Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, pushing for fast action on the stimulus bill, turned to a well-worn maxim: "We should not let the perfect be the enemy of the good." The bill the Senate is expected to send to a conference committee as soon as Tuesday includes provisions -- particularly the $69.8 billion one-year "patch" on the alternative minimum tax (AMT) -- that key economists and budget specialists say are less likely to have the maximum anti-recessionary impact than direct spending provisions calling for substantial purchases by all levels of government. The Senate has compounded the weaknesses in the bill by sharply cutting what economists agree are essential ingredients of a stimulus bill, including $40 billion in aid to states and $16 billion for school construction. The reaction to the changes adopted at the behest of a small but key group of "centrist" Senators -- Maine Republicans Susan Collins and Olympia Snowe, Ben Nelson (D-NE) and Arlen Specter (R-PA) -- was strong. "The compromise is worse than the original bill because it is smaller, and the changes appear to have reduced rather than increased the bang-for-buck effectiveness of the bill," said Berkeley economist J.
The $800 Billion Gamble: Economists Say Stimulus Cuts Could Be "disastrous"
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Mon, 02/09/2009 - 7:45am
Topics: senate majority leader harry reid the senate centrist senators maine republicans susan collins olympia snowe ben nelson d-ne arlen specter r-pa j bradford delong deputy assistant treasury secretary clinton ben nelson jeffrey d sachs quetelet professor sustainable development columbia eastern senate texas james galbraith california menzie d chinn public affairs wisconsin head start/early start national science foundation alternative minimum tax the amt education d-minus brookings-urban institute's tax policy tax stimulus report card the amt u.s department labor harry j holzer the congressional budget office cbo senators collins specter gdp gross domestic product source congressional budget office note senator snowe nigel gault ihs global insight ian shepherdson high frequency economics allen sinai decision economics senate senate i amt the susan collins maine no nelson specter collins sachs house medicaid university new york chinn economics the amt the in center cbo congressional budget office congress snowe the cbo gdp gdp times cuts governments state patch purchases local quarters states federal effect transfers good small agree spend country government key grade group told worse world people support money clear sorts package health goods
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