WASHINGTON - Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson predicted Friday that the administration and Congress can come together quickly to enact a stimulus package that would bring help within weeks to an economy that is threatening to topple into a recession.
Paulson said he had been consulting with leaders of Congress from both parties and felt confident that all sides can agree on a common objective to enact a temporary stimulus package that will be "robust and simple."
Paulson, interviewed on NBC's "Today" show, said that the biggest part of the package should be focused on consumers, "getting money to them so they will spend it."
Congressional aides said that the administration is examining providing rebates of up to $800 for individual taxpayers and $1,600 for families.
That would be significantly higher than the $300 per individual and $600 per family that was provided in an economic stimulus package provided in 2001 to fight the last recession.
Paulson took issue with critics who say that the tax rebates in 2001 failed stimulate the economy. He said studies showed that the rebates did work.
"The evidence was that people spent between a third and two-thirds of the money and spent it quickly," he said.
On the economy, Paulson said recent economic reports had been "mixed and more negative" after very strong growth in the summer. Paulson said that was the reason Bush felt it was important to quickly approve a stimulus package.
"We need to do something that's going to be robust, we need to do something that's going to be temporary, and we need to do something that's going to get money into the economy quickly," he said on ABC's "Good Morning America."
Asked whether such a plan could inject money into the economy within weeks, Paulson said, "Yeah, weeks."
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