Even though there are fewer participants in this thread than I had hoped for, I think we can see that this isn't an easy choice.

--No stimulus probably means a prolonged and deepened recession or even a depression.

--A short term tax reduction aren't likely to produce the desired results.

--There will be huge debates over who should get the tax breaks. Extension of the "Bush tax reductions" would place more money in the hands of the wealthiest Americans, who probably couldn't or wouldn't use the money for consumption. The argument has always been that the wealthy would "invest". But the amount they could invest in this economic scenario would be like peeing into a hurricane. Consumption is what's needed, not investment. The best place to "spend" the tax reductions would be on the middle class, who likely will increase their consumption. Those with low incomes aren't really a big problem in the debate because they pay little if any taxes anyway. But it will be a battle in Congress because they will want to "fund" part of the middle class tax reduction with increased taxes from the wealthy when the Bush tax cuts are eliminated.

--They talk about "shovel ready" public works projects. There is nowhere near enough stimulus money being discussed to even begin to fund the projects that the cities and states want. This will be a huge political dogfight.

--Then in only a couple of months the auto industry bailout will rear it's ugly head again.That's almost a certainty.

--And as was discussed above, the banks still aren't lending. That's not going to happen without some sort of stimulus.

--Any combination of stimulus plans are certain to saddle our children, grandchildren and probably great-grandchildren with enough debt that even that many generations might not be able to pay it down.

This battle is going to be more interesting to watch than a weekend of non-stop WWE wrestling. The only problem is that we all have a dog in the fight. A couple of dogs maybe. And certainly many of the younger generations in our families.