Maloney, Schumer, Clinton Call For Stimulus Package

Citing the continuing economic downturn and little chance that a consumer-led recovery will occur because of high unemployment, soaring prices and personal debt levels, United States Senator Charles Schumer and Congressmember Carolyn Maloney have called for another stimulus package similar to the one initiated by President George W. Bush this past April to help spark a recovery.

Also calling for another stimulus package, U.S. Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton spoke with Bush in New York City on Veterans Day.

Schumer and Maloney released a new Joint Economic Committee (JEC) report showing that the current economic slide followed the weakest recovery on record. It showed, they said, families are facing rising unemployment, high prices across the consumer spectrum, dwindling assets, historically high debt and real income remaining lower than it was more than eight years ago.

All these indicators, they said, make prospects for a consumer-led recovery highly unlikely. Without government intervention, the current downturn could be particularly long-lasting and severe.

Schumer, the (JEC) chairman, stated: "The American economy very much needs a second stimulus because we not only have to bolster Wall Street, but Main Street. With unemployment up and jobs down, it is very important to prime the pump of the economy."

Maloney, JEC vice-chair, said the report cited "merely documents what American families already know. During the last eight years, Americans have gone deeper in debt in a losing battle to try and keep their standard of living during the worst economic recovery in history.

"For the first time since World War II, real family income has not returned to a pre-recession level, leaving Americans even less able to make ends meet as we enter the second recession of the presidency of George W. Bush. This is the final verdict on a failed economic policy. The very least we in Washington can do is to provide American families with a real economic stimulus plan that helps Main Street."

Clinton in her talk with the president and in a follow-up letter, outlined measures to help those Americans hit hardest by the current downturn and spur economic growth.

The lawmaker called for investments in infrastructure projects and clean energy jobs in New York and across the country that could quickly put hundreds of thousands of Americans to work as well as facilitate long-term economic growth. She also urged the president and congressional leaders to extend unemployment insurance benefits, provide assistance to cities and states to prevent cuts to critical services and establish mortgage modification programs that would keep American families in their homes and address the underlying cause of the financial crisis.

"I think that we are in a recession and it demands decisive action," she said. "That's why I'm strongly in support of a stimulus package that I hope we can act on next week when the Congress reconvenes."

She asked Bush when she had met with him on Veterans Day, "to work with the Congressional leadership so that we could get a stimulus package".