Economist Disappointed With Stimulus Plan

By Justin Duckham-Talk Radio News Service

The recession may be coming to a close, but according to Barry Bosworth, the Senior Fellow in the Brooking Institution's Economic Studies Program, the stimulus plan may not be responsible. In Bosworth's judgement, the $787 billion measure to jumpstart the U.S. economy has been a disappointment.

"The problem with the stimulus program has been that it has taken too long to get it going. The crisis hit in mid September [of 2008], Congress never acted until the Spring, and then it takes a couple of months for the government agencies to get it set up," said Bosworth during a panel discussion at the Brookings Institute Thursday.

However, Bosworth added, the stimulus plan can still prove useful.

"Most of the money is going to be spent in the future. It is going to be a big plus in driving us out of the recession," Bosworth said. "Don't give up on it, but what's really disappointing is that recession after recession the same thing happens: we can not get the political process to act fast enough."

Bosworth criticized provisions of the stimulus that were not intended for immediate economic relief, claiming that individual interest groups had capitalized on the crisis to push unrelated agendas.

Arlington County (Va.) Board member Christopher Zimmerman, who joined Bosworth on the panel, disagreed with Bosworth's assertion. Zimmerman responded that while not all of the aspects of the stimulus plan provided an instant boost to the economy, many will provide long term benefits.

"All that stuff that's being done that may not be great for stimulus are things that we actually need in this country to generate the economy that will take care of things like deficits and other expenditures we need to make in the future," Zimmerman said.

Boehner: GOP Could Have Saved Twice As Many Jobs

By Justin Duckham-Talk Radio News Service

House Minority Leader John Boehner (R-Ohio) claimed during a press conference Thursday that if the economic recovery efforts were placed in the hands of Congressional Republicans, at least twice as many jobs would have been created.

“Our projections...would be that we would have created twice as many jobs, at half the cost. Given the fact that unemployment continues to rise, we probably could have created ten times as many jobs as [Congressional Democrats] have.”

Boehner claimed that he had based the conclusion off the same method the White House is currently using to compose their statistics.

The House Minority Leader warned that the upcoming health care reform will contribute to further job loss.

“This isn’t hard to figure out. When you raise the cost of employment...you get less employees. There’s no question that their proposal raises the costs of employers to have employees, because it requires all employers to have health care,” Boehner explained.

The Department of Labor recently released a report showing that 9.5% of Americans are currently unemployed.

Boehner also attacked Congressional Democrats’ management of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.

“16 million of the stimulus money was appropriated to take care of the salt marsh harvest mouse,” said Boehner, who appeared alongside a picture of the endangered rodent based in Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s (D-Calif.) district. “People a hundred miles away have farms that are drying up because they wouldn’t use any stimulus money to turn on the pumps.”

Democratic Party Officials: Boehner Lied About State Not Receiving Stimulus Contracts

By Mariko Lamb, Talk Radio News Service

Chris Redfern, Ohio Democratic Party Chairman, and Hari Sevugan, Democratic National Committee Press Secretary, denied claims made by House Minority Leader John Boehner (R-Ohio) that his home state was not receiving construction projects from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.

“Multiple independent fact checking organizations have now found that John Boehner went on national TV and lied about the jobs that are being created in his home state--to score some cheap political points--and he continues to do so through his tax payer funded office,” said Sevugan.

According to research organizations, including PolitiFact and the Cleveland Plain Dealer, 52 projects worth $84 million were lined up to boost Ohio’s economy at the time of Boehner’s public statements.

“He ought to be ashamed of himself. He ought to apologize to people of his district and the rest of the state for bashing the jobs that are being saved and created there by the Recovery Act,” said Sevugan.

Chairman Redfern said that locals are pleased that stimulus dollars are being invested in Ohio and that jobs will be created and retained.

“John really needs to get home and listen to people in his district,” he advised.

Obama Administration Commits $154 Million To Restoring U.S. Coast Line

Commerce Secretary Gary Locke announced Tuesday that the Obama administration will be allocating $154 million from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, the $787 billion dollar piece of legislation aimed at stimulating the U.S. economy over the next two years, towards coastal restoration.

“These projects are an investment in American workers and in stronger and healthier coastal environments and economies,” said Locke during a conference call with reporters.

Locke explained that the projects will have a vital impact on the U.S. economy, stressing that this is an opportunity for job creation and preservation.

“Our coasts are tremendous economic resources. They support millions of jobs...Commercial and recreational fishing alone employs 1 million people either directly or indirectly and they contribute more than $100 billion to our economy each year.”

The funding will go towards 50 restoration projects across 22 states and 2 American territories. According to Locke, these 50 were chosen from over 800 requests with the help of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association.

$500 Million Of Stimulus Funds Spent On Community Health Care

By Justin Duckham-Talk Radio News Service

In its first 100 days, $500 million of the $787 American Recovery and Reinvestment Act has been allocated to improve and expand the operations of Community Health Centers across the country. The allocation of the funds was praised today by Kathleen Sebelius, Secretary of Health and Human Services.

"The Recovery Act grants and the funding we have released are key investments that will help deliver care to millions of Americans," said Sebelius during a telephone conference with reporters.

An additional $300 million is set to be alloted toward the National Health Service Corps, a segment of HHS, with the goal of increasing the available workforce in Community Health Centers across the Country. HHS expects the amount of available clinicians to double by 2011.

$2 billion was initially provided by ARRA to be spent on Community Health Centers over the next two years. The remaining funds will go toward updating medical technology, renovating equipment and constructing additional centers.