Recession politics

As the financial crisis continues, America's politicians have a difficult job ahead of them. We look at comment from the US press.

International Herald Tribune

The job numbers for October, released by the U.S. government … leave no doubt that America is in a recession that will be deep and painful. As President-elect Barack Obama said … Congress cannot wait for a new administration to take action.

Lawmakers, no matter how lame-duck they may be, have a duty to pass an extension of unemployment benefits and other measures that directly address surging joblessness and shrinking incomes. Obama was right to endorse this approach, but as he noted, there is already a sitting president. If President Bush and his team care about their legacy, they should support a real stimulus plan, or at the very least not block or distort it. …

The Bush administration has rightly thrown money at the crisis, and it must now throw more money at the economic downturn. But it must be smart money. Unemployment benefits, food stamps and federal aid to states and cities yield the biggest return for every dollar spent. They are also easy to pare when the economy recovers. Tax rebates and other tax cuts, in contrast, pack relatively little bang for the buck. …

It is not the content of a stimulus bill that is difficult, it is the politics. For Bush and Congress, this is one final chance to act on principle for a nation they have so often neglected and disappointed.