No second stimulus soon, Pelosi says

WASHINGTON, March 13 (UPI) -- A second infusion of cash into the struggling U.S. economy won't happen anytime soon, U.S. House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi said.

The California Democrat's pronouncement Thursday that a second stimulus package isn't "in the cards" came days after she suggested Congress should "keep the door open" to the possibility, The Washington Post reported Friday.

Several prominent economists have suggested that a second stimulus measure might be needed to shake the economy out of its slump. Mark Zandi, chief economist at Moody's Economy.com, said this week that "policymakers need to do more. I don't think we're done."

Pelosi said during her weekly news conference that she "really would like to see this stimulus package play out" before considering another one.

"I don't think you ever close the door to being prepared for whatever eventuality may come," she said, stressing, however, that a second plan is "just not right now something that's in the cards."

Other congressional Democrats indicated they have little appetite to consider a second multibillion stimulus plan soon after enactment of the $787 billion American Reinvestment and Recovery Act and a $410 billion appropriations that keeps government functioning until the end of the 2009 fiscal year, Politico said.

"If there's appetite, there's not in my office," said U.S. Sen. Tom Carper, D-Del.

"It is too soon," House Financial Services Committee Chairman Barney Frank, D-Mass., told the Washington publication.