Breaking out the checkbook

Politics | Obama’s plan for economic stimulus could reshape the nation, but not before several major players have a say | Mark Bergin

Chris Kleponis/AFP/Getty Images

The Congressional Budget Office projects that the federal government will run deficits through 2019. And Sen. Kent Conrad of North Dakota, chair of the Senate Budget Committee, predicts an annual rise in the national debt of close to $1 trillion for the next decade. Yet somehow, despite such financial realities, President-elect Barack Obama managed to engender bipartisan support for an unprecedented government spending program even before taking the oath of office. The reason? Fear.

Lawmakers on both sides of the aisle are terrified that the nation's full-fledged recession might drag on for years. Rather than wait for the markets to correct themselves, they stand on the precipice of approving a stimulus package that could reach the trillion-dollar mark just three months removed from passage of a $700 billion government bailout and two months since the Treasury made an extra $800 billion available for credit markets.