MESSAGE
| DATE | 2021-01-19 |
| FROM | Ruben Safir
|
| SUBJECT | Subject: [Hangout - NYLXS] The money goes straight from the US Treasury,
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Yellen Makes Case for Sweeping Stimulus Package in Face of GOP Skepticism
Kate Davidson
8-10 minutes
WASHINGTON— Janet Yellen made the case for another sweeping economic aid
package at her hearing to be the next U.S. Treasury secretary Tuesday,
pushing back against Republican skepticism of the need for more deficit
spending to bolster the recovery.
Ms. Yellen, a former Federal Reserve chairwoman, said the incoming Biden
administration’s top priority is to relieve suffering caused by the
coronavirus pandemic, including providing aid for families, businesses
and communities hardest hit by the downturn as well as spending to bring
the virus under control.
Biden Urges Congress to Pass Economic Relief, Vaccine Plan
0:00 / 5:31
3:50
Biden Urges Congress to Pass Economic Relief, Vaccine Plan
Biden Urges Congress to Pass Economic Relief, Vaccine Plan
President-elect Joe Biden in a speech Thursday evening unveiled a plan
to help Americans weather the economic downturn caused by the
coronavirus pandemic. Photo: AP
“We need to make sure that people aren’t going hungry in America, that
they can put food on the table, that they’re not losing their homes and
ending up out on the street because of evictions,” Ms. Yellen said. “We
really need to address those forms of suffering, and I think we shouldnt
compromise on it.”
If she is confirmed by the Senate as expected, Ms. Yellen will become
the administration’s top economic-policy spokesperson responsible for
selling President-elect Joe Biden’s $1.9 trillion proposal, which
includes another round of stimulus payments, extended jobless benefits,
grants for small businesses and a nationwide vaccination program. After
that, Ms. Yellen said, long-term investments will be needed in areas
such as infrastructure and workforce training to help make the U.S.
economy more competitive and productive.
Delayed or inadequate support, she warned, could lead to a
more-protracted economic recovery and cause long-term economic damage in
the form of permanent job losses and business closures that could weigh
on growth for years to come.
“It’s really critically important to provide this relief now,” she told
lawmakers on the Senate Finance Committee, which will vote on her
nomination.
Stocks rose Tuesday as Ms. Yellen’s testimony spurred expectations for
additional stimulus spending, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average
gaining 116.26 points, or 0.4%, to 30930.52.
Ms. Yellen was one of several nominees for top posts in the new
administration who testified at Senate confirmation hearings on the eve
of Mr. Biden’s inauguration. The others were Antony Blinken for
secretary of state, Gen. Lloyd Austin for defense, and Avril Haines for
director of national intelligence.
Like the other nominees, Ms. Yellen sounded a hawkish note on China,
calling it “our most important strategic competitor” and promising to
address its “abusive, unfair and illegal practices,” including
undercutting American companies by dumping products, erecting trade
barriers and stealing intellectual property.
“These policies, including China’s low labor and environmental
standards, are practices that we’re prepared to use the full array of
tools to address,” she said.
Ms. Yellen affirmed the U.S.’s commitment to market-determined exchange
rates, and she made clear the U.S. doesn’t seek a weaker dollar for
competitive advantage, repeating comments The Wall Street Journal
reported Monday. She added that efforts by foreign countries to
manipulate their currencies are unacceptable. China has been accused by
successive administrations of keeping its currency artificially weak.
Some Republicans on the committee balked at Ms. Yellen’s call for
further spending on top of the trillions of dollars Congress authorized
last year, including a $908 billion package enacted in December. And
they questioned her about the limits and risks of additional government
borrowing and the wisdom of tax increases while the economy remains weak.
More on the Biden Administration
“The only organizing principle that I can discern is it seems to spend
as much money as possible, seemingly for the sake of spending it,” Sen.
Pat Toomey (R., Pa.) said of the latest plan.
GOP senators also objected to what outgoing Finance Committee Chairman
Chuck Grassley of Iowa called a “laundry list of liberal structural
economic reforms” in Mr. Biden’s relief package. Such measures include a
$15 minimum wage, as well as aid to state and local governments—a
sticking point in recent talks in Congress.
Ms. Yellen acknowledged the government’s mounting debt load, which
stands at $21.6 trillion—or roughly 100% of a year’s economic output.
But she urged lawmakers to put those concerns aside for now. Interest
rates are at historic lows and expected to remain there for some time,
making borrowing more affordable, she said.
“To avoid doing what we need to do now to address the pandemic and the
economic damage that it’s causing would likely leave us in a worse place
fiscally,” she said, “than taking the steps that are necessary and doing
that through deficit finance.”
--
So many immigrant groups have swept through our town
that Brooklyn, like Atlantis, reaches mythological
proportions in the mind of the world - RI Safir 1998
http://www.mrbrklyn.com
DRM is THEFT - We are the STAKEHOLDERS - RI Safir 2002
http://www.nylxs.com - Leadership Development in Free Software
http://www.brooklyn-living.com
Being so tracked is for FARM ANIMALS and extermination camps,
but incompatible with living as a free human being. -RI Safir 2013
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