The Big Sell

Selling the Financial Stability Plan might be even more difficult for the administration than convincing the American public that in the short term, adding nearly $1 trillion to the debt is the only way to prevent $1 trillion of economic growth from not being realized. Early on, the following interests seem to like the plan: Congress, the Business Roundtable....the Real Estate Roundtable (which loves the expansion of the Federal Reserve's asset backed loan facility), the mortgage industry. Who doesn't? The market, which is skeptical that investors will want to risk contributing to the government's Public-Private Initiative -- and the realization that the government, in a time of unmatched crisis, is putting even more of its assets on the line.

Elsewhere: The Elkhart Truth, the local newspaper for Elkhart, Indiana, sees the President's appearance and press conference there yesterday as a sign that "Obama is fighting on our behalf, as promised." The Rocky Mountain News is concerned that the stimulus package is doing too much to expand health care entitlements. The Las Vegas Sun's editorial board argues "Republicans should end the political grandstanding and vote yes on the stimulus bill. The Des Moines Register seconds the call to avoid delays in passing the stimulus bill. Yesterday, the Concord (NH) Monitor's editorial board argued it was time to bring back the Civilian Conservation Corps and the Works Projects Administration. And, on a different subject altogether, here's an interesting editorial from the Denver Post expressing concern about the enormous costs incurred by the U.S. prison system.

This article available online at:

http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2009/02/the-big-sell/488/