John Spratt: “That is correct. This time next year they will need another increase, probably in the range of $800 billion.”

Failed Republican economic policies had brought the financial system dangerously close to a complete meltdown and had driven the economy into its deepest recession since the 1930s.

I want to welcome everyone to our hearing this morning on The Social Safety Net: Impact of the Recession and of the Recovery Act.

I want to thank Congresswoman Gwen Moore for suggesting this hearing and for her role in bringing it about and putting it together.

When President Obama was sworn into office at the beginning of this year, the economy was in deep contraction and jobs were being lost at a rate of 741,000 per month.