| By Dave Harding, ProgressOhio - Jan 28th, 2009 at 6:32 pm EST |
Categories: Budget Priorities, Economic Fairness and Security, News, Featured
With no Republican support, the House approved an $819 billion stimulus plan that will serve as the cornerstone of President Obama's efforts to resuscitate the economy, an early victory for the new president but still a disappointment because of the lack of Republican votes.
The measure passed 244 to 188, with 11 Democrats and 177 Republicans voting against it.
The two-year economic package includes $275 billion in tax cuts and more than $550 billion in domestic spending on roads and bridges, alternative-energy development, health-care technology, unemployment assistance, and aid to states and local governments. It would also provide up to $500 per year in tax relief for most workers and more than $300 billion in aid to states for funding to help rebuild schools, provide health-care to the poor and reconstruct highways and bridges.
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However, assuming bill passage in mid-February, a reading of the the Congressional Budget Office's cost estimate with a break-down of each appropriations area, reveals a lack funding for "shovel ready" projects, or those projects that could begin within 120-180 days to help people back to work or save jobs. Link
Indeed, CBO estimates that most of the outlays won't occur until the 2010-2012 time frame. Some project outlays will take even longer, for example, the well-intentioned broadband grant designed for mainly rural and depressed areas is estimated to take eight years to complete. And the time for getting clean water projects going is really dishearting.
Nonetheless, while I think H.R. 1 gives short shift to small businesses in the near term (what else is new, a Republican or a Democratic Congress, its all about trickle down). I am unwillingly to throw out the good in search of the perfect. The really good being evidenced by H.R. 1 provisions that raises ten-fold our national investment in energy efficiency and renewable energy.
Now, if H.R.1 included reinvestment provisions for creating a electified passenger train system for our country, that could bring us on par with Europe's systems....well, the bill might have got close to being perfect then. :)
This brings the infrastructure portion of the stimulus a large step closer to the level of investment that has a genuine chance of expanding the nation's green transportation options. Amtrak, Metro, and subway riders, rejoice.
Approximately two-thirds of the spending and tax cuts contained in an economic stimulus package crafted by House Democrats would flow into the economy by the end of fiscal 2010, producing a "noticeable impact on economic growth and employment," congressional budget analysts said yesterday.
In an eagerly awaited analysis of the stimulus package, which is set for a vote in the House tomorrow, the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office concluded that the measure would cost the federal government about $816 billion over the next 10 years and that approximately $526 billion, or about 65 percent, would be spent by the end of September 2010.
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