Hard to say what the recovery package passed by the House of Representatives on Wednesday means for the state’s largest city, but we must wait for the Senate to pass its measure before it goes back for a full Congressional vote and then on to Barack for his signature which could be within two weeks.
It appears the moolah will go directly to the state and be sprinkled among the state’s 160 or so cities and towns for infrastructure, education and a variety of other spending items. This is where it would be nice for the city to have a united legislative delegation, actual respect among decision-makers in Hartford to leverage as much as possible, but local pols are loath to check their egos at the door. Maybe they’ll fool us and deliver the goods.
State Rep. Chris Caruso, with Bob Keeley having been lanced by Auden Grogins, the blonde banshee from Black Rock, is now the senior member of the delegation. Does anyone up there like him? Certainly not the governor. How about House leadership? They may throw him a few crumbs just to lessen his meowing about this and that.
So Grogins is new, State Sen. Anthony Musto, who defeated Republican Rob Russo in the general election only because Barack headed the ticket, is new. Ten months on the job and Russo secured money for a comprehensive audit of the Board of Education (no one else did that), he saved Lacey Manufacturing from moving out of state and delivered a few million for flood control in the North End. Pretty darn good record for 10 months.
State Rep. Eze Santiago is new. State Rep. Andres Ayala is building respect. The irrepressible State Sen. Ed Gomes will fight his best for the city. Bottom line is the city will benefit only as much as the delegation is united negotiating on the city’s behalf, whether during this legislative session or persuading decision-makers in Hartford to direct recovery money to the city that needs it most.
For some initial insight into what the House vote on Wednesday means to the state, see the news release below from Congressman Jim Himes:
The American Recovery and Reinvestment Plan: What It Means for Connecticut
WASHINGTON, DC—Today, the House of Representatives passed the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, legislation that will create and save jobs while investing in the future of our nation. This legislation comes at a challenging time for our nation’s economy. In the last year alone, 2.6 million jobs were lost in the United States–the worst year in more than 60 years.
Connecticut has faced unique challenges during the economic recession. The state is home to many of the financial institutions most hurt by the recent collapse of financial markets. Additionally, home foreclosures are on the rise, workers continue to lose their jobs, and the state’s infrastructure requires immediate attention.
This bleak economic record speaks to the urgency of this recovery plan. Without a plan for recovery, economists have predicted Connecticut’s unemployment will soar, businesses—large and small—will continue to close their doors, and the country’s dilapidated infrastructure will impede economic and community growth. To address these concerns, the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act has been the top priority of the Obama Administration and the 111th Congress.
Immediate Boost and Long-Term Growth
Through tax cuts and investments, the $825 billion American Recovery and Reinvestment Plan creates or saves 3 to 4 million jobs, over 45,000 in Connecticut alone, while stimulating economic growth, according an analysis by Mark Zandi.
Specifically, Connecticut citizens will benefit from the following tax cuts:
· Child Tax Credit of up to $1,000 per child affecting 119,000 children (Center on Budget and Policy Priorities)
· Making Work Pay Tax Credit of up to $500 per worker affecting 1,217,000 Connecticut citizens (Center on Budget and Policy Priorities)
· Extends Production Tax Credit for energy from wind and other renewable sources (Ways and Means Committee)
· Modifies Investment Tax Credit of 30 percent for new renewable energy facilities (Ways and Means Committee)
· Increased tax credits from $500 to $1,500 to promote energy-efficient homes (Ways and Means Committee)
· Enhanced Research and Development Tax Credit of 20 percent for renewable energy and energy conservation technology (Ways and Means Committee)Connecticut will also receive funding for:
· Infrastructure Investments – $584,010,217 (Transportation and Infrastructure Committee)
· · Highways and Bridges – $391,353,941
· · Transit Capital – $68,087,302
· · Clean Water State Revolving Fund – $71,112,789
· Medicaid – $1,207,178 (Center on Budget and Policy Priorities)
· Food Stamps – $152,000,000 affecting 238,000 Connecticut families over five years (Center on Budget and Policy Priorities)
· Supplemental Security Income – $20,500,000 affecting 35,900 Connecticut seniors and disabled (Center on Budget and Policy Priorities)
