935 Iraq Falsehoods

Jonathan Weisman and Michael D. Shear write in The Washington Post: "Democratic candidates laid into Bush. Some even questioned why their congressional leaders were sitting down with the man they have made their common enemy."

Bush met with congressional leaders yesterday and said: "I really want to thank you all for coming, and I'm looking forward to our discussions. And -- look, there's a -- everybody wants to get something done quickly, but we want to make sure it gets done right, and make sure that we're -- everybody is realistic about a -- the timetable. . . .

"So I have got reasonable expectations about how fast something can happen, but I also am optimistic that something will happen."

Richard Wolf writes in USA Today that "[a]fter a day of meetings, however, little had been settled except the need to act fast. 'Evidently, they've agreed to agree,' said Rep. Gary Ackerman, D-N.Y., who attended the White House session. 'Everybody seems to want to hold hands and sing Kumbaya, but nobody knows the words.'"

Deficit Watch

Andrew Taylor writes for the Associated Press: "The deficit for the current budget year will jump to about $250 billion, the Congressional Budget Office estimated Wednesday, citing the weakening economy. And that figure does not reflect at least $100 billion in red ink from an economic stimulus measure in the works."

Opinion Watch

Joesph E. Stiglitz writes in a New York Times op-ed: "In 2001, the Bush administration used the impending recession as an excuse to cut taxes for upper-income Americans -- the very group that had done so well over the preceding quarter-century. The cuts were not intended to stimulate the economy, and they did so only to a limited extent. To keep the economy going, the Federal Reserve was forced to lower interest rates to an unprecedented extent and then look the other way as America engaged in reckless lending. The economy was sustained on borrowed money and borrowed time.

"The day of reckoning has come. This time we need a stimulus that stimulates. The question is, will the president and Congress put aside politics to get the job done?"

Stiglitz recommends more federal spending on unemployment insurance, on assistance to states and localities, particularly for education, and on promoting energy conservation and lower emissions.

Len Burman writes in a New York Times op-ed: "Since 2001, Washington's answer to every policy question has been the same. What should we do with a big surplus? Tax cuts. How do we beat back global terrorism? Tax cuts. Increase energy independence? Rebuild New Orleans? Expand health insurance coverage? Tax cuts, tax cuts, tax cuts.

"Now comes another question that becomes more pressing each day that the markets lose ground -- one to which taxes have long been at least part of the answer. How do we stimulate the economy to prevent or shorten a recession? One way would be to repeal the Bush tax cuts two years early, in 2009...

"[I]f they were repealed in a year, the Bush tax cuts could spur a burst of economic activity in 2008. If people knew that their tax rates were going up next year, they'd work to make sure that more of their income is taxed at this year's lower rates. Investors would likewise have a giant incentive to cash out their capital gains now to avoid paying higher taxes later. . . . If people pour their stock gains into yachts and fast cars, that's pure fiscal stimulus."

Financial Literacy Watch

Bush yesterday also announced a new President's Advisory Council on Financial Literacy: "You know, it's interesting that if we want America to be as hopeful a place as it can be, we want people owning assets. We want people investing. We want people owning homes. But oftentimes, to be able to do so requires literacy when it comes to financial matters. And sometimes people just simply don't know what they're looking at and reading. And it can lead to personal financial crisis, and that personal financial crisis, if accumulated to too many folks, hurts our country."