Even as the impact from last week’s record-setting $2 trillion relief deal has yet to be seen, work on another emergency-spending package has begun in an attempt to prevent the country from falling into economic chaos, The Wall Street Journal has reported.
“There’s talk of a multi-trillion-dollar program, given the size of the shutdown,” said Stephen Moore, a Heritage Foundation fellow who is an outside economic consultant to the Trump administration. “There’s a general recognition that we need something big to get some juice into the economy.”
Both sides of the political spectrum expect the next legislation to be a pivot from stabilization to stimulus, with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi explaining that “Next, we’ll go from emergency mitigation to recovery… to grow the economy and create more jobs.”
A major question concerning what is being called “Phase Four” legislation is whether the general spirit of cooperation and urgency can be upheld as the November elections draw closer.
Some conservatives who backed the latest legislation might be much less enthusiastic about additional such measures out of concern they could turn into a permanent expansion of government intervention in the private sector.
“I’m not sure we need a fourth package,” House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy told Fox News. “And before we go to start drafting a fourth package, I’d like these three packages just put out…to take care and get this economy moving.”
Moore explained that new spending likely will reopen ideological differences, telling the Journal that “The left is going to want to do infrastructure, welfare payments and food stamps. Our side will want to do tax cuts and deregulation.”
Brian Freeman ✉
Brian Freeman, a Newsmax writer based in Israel, has more than three decades writing and editing about culture and politics for newspapers, online and television.
© 2024 Newsmax. All rights reserved.