Comments on: What is all the fuss about another stimulus package?

By: Nick R

Nick R — Fri, 01 Jan 2010 12:36:26 +0000

Making Work Pay Credit: The bill provides a $400 credit per worker and a $800 credit per dual-earner couple. The full credit would be paid to people making $75,000 or less ($150,000 per dual-earner couple).
For most working individuals, the credit will be paid over time at roughly $15 per period, assuming 26 pay periods in a year.

Estimated cost: $116 billion.

One-time payments to those who don’t work: For retirees, disabled individuals and others who don’t work, the bill provides a one-time $250 payment.
Estimated cost: $14.2 billion.

Health insurance for the jobless:
1) For workers who have been laid off between Sept. 1, 2008, and Dec. 31, 2009, the government will subsidize 65% of their premiums under Cobra for up to 9 months.
Estimated cost: $24.7 billion.
2) Expanded Medicaid rolls for workers who’ve lost their jobs and can’t afford health care or can’t get Cobra coverage because their former employer doesn’t offer a health care plan.
Estimated cost: $87 billion.

Unemployment benefits:
1)The bill provides jobless workers with an additional 20 weeks in unemployment benefits, and 13 weeks on top of that if they live in what’s deemed a high unemployment state.
Estimated cost: $27 billion.
2) In addition, the weekly unemployment benefit will temporarily increase by $25 on top of the roughly $300 jobless workers currently receive.
Estimated cost: $8.8 billion.
3) Plus, the first $2,400 of benefits in 2009 would be exempt from federal income taxes.
Estimated cost: $4.7 billion.

Food assistance:
1) The bill includes a provision would increase food stamp payments by 13.6%, so a family of four would see an additional $80 on top of the $588 per month they receive currently.
Estimated cost: $19.9 billion.
2) The bill also provides assistance to help local groups providing food and shelter, or elderly nutrition services such as Meals-on-Wheels, plus a program to help food banks re-stock their shelves.
Estimated cost: $350 million.(0.35 billion)

Other help for needy families: The bill provides funding to states to create a contingency fund through 2010 for the welfare program called Temporary Assistance for Needy Families, which provides cash assistance to the needy.
Estimated cost: $2.4 billion.

By: Shaded

Shaded — Fri, 01 Jan 2010 11:55:02 +0000

The other “stimulus” packages weren’t stimulus packages if you’re referring to the bank bailouts. This is actual government spending and expansion, in contrast to programs by the Federal Reserve (independant of the government) and TARP, which was loaning money and buying bad assets, not investing in public works projects. To compare to other stimulus packages, this is the largest costing plan since World War 2’s Marshall Plan.

By: Brian

Brian — Fri, 01 Jan 2010 11:05:23 +0000

The fuss is that anybody who has a clue about economics knows that it is only going to worsen the economy. Government intervention never works.

By: arcanum70

arcanum70 — Fri, 01 Jan 2010 10:31:09 +0000

Here is a link that breaks it down for you: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/graphic/2009/02/01/GR2009020100154.html?sid=ST2009020100161

The fuss is that it is just another spending program. This link provides some of what the money is being spent on, but does not include a lot of the pork in this bill. If you actually break down this spending package only about 12 cents on the dollar is going to be used to create jobs or help the economy.