Obama, Paulson May Ask for a Combined $1.2 Trillion from Skeptical Congress
Source: http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/ContrarianProfits/~3/489678946/10373Posted on Friday, December 19th, 2008 | In Market Commentary
A price tag has emerged for President-elect Barack Obama’s infrastructure stimulus, $850 billion, according to one of his advisers. His team calculates the figure is necessary to create 2.5 million jobs, improve an array of infrastructure projects, and bolster unemployment, health-care, and renewable energy programs, lawmakers told Bloomberg.
In the shorter term, U.S. Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson may ask for the other half of October’s $700 billion Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP), money originally earmarked for bank rescue but now possibly a source for a highly anticipated auto bailout, Bloomberg also reported.
But for Obama to begin his spending spree, and for Paulson to continue his, each will genuflect before Congress to get the money. The combined total is about $1.2 trillion, but some analysts believe that figure could be higher.
Paulson says the money he’s requesting is urgent, and would be asking a Congress that officially isn’t in session until the New Year. As a compromise, Paulson has indicated that he could use the extra money to also help troubled automakers General Motors Corp. (GM) and Chrysler LLC.
So far, banks on the receiving end of Paulson’s spending spree haven’t been shoring up their shoddy mortgage holdings, but rather going on their own spending sprees – increasing stakes in foreign holdings and buying up weakened banks that didn’t receive federal aid.
Safe to say, he’s losing fans.
“Please don’t come here and ask for another penny, because if you do, I’m going to work 24 hours a day with the same people that I worked with to support you to make sure that they do not support giving you another dime,” Rep. Maxine Waters, D-Calif., said at a Dec. 10 House hearing.
That’s not to say it will be easy for Obama, either. Even though he’ll be speaking to a Congress with some of the very Democrats that surfed into congress on his wave of support, the idea of writing out yet another taxpayer check – this time for $850 billion – could struggle to find support.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi doesn’t said Monday that the pending stimulus package should cost about $600 billion, with $400 billion for investments and other government aid and $200 billion in tax cuts, Reuters reported.
Source: Obama, Paulson May Ask for a Combined $1.2 Trillion from Skeptical Congress
Last 5 posts by Contrarian Profits
- How do retail sales stack up in an atypical recovery? - November 24th, 2009
- The Best Energy Investments in the World - November 23rd, 2009
- Transportation Sector: powered by recovery - November 23rd, 2009
- The Dollar, the Euro, and being Bullish on Gold - November 20th, 2009
- Audit the Fed – Amendment to a $200 billion bill frightens currency traders! - November 20th, 2009
bank rescue, Barack Obama, bloomberg, California, Chrysler LLC, Congress, contrarian profits, General Motors Corp, Henry Paulson, Market Commentary, Maxine Waters;, Nancy Pelosi, New Year's Day, renewable energy programs;, Reuters, Us Treasury, USD
ContrarianProfits.com is a financial news and opinion website with a twist. As investment guru Rick Rule puts it, “You are either a contrarian or a victim.” In the financial world, most people are losers because they just don’t know what game they’re playing. They think they can just get “into the market” along with everyone else, do what everyone else does, and they will make money. Not likely. By the time you’ve paid commissions, spreads, fees, taxes – and suffered the consequences of inflation – you’ll be very lucky just to have as much money as you started with.
ContrarianProfits.com is a contrarian site, in the sense that we provide ideas, opinions and recommendations that often run counter to the mainstream financial press. We do this not just to be contrary, but because we’ve realized that Rick is right. You don’t make money by following the crowd; you make money by leading it.
Why is this so? Well, it’s obvious that if you do the same thing everyone else does you’ll get the same results everyone else gets. On average, and over the long run, real investment returns for the typical investor cannot exceed the rate of growth of the economy itself. Everybody can’t get richer faster than everybody else. Real economic growth in the US today averages about 3% per year; if you don’t make any mistakes, that’s about what you can expect. Few people may be satisfied with 3% per year, but most feel comfortable in the middle of the financial herd and are happy to take whatever that gets them. If you’re one of those people, you will probably not like our site. It will make you uncomfortable.
If, on the other hand, you’re willing to look at things a little differently, you’ll appreciate the views of many of our columnists, contributors and visionaries.
No recommendations, either expressed or implied, are being made to buy, sell, hold or short any of the mentioned stocks. No legal, tax or accounting advice is expressed or implied. Always contact your attorney, CPA, or tax advisor before acting on any legal or tax issues. StraightStocks.com is not responsible for the content, products, or services of any of the advertisers on this site. StraightStocks.com receives compensation from advertisers on this blog. Services and products referred to herein are trademarks, registered trademarks, servicemarks, and/or registered servicemarks of their respective trademark or servicemark owners.