· State Fiscal Stabilization Fund – $718,194,000 (Center on Budget and Policy Priorities)
· Pell Grants – $170,915,690 affecting 51,992 students who will receive an average award of $3,287 (Department of Education)
· Head Start – $4,650,487 (Department of Health and Human Services)
· Child Care and Development Block Grant – $13,685,624 (Department of Health and Human Services)
· Employment and Training – $5,527,450 (Department of Labor)
· Community Services Block Grant – $12,061,834 (Department of Health and Human Services)
· Increase in Unemployment Benefits: (National Employment Law Project)
· · 277,766 Connecticut workers who have lost their jobs will receive a $25 per week increase in benefits
· · 41,770 Connecticut unemployed workers will continue to receive benefitsSupport From Economists Across the Spectrum
Independent economists have confirmed that the recovery plan will meet its goal of creating or saving 3 to 4 million jobs. Mark Zandi, chief economist for Moody’s Economy.com and a former advisor to Senator John McCain’s presidential campaign, found that the recovery plan would lead to an unemployment rate 2.2 percent lower than if we did nothing, and that more than 90 percent of jobs created would be in the private sector. [Zandi Analysis, 1/21/09]
Accountability and Transparency
The recovery plan will include several important provisions to ensure that spending is transparent and it is clear to the American people where the money is going. The plan includes no earmarks and the Obama Administration will create a website to publically post details on how the money is being spent. These accountability provisions will give the American people the assurance that their money is being spent to get us out of this recession and is not subject to waste, fraud, or abuse.
It’s been bandied about that the banshee said she is going to “get more done in two years than Keeley did in twenty-five years.”
*** Seeing will be believing on anything she may propose by words alone! ***
Can someone tell me how the items listed below stimulate the economy? I realize these programs may be necessary but should they be part of the stimulus package?
Policy Priorities)
· Food Stamps – $152,000,000 affecting 238,000 Connecticut families over five years (Center on Budget and Policy Priorities)
· Supplemental Security Income – $20,500,000 affecting 35,900 Connecticut seniors and disabled (Center on Budget and Policy Priorities)
· State Fiscal Stabilization Fund – $718,194,000 (Center on Budget and Policy Priorities)
· Pell Grants – $170,915,690 affecting 51,992 students who will receive an average award of $3,287 (Department of Education)
· Head Start – $4,650,487 (Department of Health and Human Services)
· Child Care and Development Block Grant – $13,685,624 (Department of Health and Human Services)
· Employment and Training – $5,527,450 (Department of Labor)
· Community Services Block Grant – $12,061,834 (Department of Health and Human Services)
· Increase in Unemployment Benefits: (National Employment Law Project)
· · 277,766 Connecticut workers who have lost their jobs will receive a $25 per week increase in benefits
· · 41,770 Connecticut unemployed workers will continue to receive benefits
The best stimulus money is money that immediately gets spent, especially if that stimulus dollar is paid to someone (a store owner) who turns it right over and spends it again, etc. etc.
Money that goes to a bank might get stashed in the vault, might get put into t-bills, but in no way has the power of something like food stamps or (basically) cash into poor people’s hands to generate economic activity.
Of course, a food stamp dollar doesn’t make a millionaire into a billionaire, so most of the time we get new missile systems and stuff instead of things that truly help out the economy. But all of that stuff seems likely to get spent in a hurry, and to turn over at least a couple of times.
*** Maybe not all, but as more & more people find themselves out of a job, laid off, higher cost of living, unemployment benefits running out, etc. These particular programs will need more “$” to be able to help in the over-all increase of new applicants looking for help! Also many of these programs were cut big time during the Bush Admin. as well. Remember everything has or is going up, except for worker’s pay-checks in general. ***
Lennie, Obama’s tide lifted all boats, but the 22nd is a “party dominant district”–over 20% more Democrats than Republicans–so Russo would have to have been a truly superlative legislator to get back in as a Republican. And he wasn’t–he got showered with a few goodies by his patron in the Governor’s office, but he was a bumbling fool who opposed the minimum wage and paid sick days in the state’s largest city.
I know you like the guy, but the only clever thing he’s done in his whole life was giving old Rick Torres the shiv back in ’07, and if you think about it, that was a real scumbag move.
