MELISSA BLOCK, host:
Former Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan sounded like a Vegas odds maker this week. He told the Wall Street Journal the chances are better than 50-50 that the U.S. is entering a recession.
With the economy in trouble, Democratic presidential hopefuls are touting their plans to stimulate the economy as they campaign in Nevada before this weekend's caucuses.
But the candidates' prescriptions are not all the same as NPR's Scott Horsley Reports.
SCOTT HORSLEY: John Edwards says he wants to be the jobs president; that's a message that resonates here in Nevada where the unemployment rate is higher than the national average. Edwards told supporters at a Las Vegas union hall last night, the federal government should invest in alternative energy and put the resulting jobs in places where they're needed most.
Mr. JOHN EDWARDS (Former Democratic Senator, South Carolina; Presidential Candidate): I was the first candidate to come out with an aggressive stimulus to get this economy moving again, investing in green infrastructure, modernizing our employment insurance laws so that they cover more people, getting more help to the states, and doing something about this terrible mortgage crisis that exists across America and is most intense right here in your state.
HORSLEY: Nevada has the nation's highest home foreclosure rate. Edwards has proposed a home rescue fund to help struggling borrowers.
Hillary Clinton echoed that theme during a Las Vegas campaign rally on Tuesday.
Senator HILLARY CLINTON (Democrat, New York; Presidential Candidate): I want to ask you, how many of you know somebody who is either losing or at risk of losing their homes?
(Soundbite of crowd)
Sen. CLINTON: Wow. Wow.
HORSLEY: Hands went up throughout the audience. Although many of the homes in foreclosure in Nevada were owned, not by local workers, but out-of-state speculators, Clinton says any time homes are abandoned, it creates problems for the whole neighborhood.
Sen. CLINTON: Pretty soon the weeds start to grow, and then property taxes decrease, then police can't have the same level of patrol because they can't be paid, so this is all interconnected.
HORSLEY: Clinton has proposed a three-month moratorium on home foreclosures and a five-year freeze on adjustable interest rates. She's also suggesting the federal government pump an extra $25 billion into the economy in the form of emergency assistance with home heating costs.
Sen. CLINTON: And I also want to put money in Americans' pockets to pay their energy bills; to pay at the gas pump.
Unidentified Woman: Yeah.
Sen. CLINTON: The average price per gallon in Nevada today is $3.13 a gallon, right?
HORSLEY: Clinton unveiled her economic stimulus plan last Friday.
Barack Obama countered with his own plan two days later, and he's been talking about economics wherever he goes in Nevada.
Senator BARACK OBAMA (Democrat, Illinois; Presidential Candidate): People are working harder and harder for less. They've never paid more for health care; college; gas at the pump.
HORSLEY: Obama's plan differs from Clinton's and Edwards' by offering an immediate payment of $250 to nearly every worker and Social Security recipient in America. Those payments, totaling $45 billion, could be doubled if the economy continued to worsen.
University of Chicago economist Austan Goolsbee is an Obama adviser.
Professor AUSTAN GOOLSBEE (Economics, University of Chicago; Adviser to Senator Obama): There are two basic yardsticks that virtually all the experts agree a stimulus package must include. They must get the money out the door immediately, and they must put it in the hands of the people who can use it right away.
HORSLEY: Goolsbee says Obama's plan would put the money in the hands of consumers more quickly than Clinton's home heating assistance, for example.
Today, Clinton added her own call for direct tax rebates, citing worsening economic conditions.
The plans Democrats have been touting on the campaign trail here in Nevada have now reached the policy-making corridors of Washington where President Bush and Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke agree - some sort of stimulus is warranted.
Economist Goolsbee says timing such action is like applying sunscreen - if you wait until you know it's needed, it's too late.
Scott Horsley, NPR News, Las Vegas.
BLOCK: And you'll find a guide to what's at stake in the Nevada caucuses at npr.org/elections.