Pelosi: Congress Needs to 'Keep the Door Open' to Second Stimulus Package
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House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said Tuesday that Congress needs to "keep the door open" to a second stimulus package -- raising the question of how much the government could eventually spend on top of the $787 billion already allocated to rescue the country from dire economic straits.
"The word of the day is confidence. Confidence in our markets, confidence in lending, confidence in our financial institutions," Pelosi said before suggesting the need for a second rescue package during a press conference Tuesday following a meeting with top economists.
Mark Zandi, chief economist and founder of Moody's Economy, took a more definitive stance than Pelosi, telling reporters a second stimulus bill is necessary.
"We are going to need more taxpayer money ... I think another stimulus package is a reasonable assumption because of the way things are going," Zandi said.
The Obama administration has not ruled out a second stimulus package -- should the current bill prove insufficient -- but it has not indicated a second bill is currently in the making either.
White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs told reporters on Feb. 17 that Obama "is going to do what's necessary to grow this economy." While "there are no particular plans at this point for a second stimulus package," he added, "I wouldn't foreclose it."
But Allen Sinai, the chief global economist at Decision Economics Inc. who was also present at Tuesday's meeting, disagreed over the need for a second rescue bill, telling reporters that more patience is necessary.
"Nobody should expect miracles ... quick results," Sinai said. "Patience doesn't always look good ... you have to wait."
