Over doughnuts and a cup of joe, two different coffee klatches offered mixed feelings Tuesday about President Barack Obama's plans to help revive the economy.
"At least he's trying to do something," said Marlene Skipple. "They've got to do something."
The 72-year-old Medford woman said she is tired of hearing complaints from her fellow Republicans that the proposed $838 billion stimulus package passed by the U.S. Senate Tuesday is loaded with unnecessary spending.
Skipple describes the economic outlook as scary, requiring some kind of government action to reverse the downward spiral.
"It's going to have to go through, or we're all in a big hole," she said.
The debate over what to do with the economy rages from Medford to Washington, D.C., as politicians and economists look at public works projects and tax cuts to help prime the financial pump.
At another table in Donut Country in east Medford, a group of conservative coffee buddies who can trace their gatherings back to 1946, had a different impression of Obama's economic stimulus.
"It sucks," said Norm Owens. "There's too much garbage in it, too much pork."
However, the 65-year-old Central Point resident said the stimulus package might work for a little while, but it would be bad for the economy in the long run.
Even though local residents have different opinions about Obama's plans, they do agree it is a difficult problem to wrap their heads around.
"This is so involved," said Dr. Gene Chamberlain. "I don't have the answer."
At age 81, the Medford resident said he has some dim memories of the Great Depression, and he worries that Americans might not have as much fortitude to deal with those difficult times again.
"Most people are not going to go through this very easily," he said.
Keith McLean said many of the problems Americans face can be traced back to the times of easy credit, when people received home loans but didn't have the salary to make their mortgage payments.
"These people just can't afford a home," said the 79-year-old Medford resident.
But he didn't have any ready answers as to how to get the country out of the mess.
"It's pretty tough to get a solution," said McLean.
Dan Rubenson, a professor of economics at Southern Oregon University, said the steps Obama proposes are based on well-established research in the economic world.
Politicians might be divided over how to get the country out of this mess, but Rubenson said there is not that level of division generally in the economic world.
"Among professional economists there is a lot more agreement than most people would realize," said Rubenson, whose class in macroeconomics is conducting an analysis of the stimulus package.
At the same time, he said it is difficult to predict how soon the plan would help the economy, or whether it will be enough to turn the corner without greater infusions of dollars from the federal government.
"Is it enough to turn the economy on a dime? Probably not," he said.
Rubenson said there is general agreement among economists about where to spend the money to do the most good.
The most stimulative portion of the package will be investing in buildings, mass-transit systems and other public works projects, he said.
Sending money to states, which will eventually filter down to cities, is another good way to get money back into the economy, said Rubenson. He said this idea gained support during the presidency of Richard Nixon.
Unfortunately, he said the Senate version of the stimulus bill gives less money to the states than the original House version.
"I would say the House package is considerably stronger than the Senate package," Rubenson said.
One of the least stimulative portions of the bill is the tax cuts, he said.
"In general, when people receive a tax cut, part of it will be saved, and will not be going into the economy," he said.
Last year, the federal government passed out a one-time tax rebate. Under the current bill, taxpayers would receive a slight decrease in taxes each paycheck. Rubenson said this would be better for the economy because people will be more apt to spend smaller amounts of money than save them.
Whatever version of the stimulus package gets signed off by Obama, Rubenson said it will be analyzed for years to determine what worked and what didn't.
"That will keep economists entertained for quite a few years," he said.
Reach reporter Damian Mann at 776-4476 or dmann@mailtribune.com.
