As much fun as it is talking about the GOPON falling apart, I'd like to use my diary today to point out something that we don't pay enough attention to around here, and that's the stimulus IS working. As I watched "The View" this morning (yeah, I know) and heard their resident Republican hack yell that the stimulus "isn't going to stimulate crap" I had to wonder what planet she was on. I'm not sure about the local news in New York (is that where they are?), but here in Ohio EVERY news cast since the stimulus has been aired has mentioned what the Stimulus is doing for Ohioans. In fact, as I was typing this, the local noon news was talking about the $6.3 million coming to Ohio for health care.
This morning President Obama spoke at an event at the Department of Transportation and he pointed out what the Stimulus is supposed to do, what it is doing, and what it is going to do.
Jump please :o)
I want to begin with some plain talk: The economy's performance in the last quarter of 2008 was the worst in over 25 years. And, frankly, the first quarter of this year holds out little promise for better returns.
From Wall Street to Main Street to kitchen tables all across America, our economic challenge is clear. And now it is up to us to meet it.
One of the challenges is to jumpstart lending, so businesses and families can finance the purchases of everything from inventory and payroll to a home, a car, or a college education. We have to jumpstart the credit markets and get private lending going again. No matter how good of a job we do here, that's going to be critical. And that's why the Treasury and the Federal Reserve are launching today the Consumer and Business Lending Initiative, which, when fully implemented, will generate up to a trillion dollars of new lending for the American people. And this will help unlock our frozen credit markets, which is absolutely essential for economic recovery.
But we also know that there cannot be a sustained recovery unless and until we put Americans back to work and put money in their pockets.
Two weeks ago, I signed into law the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, the most sweeping economic recovery plan in history. And already, its impact is being felt across this nation. Hardworking families can now worry a little less about next month's bills because of the tax cut they'll soon find in the mail. Renewable energy companies that were once downsizing are now finding ways to expand. And transportation projects that were once on hold are now starting up again -- as part of the largest new investment in America's infrastructure since President Eisenhower built the Interstate Highway System.
Of the 3.5 million jobs that will be created and saved over the next two years as a result of this recovery plan, 400,000 will be jobs rebuilding our crumbling roads, bridges, and schools, repairing our faulty levees and dams, connecting nearly every American to broadband, and upgrading the buses and trains that commuters take every day. Many of these projects will be coordinated by Secretary LaHood and all of you at the Department of Transportation. And I want you to know that the American public is grateful to public servants like you -- men and women whose work isn't always recognized, but whose jobs are critical to our nation's safety, security, and prosperity. You have never been more important than you are right now, and for that we are all grateful. (Applause.)
Now, in the coming days and weeks, my administration will be announcing more details about the kinds of transportation projects that will be launched as part of the recovery plan. But today, I want to speak about an investment we are making in one part of our infrastructure. Through the Recovery Act, we will be investing $28 billion in our highways, money that every one of our 50 states can start using immediately to put people back to work. It's an investment being made at an unprecedented pace, thanks in large part to Joe Biden, who's leading the effort to get the money out the door quickly. Because of Joe, and because of all the governors and mayors, county and city officials who are helping implement this plan, I can say that 14 days after I signed our Recovery Act into law, we are seeing shovels hit the ground.
As Secretary LaHood noted, the first contract will be awarded to American Infrastructure, a family business in Pennsylvania that will be resurfacing a road in Maryland. More than 100 other people will begin receiving funds today, as well. Over the next few weeks, we will launch more than 200 construction projects across this country, fueling growth in an industry that's been hard hit by our economic crisis.
Altogether, this investment in highways will create or save 150,000 jobs by the end of next year, most of them in the private sector. (Applause.) And just to give you a sense of perspective, that's more jobs being created or saved in one year than GM, Ford, and Chrysler have lost in manufacturing over the past three years -- combined. The job -- the jobs that we're creating are good jobs that pay more than average; jobs grinding asphalt and paving roads, filling potholes, making street signs, repairing stop lights, replacing guard rails.
But what makes this investment so important is not simply that we will jumpstart job creation, or reduce the congestion that costs us nearly $80 billion a year, or rebuild the aging roads that cost drivers billions more a year in upkeep. What makes it so important is that by investing in roads that have earned a grade of D- by America's leading civil engineers -- roads that should have been rebuilt long ago -- we can save some 14,000 men and women who lose their lives each year due to bad roads and driving conditions. Like a broken levee or a bridge with a shaky foundation, poor roads are a public hazard -- and we have a responsibility to fix them.
Now, we have another responsibility. Having inherited a trillion-dollar deficit that we're working to cut in half, we also need to ensure that tax dollars aren't wasted on projects that don't deliver results. And that's why, as part of his duty, Joe will keep an eye on how precious tax dollars are being spent. To you, he's Mr. Vice President, but around the White House, we call him the Sheriff -- (laughter) -- because if you're misusing taxpayer money, you'll have to answer to him.
