We’ve spent a lot of time considering what should be included in any stimulus package passed by the new Congress. Yesterday, the first version of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Bill of 2009—penned by House Democrats and the president-elect’s team—was made public. The good news is that a lot of the projects that we’ve advocated for are included. The bad news is that the scope of the bill may not match the economic problems we face.
What is included?
- An $87 billion temporary increase in the Medicaid matching rate, which will help states make payments to hospitals, nursing homes and other medical providers.
- Lots of money for education, including $41 billion to local school districts, $79 billion in state fiscal relief to prevent cutbacks to key services, and $15.6 billion to increase the Pell grant by $500.
- A $20 billion expansion of the food stamp program.
- Just over $90 billion for infrastructure spending including highway construction ($30 billion); green infrastructure modernization ($31 billion); clean water, flood control, and environmental restoration investments ($19 billion); and transit and rail funding ($10 billion).
- And finally, $275 billion in tax cuts for families and businesses.
The full summary is extremely detailed, which indicates that the Obama administration is not going to give state governments a lot of leeway on how they spend their federal assistance. From TPM’s Elana Schor:
As [House Appropriations Committee chairman David] Obey [D-WI] explained, this complexity is in part to avoid anxiety over giving huge amounts of cash to state governors to spend as they see fit (read: Rod Blagojevich). The total amount being given to state and local governments, including non-profits receiving grants, is $318 billion.
Obey also seemed to signal that he doesn’t think the stimulus is robust enough:
Later in the briefing, Obey got more candid. “I believe this [bill] may in fact under-shoot the mark” for economic recovery, he admitted.
David Sirota (who used to work for Obey) is pushing the progressive movement to demand more. For instance, he’s arguing that the infrastructure investment on mass transit is way too small given the deficiencies in the nation’s system.
While tax cuts still take up a large chunk of the money (despite providing limited bank for the buck), House leaders appear serious about slimming down this portion of the package in order to allow for more direct spending.
And let’s not forget that just last week Obama told CNBC that his strategy is to roll out a stimulus bill that falls at the low end of the spectrum, knowing full well that Congress will likely build on it:
“We’ve seen ranges from $800 (billion) to $1.3 trillion,” he said in an exclusive interview with CNBC’s chief Washington correspondent John Harwood. “And our attitude was that given the legislative process, if we start towards the low end of that, we’ll see how it develops.”
Hopefully, congressional leaders like Obey won’t just gripe to reporters about how the package may fall short and will work to improve it.
Comments
Ruben (not verified) on Fri, 01/16/2009 - 10:08
January 11, 2009
TO: President-Elect Barack Obama
FROM: Ruben Botello, Founder
AMERICAN HOMELESS SOCIETY
Dear Mr. Obama:
I have been in and out of homelessness since being honorably discharged as a USMC Vietnam veteran in 1969. I wound up homeless then, in and out of homelessness with my two sons in the Eighties, and homeless on my own again in the Nineties.
I started the American Homeless Society in 1987 while my sons and I were homeless in California. I have been in several hunger strikes, marches and demonstrations for homeless rights since then but have seen little progress.
My longest hunger strike was 58 days against President Reagan’s “trickle down” economic policies that created much more instead of less homelessness in our country. You now speak about fixing our nation’s economy from the “bottom up” and that should mean you are starting by ending involuntary homelessness at the bottom.
HUD Secretary Philip Mangano has been promoting 10-year plans to end homelessness in major cities across the country on behalf of the Bush Administration for the past few years. We would hope and pray you make a similar commitment to abolish homelessness but throughout our nation, not just in individual cities because there are far more homeless than these urban plans will ever reach.
Slavery was abolished in America over a century ago; why not abolish homelessness today, Mr. Obama? Homelessness is just as bad as slavery in several ways and much worse in others.
Men, women and children from all the races, colors, cultures, nationalities, ethnicities, religions and creeds in our diverse society find themselves homeless daily. They are forced to endure harassment, discrimination and persecution in our nation today much like the slaves President Lincoln’s armies fought to free in the Nineteenth Century.
America’s homeless are also forced to endure nature’s harshest conditions without warm homes or shelter for protection; without good food and nutrition; without essential hygiene, medicine and healthcare; and without the necessary education, training or experience required to qualify for the dwindling supply of jobs in today’s worsening economy. Many of America’s homeless today are even employed but underemployed and unable to afford existing rentals while thousands of others are altogether unemployable.
How can our great nation permit so many of these poor souls to continue to suffer and die needlessly on our streets? I joined the Marines to fight for my country in the Sixties so that all Americans could have a better life, not just the rich and well-to-do who are receiving all the bailouts today.
The list of barriers and obstacles facing today’s homeless goes on and on, Mr. Obama. Please, if you are serious about fixing our nation’s economy from the bottom-up, begin at the real bottom by making a firm commitment to end involuntary homelessness throughout our country without further ado.
Sincerely,
Ruben Botello, Founder
AMERICAN HOMELESS SOCIETY
http://sananda.tripod.com/homeless/ahs1.html
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