February 3, 2009 7:28 PM
- Text
Notebook: Economic Stimulus
Katie's on assignment. I'm Michelle Miller.
A hundred billion here, $100 billion there. It's hard to comprehend the money being tossed around in the Senate. The economic stimulus bill has already grown by about $70 billion since it passed the House. It would now cost almost $900 billion and could get fatter - possibly topping $1 trillion.
One add-on to spend an additional $25 billion on infrastructure projects narrowly failed today. But there are still proposals to spend billions more for health insurance, special education, local police departments or to lower mortgage costs.
It almost doesn't seem real, like they're paying with Monopoly money. But it is very real indeed. The current price tag breaks down to nearly $3,000 for every man, woman and child in America. The trick will be cutting the pork and picking the projects that will let the bill do what it's supposed to: stimulate the economy.
A hundred billion here, $100 billion there. It's hard to comprehend the money being tossed around in the Senate. The economic stimulus bill has already grown by about $70 billion since it passed the House. It would now cost almost $900 billion and could get fatter - possibly topping $1 trillion.
One add-on to spend an additional $25 billion on infrastructure projects narrowly failed today. But there are still proposals to spend billions more for health insurance, special education, local police departments or to lower mortgage costs.
It almost doesn't seem real, like they're paying with Monopoly money. But it is very real indeed. The current price tag breaks down to nearly $3,000 for every man, woman and child in America. The trick will be cutting the pork and picking the projects that will let the bill do what it's supposed to: stimulate the economy.
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