And to help him, I've appointed a proven and aggressive Inspector General to root out waste and fraud. And I'm also deputizing every single American to visit a new website called recovery.gov so you can see where your tax dollars are going and hold us accountable for results.
We're also making it easier for Americans to see what projects are being funded with their money as part of our recovery. So in the weeks to come, the signs denoting these projects are going to bear the new emblem of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. That's it right there. Transportation projects will be stamped with another emblem, as well. These emblems are symbols of our commitment to you, the American people -- a commitment to investing your tax dollars wisely, to put Americans to work doing the work that needs to be done. So when you see them on projects that your tax dollars made possible, let it be a reminder that our government -- your government -- is doing its part to put the economy back on the road of recovery.
And so, in the days and years ahead, as you're driving on new roads or roads that are newly paved, I hope it will give you some measure of satisfaction to know that it was all done by putting your fellow citizens to work. I hope it will give you a sense of pride to know that even as we pursued our economic recovery, we renewed our American landscape.
Throughout our history, there have been times when a generation of Americans seized the chance to remake the face of this nation. It's what we did in the midst of civil war by connecting our coasts with a transcontinental railroad. It's what we did in the midst of depression by putting up a golden bridge in San Francisco, and electrifying rural America, and completing a great dam in the Southwest. It's what we're doing once more -- by building a 21st century infrastructure that will make America's economy stronger and America's people safer.
That's the reason we're here today. That's the purpose of our recovery plan. That's the cause of my presidency, and I need it to be your cause, as well. Each and every one of you have a role to play. (Applause.)
There are those out there who say this can't be done -- it can't be done efficiently, it can't be done effectively. We've gone through a lot of years where we were told what government cannot do. Government can't do anything by itself, we've got to have the private sector involved. But there are critical things the government can do -- right here at the Department of Transportation. (Applause.)
Each and every one of you have a critical role to play. And if you do your work, if you do your job as well as you can do, if you feel as inspired as I do about the work that lies ahead, I'm absolutely confident that we're going to look back on this time and say to ourselves this was a moment where we really made a difference. What an extraordinary opportunity that is. I hope all of you seize it.
Thank you, everybody. God bless you.
First of all, note how he took the time to point out that the jobs created will largely be in the PRIVATE sector. When he said that I thought "suck it Republicans!" in my head.
Second, notice that the jobs that will be created from the stimulus just on Transportation alone will create more jobs in less than a year than the car companies lost in THREE years. I think that's rather impressive.
There's an article up on the Huffintgon Post that has Jim Cramer whining about Obama not seeming to pay enough attention to Wall Street.
But for all the work created by the stimulus -- Obama said more than 200 projects would be launched across the country "over the next few weeks" -- there are those who will insist that the financial markets determine the administration's report card. Already, Republicans are using phrases like 'Obama-Bush continuity' to describe the current state of the economy, and the commentariat is practically begging the president to focus more on the markets.
"I'm not saying, 'Mr. President, go stare at the Bloomberg quote machine and come to your senses,'" said CNBC's Jim Kramer. "I just want some sign that Obama realizes the market is totally falling apart. And that his agenda has a big hand in that happening."
To me, that's just their way to take the attention off of all of the good that the stimulus is doing/going to do. If you watch the 24 hour news channels, I'm pretty sure you will hear more about Wall St. and stocks than you will about the jobs that have been saved already, and the jobs that will be saved/created soon. I realize Wall St. has its place, but most of us don't own stocks, and are far more concerned with JOBS than Wall St.
Now we are gearing up for a battle on the budget, and I think KO addressed it beautifully last night:
Transcript:
OLBERMANN: The Republican Party was out in full force this weekend, whipping up fear over the president`s budget because, you know, Republicans are fiscal conservatives now.
Our fourth story tonight: The real story of the budget, the real story of the opposition to it. Former Bush political guru, Karl Rove, opposing Obama`s budget of $3.5 trillion on the grounds that -- you know, Republicans are fiscal conservatives now.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
KARL ROVE, FMR. BUSH ADVISOR: To suggest that adding $2.9 trillion to the deficit in eight years with two wars, Katrina, 9/11, and a tech bubble bursting, makes us somehow -- the Republicans unable to talk about fiscal responsibility, when this president, in his own budget document right here, says he`s going to add $3.2 trillion to the deficit in the first 20 months and 11 days. He`s going to -- he is going to double it in the first four years and triple it if he gets another term.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
OLBERMANN: Except, of course, unlike President Rove or his assistant Mr. Bush, President Obama includes the cost of Mr. Bush`s wars in his budget as well as the cost of Mr. Bush`s unfought war, an actual effort to get bin Laden. President Obama also includes the $60 billion a year loss to the suspension of the AMT, the alternative minimum tax. President Obama also budgets more for federal disaster relief than Mr. Bush did which was both literally and far too powerfully, symbolically, exactly zero billion dollars.