I commend Russo for getting the money for the BOE audit. Does anyone know what’s up with that? I am very interested in what they’ll find and if the BOE takes their recommendations seriously.
It seems that the infrastructure program which was the cornerstone of the Obama and democratic stimulus package has taken a back seat to the social programs that will not create jobs. The infrastructure portion of this stimulus package now is only10% of the monies that have been allocated.
I fully understand the need to help the less fortunate and there are monies available for that but how the hell is increasing unemployment benefits going to put more people to work?
How does giving a couple of hundred million dollars to Acorn stimulate the economy? This is nothing more than payback to this leftist organization.
This is interesting …
A great way to lower unemployment!
HOOVER, TRUMAN AND EISENHOWER
Back during The Great Depression, President Herbert Hoover ordered the deportation of ALL illegal aliens in order to make jobs available to American citizens that desperately needed work.
Harry Truman deported over two million Illegals after WWII to create jobs for returning veterans.
And then again in 1954, President Dwight Eisenhower deported 4 million Mexican nationals!
The program was called ‘Operation Wetback’ so that American WWII and Korean veterans had a better chance at jobs.
It took 2 Years, but they deported them!
Now, if they could deport the illegal’s back then, they can sure do it today!!
lf you have doubts about the veracity of this information, enter Operation Wetback into your favorite search engine and confirm it for yourself.
Reminder:
Don’t forget to pay your taxes … 12 million Illegal Aliens are depending on you.
Thank God I was born in the 1960s and now live in a country where we do not gather up and deport people based on their language or color of their skin. All of the undocumented workers I know are hard-working, good, humble people. They are not afraid of putting in a hard day’s work (10 – 12 hours a day) and are grateful for a chance to better themselves and take care of their families. I applaud them. And your use of the word “wetback” highly offends me.
You and the people like you should go live on an island somewhere where everyone is caucasian and right wing. Then you could all sit around telling each other how right you are and how wrong everyone else is.
*** Yes, back in the ’30s, ’40s & ’50s, etc. people’s civil & human rights were completely violated in the name of so-called democracy & patriotic duty. Many that kept the American economy going @ home, fought or assisted in the war effort & were always treated like 2nd-class immigrants while here. It didn’t make it right then & it wouldn’t make it right today! ***
In countless conversations over the past twenty years, the recurring theme has always been how badly the Bpt delegation performed … Particularly when compared to delegations that put ego aside and acted in unison.
Given how bad things are economically, I sincerely hope that our delegation starts to exceed expectations for a change.
As to the stimulus package, I could not agree more with Wondering. Wish we sent him/her to Bpt City Council, Hartford or DC.
We all got into this mess by spending wildly and irresponsibly. Now those that led us down that road are proposing much more of the same as the way to get us out. Not very encouraging.
The City should hire MCAT back; seems like she did a good job of getting along with the delegation and got money for the City. Also, I tend to agree with Marlys about Russo and other things. He’s a nice guy who got the benefit of a Gov. who was trying to prevent a veto-proof Senate.
johnb I really don’t care how Russo got the benefit of Gov. Rell trying to prevent a veto-proof Senate. The bottom line is that Bridgeport came out better. When we send them to Hartford don’t we expect them to come back with things for Bridgeport?
I don’t know the figures, but it seems to me there are several legislators that if you pluck out a 10-month span of time during their tenure, they would have brought in as much or more money. I will have to say that if it weren’t for Obama’s package, Bridgeport wouldn’t be getting anything but cuts no matter who’s there. Lennie there are many Legislators that brought in money no one else brought in too. Hey, Finch got $100K for a guardrail in a week, plenty of people said this was only because he was running for Mayor. So, the measure of a good Legislator is someone who is proven over time. To be fair I don’t think you can say Russo was good or bad, just that he got lucky.
As to illegals, we are losing higher-paying white-collar jobs, hence Fairfield County is not the breadbasket it used to be. Most illegals work their butts off for little pay, no security and they are grateful for it. And most of them pay taxes. Many companies who hire illegals would go out of business because they couldn’t afford union workers or couldn’t find anyone else to do the job for the pay immigrants take.
