While yesterday’s headlines celebrated Obama’s history-making presidential win, those of today point towards the challenging obstacles the new president-elect will face the moment he takes office.
In addition to his promise to aid homeowners facing foreclosure, there has been buzz about the passage of another economic stimulus plan – one that may come sooner, rather than later.
Before the election, Congressional Democrats had discussed a lame-duck session to take up a bill that would inject $150 billion to $200 billion into the economy. If Obama indicates that he would favor a preinauguration special session, Congress could act this month on legislation of this nature.
Obama aides say the lame-duck session could pump as much as $60 billion into the economy in immediate relief in the form of additional outlays for food stamps, extended unemployment benefits and subsidies to the states to minimize their spending cuts.
However, there are risks that would come with this lame-duck session. Many question whether or not the Democrats should risk a Bush veto in a lame-duck session, instead of waiting for Obama to take office so that a more complete recovery package has a better chance of implementation.
Read more about the economic challenges facing Obama here.