More so than Mr. Rove, Senate Republican whip, Jon Kyl, expressing the honest GOP position when he said of the budget this weekend, quote, "It is terrifying in the policy implications." Terrifying. The budget is, as he says, not just numbers, it is a road map of presidential policy. In this case, a historic president whose budget road map reveals not just historic but a radical redirection of the entire country.
So, what exactly are the policy implications of Mr. Obama`s new direction for America monstrous enough to terrify you as senators? Perhaps it has to do of where the money is going.
The U.S. government -- us, we the people -- we will set aside $634 billion over 10 years, as a downpayment toward the ultimate goal that everyone, every American, will have health coverage, including the 46 million and counting Americans -- men, women and children -- who lack coverage as well as all the Americans who would otherwise go bankrupt paying for future health coverage. Included in that cost: Preventive care, a cost that is apparently, transparently, a cost-cutting measure down the road.
And yes, o ye, puritans among us, America will pay for contraceptives, taxpayer dollars for evil condoms, and horrible birth control pills. Contraceptives that states already have the option of providing for low- income fornicators. Fornication that otherwise would lead to untold, unwanted pregnancies, unwanted babies, unwanted abortions, unwanted drains on families, unwanted drains on -- yes, the national economy.
The Congressional Budget Office estimating $200 million saved over five years, thanks to -- yes, contraceptives and family planning.
Or could this be about the kids receiving massive increases in government scholarship and lending, from college down to early head-start? Or could it be about the poor in line for everything from help weatherizing their homes to save on energy costs, the average family saving an estimated 350 bucks a year on energy cost, to federal assistance expanding Internet access to remote rural areas of the country? Not to mention improving our roads and our bridges and easing the strain on them with high-speed rail quite possibly through John Boehner`s district.
If all those sound like worthy investments, perhaps Republicans` terror stems from the source of this money. Is the president planning to end three decades of growing income disparity, tilt the playing field back towards the middle-class?
Is Obama really trying to turn America into a country that taxes the rich people? Oh, yes! Hell, yes! Starting not now in a recession but in 2011, rich people will qualify for fewer tax deductions, so few that the functional tax rate might even rise to something like yours. And capital gains, money that you make any way other than working for it. That will now get taxed not at 15 percent but at 20 percent. Oh, the humanity.
Oh, and hedge fund managers will have their tax rates raised to the astronomical rates now being paid by hedge fund manager secretaries. The rich will also get less in Medicare benefits. You heard me, they get Medicare benefits.
What about the small businesses that will get crushed by these tax hikes? That part is true, tax hikes are on the way for every single small business, except 98.1 percent of them. And of those remaining 1.9 percent small business owners, more than half a million are merely passive investors who have nothing to do with actually running that business, George Bush for instance, seriously.
But hold on, House Republican Leader Boehner says the budget raises taxes on every American. How? Because now, energy suppliers will pay a fee, $646 billion over 10 years for exceeding carbon caps, and therefore, they might in turn raise prices to the consumer. Corporate America equivalent to government in Republican eyes, namely a private price hike equals a public tax hike.
But in reality, those carbon fees will not only offset the price hikes, they will be used to cut payroll taxes for every single American on a payroll, not to mention $15 billion a year to research alternative energies -- oh, and to lower greenhouse gases, just might slow global warming thereby saving the planet. No planet and the economy will really slow down, and suddenly.
Also, coughing up money, toxic waste polluters: $17 billion over 10 years. Superfund is back, kids. Agribusiness, not small farmers, will lose its $500,000 subsidies, just like banks will lose $4 billion in government payments for making student loans. Oil and gas will lose $35 billion in payments and loopholes. Insurance companies and pharmaceutical companies are losing billions in wasted federal payments.
You get the picture. And that, in short, is just some of what terrifies the GOP. That is what lies behind the budget debate, a debate Republicans have every reason to keep fighting, despite the fact that they`ve already lost it -- on Election Day.
OK. I get the cute premise of the human vending machine here. If you got a human, you don`t need to pretend he`s a machine. And if you got a vending machine, you don`t need a human in it.
The thing is, they are afraid he will NOT fail no matter how much they hope he does. Even his budget is largely centered around helping out "Main Street" and not "Wall Street." This is the framing we need to enforce, it's about "Jobs, baby, Jobs." The administration promised us jobs, not that they would make investors feel great. Although I will note, that while Pres. Obama was speaking this morning, the DOW was going UP (but I think I just heard it went back down).
If you want to see how much money your state is getting click here. From the webpage:
President Obama and Transportation Secretary LaHood have announced that $27 billion in American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) funds are headed to states to provide critical repairs to our nation's crumbling roads and bridges.
Parts of the allocation are set aside to make sure that urban, suburban, and rural areas alike all get a share. But since local leaders -- mayors and governors -- know their communities best, much of the money is left to states' discretion. And if states don't use it, they lose it. To make sure that funds go out quickly to give our economy the jolt it needs, states have 120 days to assign the funds to specific projects.