The cost of rounding up illegals and deporting them would be greater than the proposed stimulus package with no guarantee others would take the work, no money for the poor and unemployed just a huge bill from INS. It doesn’t make any sense.
Wondering, it’s called working with the Governor instead of constantly trying to argue with her. How long have the republicans had the governor’s office? You’re going to have to work with them, deal with it. I hope Obama’s way of doing things inspires politicians in this country. Get out of the party wrangling and transcend the divisions.
Willy: I know what it’s called and I understand it. I have slammed both sides when it was in my view necessary. I am not hung up on party labels. I am hung up on getting money here to Bridgeport. I know that our delegation has not done well in Hartford because they have not been able to work with their own party or the governor’s party.
BTW so far Obama’s way of doing things has not been very good. It’s high on rah!rah! BS but it’s back to the old democratic ways of socializing everything. Look at my earlier post as it relates to the stimulus package. 10% for infrastructure and jobs and the rest covers social issues that do not produce jobs. The house issue of this package was almost entirely written by the Dems so there goes the spirit of cooperation. We spent 1 Trillion on the financial bailout and what did we get? Bupkus. Bank of America laid off 50,000-plus, Citi Bank bought a 50 million dollar jet and the corporate big shots got the 6th-highest amount of bonus money in their history. So much for the Obama way.
Some of that federal bailout money will end up in Bridgeport, but how much of it will end up helping the people of the city of Bridgeport? The political scene in this town has been run by a select group of fat cats for so long that joining the working poor is akin to moving up to the middle class. The Democratic Town Committee comports its collective self as if it were a cabal, or a criminal cartel. The members of the City Council beholden to the various warring factions of the DTC (which is most of them) are maneuvered around the council chambers like the pawns on a chess board.
Lennie, did Himes send a copy of the amount of appropriations received by Connecticut the last time?
Let’s take Block Grants for example, what’s the difference (plus or minus) when one compares what was previously received and what we are being told is coming down the pipe?
How about Food Stamps (Cigarette money) can you compare the $152,000,000 affecting 238,000 Connecticut families over five years figure given above with what was appropriated in prior years?
It sounds good, but compared to what?
Nice Joel, spoken like a true Republican. Food stamps cannot be used to purchase cigarettes or liquor. And the far majority of people who receive food stamps are the working poor or single moms struggling to feed their children.
And Wondering, I am surprised at you. If I didn’t know better I would think you too were a Republican or worse yet, a racist.
Billions of dollars bailing out the banks and you two begrudge people who are just trying to keep a roof over their heads and feed their kids.
Remember this: We are all just 1 layoff or 1 serious illness away from food stamps ourselves.
And commenting off topic, I heard from an NAACP friend that there’s a court case about to hit the newspapers involving Rosemarie Hoyt, Mario’s main squeeze. An African-Am senior went to the senior center looking for help. Instead of assisting him, senior center staff insulted and humiliated him. When the man became angry (rightfully so), Rosemarie called the police and had the man arrested. Apparently this is not the first time a non-Caucasian has been mistreated there. The man is suing and is asking anyone else who was ever mistreated there to call the NAACP and join the lawsuit.
*** On the Rosemarie issue, remember there are always 2 sides to a story & somewhere in the middle you may learn the truth! *** If the government can give Wall Street’s white-collar businesses billions of “$” to regroup after being so greedy and mismanaging so much money, why not a few million for human needs in America as the economy gets worse & more and more people are being added to the need-a-hand-up list? *** Also, the request for those guardrails for Beardsley Park were submitted during the Fabrizi Admin. and Finch pushed his buddies for the money after he was Mayor. *** Regardless of Political parties, I cannot remember a new Bpt. legislator that went up to Hartford & accomplished so much in such a short time as Mr. Russo did! *** Before the recession, during and after it’s gone, try & make a normal living on minimum wage, 40 hrs. a week and see if you wouldn’t need some type of help! ***
Again commenting off topic; Lennie can you research the City’s unions concessions packages? There is a large discrepancy between how much people had to give back and I don’t understand why.
The Supervisors took 10 furlough days and made major concessions in their health benefits and pension. They were saved from layoffs until December and then may have to take 10 more furlough days.
LIUNA took 6 furlough days which saved them from layoffs only until May. They made no concessions in health benefits and pension and got no increases.
