Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY) said today on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” that the stimulus package prevented an economic collapse.
Schumer maintains it’s too early to assess the stimulus as a job-creator, saying, “The president came in in the worst economic times since the Depression. Financial markets were shut and we risked the Great Depression. We truly risked the Great Depression.”
He added, “The initial thrust of the stimulus package was to get some money out there into the economy quickly because if not you have a deflationary spiral. Now, it’s accomplished that goal. We don’t risk the Great Depression. The second phase of the stimulus is job creation….”
Schumer indicated we will need to see how the economy performs in the coming months before looking at a second stimulus.
Pressed on whether he believes another stimulus package is necessary, Schumer said there is not much of a political appetite for such a measure “at the moment.”
However, Schumer said, if unemployment gets worse, “it’s something we’d have to look at.”