This is from his opening statement (pdf!) at the hearing his Joint Economic Committee held this morning. And maybe I’m just getting soft in my middle age, but I think Senator Chuck is starting to sound more and more like the soul of centrist wisdom:
We must enact a stimulus package that is timely, targeted, and temporary. Economists across the ideological spectrum agree that to deliver effective stimuli, the federal government needs to act with those three principles in mind.
* It should be targeted at the middle-class who will bear the brunt of the economic decline, and who with dollars in their pockets will provide the stimulus to the economy that is much needed.
* It should be timely because we can’t introduce policies that won’t kick in until long after a recession is already upon us.
* And finally, it should be temporary because we don’t want to enact stimulus policies today that would permanently burden our children tomorrow.