It's not entirely clear how much money this really is - if it's on the order of $30bn, it's around 5% of what we need for one year.
Discussions about specific legislation that would extend the funding has caused friction between Republicans and Democrats. A bill has not yet been officially introduced. But Senator Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.), who chairs the Environment and Public Works Committee, has outlined a two-year extension at the cost of $109 billion, which would keep spending at its current levels. House Transportation and Infrastructure Chair John Mica (R-Fla.), meanwhile, has pushed a six-year extension with a 34 percent reduction in the amount spent.As this bill is over two years, it appears to therefore be only 2.5% of the actual amount of the annual stimulus spending that Krugman and Stiglitz say we need (i.e., on the order of $600bn to $800bn a year).
That doesn't mean this is a bad idea. But if it's the only idea, or partnered with a lot of other 2.5% ideas, then it's more likely that this is puffery to make it look like they're doing something about the economy when they're really not doing much at all. From Sam Stein at HuffPost.