AFSCME took 5 furlough days which saved them from layoffs until December, they made no concessions in health benefits or pension and will get 2.5% increases every six months beginning in January 2010.
I don’t understand why the packages were so different and why some employees benefited more than others.
Bruce Lee; What is with the racist comment? I guess you did not read the whole of my posts or you read them and saw what you wanted to see. I said “I fully understand the need to help the less fortunate and there are monies available for that but how the hell is increasing unemployment benefits going to put more people to work?”
The stimulus package was intended to put people to work it was not intended to be a social program. If you think that the comments above are racist then I feel sorry for you because you did not understand what the stimulus package was supposed to do so the first thing you do is yell racist. So be it.
Look I am all for helping the needy and the hungry but that is not what I was discussing.
Spoken like a Republican! That’s right Bruce Liberalee.
Not only are people buying cigarettes with Food Stamps, they use their State Debit Cards and WICC. If you want to exchange them for cash or beer, there are stores that would do it too.
Accountability and Transparency
“The recovery plan will include several important provisions to ensure that spending is transparent and it is clear to the American people where the money is going.”
As a Republican, I would strongly suggest to your Democratic Idols to try the above across the board. This would include making it clear to the American people not only where the money is going, but if it is being spent properly. I don’t agree with terms of the Billions spent on bank bailouts. Keep in mind that the Obama bill is also a bailout that will benefit the well-off, much more than the poor. Read between the lines.
“The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, legislation that will create and save jobs while investing in the future of our nation. This legislation comes at a challenging time for our nation’s economy. In the last year alone, 2.6 million jobs were lost in the United States–the worst year in more than 60 years.”
“Independent economists have confirmed that the recovery plan will meet its goal of creating or saving 3 to 4 million jobs.”
Read between the unemployment lines. The key words here are “creating or saving jobs”. In order to claim job creation, the 2.6 million unemployed last year would have to be employed first. Once this is achieved, then one can start counting and claiming new jobs or newly employed people. If in two years, we are told that 2.6 million people found jobs, the Democrats will claim this as job growth, when in reality they are job replacements or recovery. If there are no jobs created, they will argue that they saved jobs. The Obama Administration is not sure whether or not enough jobs will be created, saved or recovered. If 4 million jobs are created, you won’t be told that 80% of them were minimum-wage jobs. Will the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act create better or just as good paying jobs as those lost last year?
*** Hard to tell the future, you can plan but it’s only human projection on how it will really turn out. But after 8 yrs. of Republican miscalculations on the war, economy, world debt & foreign policy, along with a spend like a sailor on leave mentality, something must be done besides a lot of negative talking about what will work or not work! ***
It appears to me that Bruce Lee is an apparent racist. I agree that undocumented immigrants (or whatever you want to call them) need to go home right away so that the hundreds of thousands of Americans who lost their jobs on “Bush Lite’s” watch can find meaningful employment.
Oh … wait a minute … if the people who are hiring undocumented aliens and paying them under the table have to hire statutory employees legally able to work in this country, the employment costs above salary would be too expensive. Maybe the real racist here is the employer who breaks the law each time he reachs under the table to pay an illegal.
At a time when we desperately need tax revenue, I find it totally unconscionable that we allow a 12 million person work force to totally ignore paying employment taxes like all the rest of us legally employed Americans.
johnb, while MCAT is probably a decent person, she was not effective at all. Ask anyone who worked for the City. I know she loved the job she had but honestly, she made little to no impact. She did not have a sense of what was needed or how to get it. She had difficulty preparing the legislative agenda and she did not communicate effectively with department heads. She was regularly inappropriately emotional on the job and took credit for things that she did not do. John Marsilio is the one who pushed the garbage to energy plant up hill. In fact, she was pushed out of the process due to her ineffectiveness. Now, in all fairness, it could be that the Administrations did not give her a fair chance at her job. She is bright and sincere though. She was also willing to reach out to all members of the delegation so I give her points for that.
I think a stimulus package or two or three will be necessary but it is unfortunate that more is not in the package for Main Street businesses. Lou Dobbs on CNN said it the other night, small businesses make up 95% of the jobs and no help for these businesses in the package … maybe the help will come in the next package …