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In series of negotiations with members of the Obama administration, Congress has finally come to an agreement on a version of the economic stimulus package that was being debated for weeks. Even though both houses of Congress had increased the size of the bill to greater than $800 billion in their respective versions, the final version of the bill was cut down to $789 billion. Programs that were scaled back or cut to appease the minority Republican party included Obama’s middle class tax cut, school construction funds, tax incentives for home buyers, and provisions for health insurance to the unemployed. Many lawmakers are balking at the size of the bill, the largest government effort to save the economy since World War II. And yet, it is paltry in comparison to the $2.5 trillion financial industry rescue plan proposed recently by Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner.

Today we focus on the state of the US economy, how it got to be this way, and what can be done about it. We turn to a person who was among the first to sound the alarm about the receding economy: Dean Baker, Co-Director of Center of Economic and Policy Research, and author of the brand new book, Plunder and Blunder: The Rise and Fall of the Bubble Economy. We spoke to Dean in August 2007 about whether a recession was inevitable. In January 2008, we turned to him once more about the economy’s rapid free fall. Today, he joins us once more to discuss the latest in Obama’s stimulus bill and his new book.

KPFK Dollar-a-Day Stimulus Pack:
Dean Baker’s book: $80
John Bellamy Foster: $70
The Corporation: $150
Dimensions of the Financialization Crisis DVD: $100