Will a stimulus package help Americans cope with a slowing economy?

Published: 2008-02-01

WASHINGTON (CNS) -- In another era, it was said that when General Motors sneezes the economy catches a cold. In today's financial markets this analogy may be more apropos: When the mortgage lending industry eats too much too fast, the economy gets an upset stomach. And the federal government hopes that a $146 billion stimulus package will be the remedy that makes it go away. Despite the agreement between the president and Congress, there was skepticism mixed with optimism that the deficit-spending package, passed Jan. 29 by the House, will do the trick. "We believe that much more needs to be done by the administration and Congress to help those who have been living in poverty for a long time," said Father Larry Snyder, president of Catholic Charities USA, in a Jan. 29 statement. "The plan does not go far enough to address the urgent needs of the poorest Americans," he added. Rep. Tim Ryan, D-Ohio, a Catholic, said in a Jan. 29 statement, "The president should be focused much more on domestic programs which will actually help the American middle class rather than trying to make his tax cuts to the richest 1 percent permanent."

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