How's It Playing? TARP II and The Stimulus Package

Will DiNovi and I are going to try to compile this feature every day -- a smattering of opinion and first takes on what's happening in Washington from news and editorial observers outside Washington.

The Orlando Sentinel says Congress and the president still need to work towards a better stimulus plan.

 

 The St. Louis Post-Dispatch has the answer to my post asking where the Republican media campaign against the stimulus has been: Rush Limbaugh. It goes on to call for serious leadership (i.e. not Rush) from both parties in reconciling the differences between the House and Senate versions of the stimulus package.

 

The Raleigh News and Observer says the president and congress are making progress in responding to the country's economic crisis but that neither the House nor Senate stimulus plans include enough infrastructure spending to make America more competitive:

 

The New Hampshire Union-Leader looks at local reaction to Judd Gregg's abstentions on the major Senate votes of the last week. It also published the following editorial harshly criticizes Obama's tactics in trying to pass the stimulus package. Like most critics of the stimulus package, though, the editors neglect to offer an alternative proposal to improve the economy

 

The Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel found Treasury Sec. Tim Geithner's pitch for a new bank bailout on Tuesday "so short on detail that it inspired uncertainty, not confidence."

 

New Orleans Times-Picayune editorial board implores the president to extend the life of the Gulf Coast recovery office.

 

It also published an interesting editorial highlighting an issue with potential implications for Bobby Jindal's potential ambitions to enter national politics -- Louisiana's massive budget shortfall, which the Times-Pic says will limit the higher education options of thousands in the state.

 

The Minneapolis Star-Tribune reported on what the two largest Minnesota-based beneficiaries of TARP -- U.S. Bancorp and TCF Financial Corp. -- are doing with the federal money they received in exchange for stock in the firms.  In their analysis, the program seems to have been successful in meeting its goals in these two instances.

 

The Philadelphia Inquirer's editorial board says that in an economy suffering from widespread lack of confidence, Geithner's presentation yesterday "only contributed to that mood."

 

Without going into specifics on TARP, The Kansas City Star says Obama and Geithner made strong cases for the administration's plans to loosen up the credit markets, ease the mortgage crisis and encourage job creation.

 

And although they didn't write an editorial on the subject, the Dallas Morning News has devoted an entire section of their oppinion web page to aggregating opinion pieces that demonstrate that the "Geithner plan bombs on release":