Thursday, August 6, 2009

Stimulus Saves Jobs

Then why are we 'losing" so many?

Also see:
The Boston Globe's Invisible Ink: Invisible Jobs

"$11.8m federal grant will save 50 Boston police jobs; 13 communities benefit in Mass." by Maria Cramer, Globe Staff | July 29, 2009

New federal funding will infuse the Boston Police Department with $11.8 million in grants, enough to save 50 jobs that were on the chopping block, city officials said yesterday....

We've lost tens of thousands.

City officials said the funding will pay for the salaries and benefits of 50 officers for the next three years. Boston must pay for salaries and benefits for at least one year after that. By then, department officials hope that the economy will have improved.

I was told we were already in recovery.

Twelve other Massachusetts communities also received funding, including Brockton, Chelsea, Fall River, and New Bedford, Senators John F. Kerry and Edward M. Kennedy said in a joint statement. Those cities and towns will share in about $17 million in grants for 81 officers.

The Justice Department received more than 7,200 applications to pay for more than 39,000 officer jobs, totaling about $8.3 billion in requests. The grants will come from the $787 billion economic stimulus package.

"That's not stimulus. Stimulus means starting a company that will CONTINUE to sell products and provide jobs after that stimulus money runs out. Like the road patching operations being funded with stimulus money, once the initial project is over, those people are out of work again, the stimulus money is gone, and there are no operating businesses making products for sale." -- Wake the Flock Up

Related: Stimulus Was Stolen

Law enforcement agencies in all 50 states will receive some funding, but other large cities, like New York, were left out of this grant program because, according to federal officials, their finances were more stable and their crime rates were low. Boston had seen a spike in shootings in March and April, but violent crimes have been declining in recent months.

Remember that, please.

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"Stimulus law gives food banks $100m" by New York Times | July 30, 2009

Again, happy for the relief but that doesn't create one job.

And the food program only gets a measly $100 million?

NO TRILLIONS like the BANKS GOT?


Also see: Slow Saturday Special: Food Wars

NEW YORK - Struggling to meet a demand for food that spiked with the unemployment rate, some food pantries have had to turn away people seeking help. Others are packing a little less food into each shopping bag they give out. But recently the nation’s food banks received a $100 million windfall of extra food, as part of the federal stimulus law.

The grant is a big boost for the food bank program, which usually gets $250 million a year from Washington, and the amount of food it can buy seems supersize, even for a field that routinely measures servings by the millions of pounds....

Starving people being "supersized?" You have to love the insult.


What, they dining at the UN?


The extra food is being welcomed by food banks, food pantries, and soup kitchens, whose workers say they are seeing big increases in the number of people seeking food....

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Although I'll bet they have had their fill of these liars
:

"Obama says stimulus plan aiding economy

WASHINGTON - President Obama said the $787 billion economic stimulus program he enacted within weeks of taking office is helping the economy begin to pull itself out of the recession.

The Commerce Department reported yesterday that the economy contracted at a pace of 1 percent in the second quarter. The showing was better than economists expected and the strongest signal yet that the recession is winding down.

I'm so sick of addressing the double-talk and lies.


Obama told reporters that some of that progress is “directly attributable’’ to the stimulus program. He said that and other “difficult but important steps’’ his administration has taken have helped “put the brakes on the recession.’’

Biden tells Urban League stimulus ‘misunderstood’

CHICAGO - Vice President Joe Biden also touted the federal stimulus effort yesterday, saying he sees signs that the recession could end soon. But he called the package “the most misunderstood’’ piece of legislation.

“What part of this act is about was not keeping people from falling through the cracks, but keeping them from falling in a deep, black hole,’’ he said at the National Urban League conference.

I'm sorry, but is he talking down to and insulting black people there with his coded language?

He said women, minorities, and veterans have been hit hardest by unemployment and he has tasked Cabinet members with educating business owners in those groups about opportunities in the economic recovery act, like loans, for people in such disadvantaged categories.

Pffft! These guys REALLY DO WORK for BANKS!!!!!!!!!!

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"Biden contends stimulus working; GOP doubtful, cites jobless rate" by Darlene Superville, Associated Press | August 5, 2009

WASHINGTON - Vice President Joe Biden cited more positive economic data yesterday to buttress the Obama administration’s contention that its $787 billion stimulus program is doing its job revving up the economy.

“I can tell you today, without reservation, the Recovery Act is working,’’ Biden told reporters after a White House meeting with members of the administration’s economic team.

I thought we turned out the liars with Bush.

Nearly six months after Obama signed the stimulus program into law, the administration is trying to counter criticism, as well as perceptions, that the program has failed to create thousands of promised jobs. Obama credited the stimulus last week for helping “put the brakes on the recession’’ after the Commerce Department said the economy had shrunk by just 1 percent in the second quarter, a better-than-expected performance that was the strongest indication yet that the economic downturn has begun to wind down.

But House Republicans, who unanimously opposed the stimulus package, were incredulous at Biden’s declaration.

They ain't the only ones!

Antonia Ferrier, a spokeswoman for House GOP leader John Boehner, said that Biden acknowledged a month ago that the administration had “misread’’ the depth of the recession and that the White House had predicted unemployment would stay under 8 percent nationally.

Nationwide unemployment has risen every month since the stimulus took effect in February, climbing in June to a 26-year high of 9.5 percent. The July rate, which the government will announce Friday, is expected to be higher, probably into double digits. As part of the effort to counter criticism of the stimulus, Obama and Biden are taking their economic message on the road.

Great. The Obama and Joe road show!

Obama is headed today to hard-hit Elkhart, Ind., which depends heavily on the production of recreational vehicles and has suffered during the downturn.

See: Obama Churchill

Biden plans to speak in Detroit. Several Cabinet secretaries were also venturing out with an economic message. Biden cited other economic data yesterday in making the administration’s case. He said spending by state and local governments increased 2.4 percent from April to June, after falling the prior six months.

Due to the INCREASES in TAXES, no doubt! Note the inherent view that state spending is good; that's the problem with these clowns.

“That links directly to the fiscal relief we have provided,’’ said the vice president, whom Obama put in charge of keeping fraud and waste out of stimulus spending.

Right:

"Biden told a business roundtable at Pace University: "There are these scam artists out there sending people applications. There is all kinds of stuff that we know is going to go on, and we know some of this money is going to be wasted."

But toss it out there anyway, 'eh, Joe?

Household income grew at a yearly rate of almost 5 percent in the same period, following declines the previous nine months. Business investments contracted less than expected, he said.

He isn't claiming household income grew with all the job losses, is he?

Must have been the BANK LOOTINGS raising up the numbers!

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Governor Deval Patrick announced yesterday that he will direct $20 million in federal stimulus money to fire departments across Massachusetts to rehire laid-off firefighters and lessen the impact of other budget cuts.

This latest cash infusion, which Patrick’s administration will distribute through a competitive grant process, brings the total federal recovery funds earmarked for local public safety to $71 million, according to the governor’s office.

“These funds will help local police and fire departments keep professionals on the job and the public’s safety preserved,’’ Patrick said in a press release.

Across Massachusetts, 112 firefighters have been laid off who are currently on a rehiring list, according to the press release, citing the state Civil Service Division. The same is true for 118 police officers.

In a statement, Senator John F. Kerry said, “Despite tough economic times, we will make the investments necessary for them to do their jobs the best way they know how and keep our communities safe.’’

End the wars.

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