican official, speaking to the Associated Press on the condition of anonymity, said that Mr. Bush wanted about $100 billion to go to individuals and about $50 billion channeled toward companies.</br></br>In order to get it done, Mr. Bush and the Republican minority in Congress will have to sit down and hash out a deal with representatives from the Democratic majority. But, amid signs that country's economic engine is beginning to sputter, there seems to broad bipartisan support to get a bill done. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, (D., Calif.) has said she hopes to have a bill enacted within a month. And in a prepared statement in response to Mr. Bush's comments today, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D., Nev.) said, "I am encouraged and share the president's view that we need prompt bipartisan action to strengthen our economy. I also agree that our focus must be on finding temporary measures that will do the job effectively."</br></br>---</br></br>Stock Decline Again