Senator Chuck Grassley says if congress drafts another economic stimulus package in November, it should include tax cuts. "I want to do what does the most good and I think one of the best economic stimulus packages we can have would be some reductions of taxes because that encourages investment," Grassley says.
Congress passed a 168-billion dollar stimulus package in February that put checks in the hands of individual Americans who made less than $75,000 a year and couples who earned less than $150,000. Yesterday, the chairman of the Federal Reserve said a second stimulus package would be "appropriate," but Grassley — a Republican — is leery of ideas advanced by Democrats to put money into public works projects, like building roads and bridges.
"The money doesn’t get spent until after you get through a recession because it takes a long time to get these jobs up and running and a long time to get people hired," Grassley says. The U.S. economy isn’t yet in a recession because a recession is defined as two consecutive quarters of "negative economic growth," according to Grassley.
"It may be going on, but it hasn’t been officially established yet and (a recession) may not happen, but if it does and it’s for longer than half-a-year, I think we do need such a package," Grassley says. "But it isn’t so much if we need one or not. It’s how it’s structured." Grassley is the top Republican on the Senate Finance Committee, a panel that was involved in crafting the economic stimulus package congress passed this past winter.