ITECS Insider » Stimulus Information

$787 Billion Stimulus Recovery Plan Sparks Economy, Becomes Election Issue

admin — Fri, 27 Aug 2010 22:58:40 +0000

(Green Bay Press Gazette, August 16, 2010) In February 2009, less than a month after President Barack Obama was inaugurated, Congress passed a $787 billion stimulus bill intended to spark an economy that had fallen into recession. The House passed the final version of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 on Feb. 13 by a vote of 246-183. The Senate gave final approval the same day by a vote of 60-38. President Barack Obama signed the legislation Feb. 17. Click here to read more…

Vice President Biden Releases Report On Recovery Act Impact On Innovation

admin — Fri, 27 Aug 2010 22:57:28 +0000

(White House, August 24, 2010) Vice President Joe Biden today unveiled a new report, “The Recovery Act: Transforming the American Economy through Innovation,” which finds that the Recovery Act’s $100 billion investment in innovation is not only transforming the economy and creating new jobs, but helping accelerate significant advances in science and technology that cut costs for consumers, save lives and help keep America competitive in the 21st century economy. The report can be viewed in full HERE. “From the beginning, we have been a nation of discovery and innovation – and today we continue in that tradition as Recovery Act investments pave the way for game-changing breakthroughs in transportation, energy and medical research,” said Vice President Biden. “We’re planting the seeds of innovation, but private companies and the nation’s top researchers are helping them grow, launching entire new industries, transforming our economy and creating hundreds of thousands of new jobs in the process.” Click here to read more…

Could Stimulus Work Again?

admin — Wed, 18 Aug 2010 23:51:16 +0000

By David Cottle

(Wall Street Journal, August 17, 2010) There’s one thing equity bears have consistently underestimated ever since credit crunched: the degree to which markets love a bit of economic stimulus from the top. Whether it’s hacking interest rates to the bone, easing quantitatively, guaranteeing sovereign debt, or all of the above, really doesn’t matter. The markets just can’t get enough. All through stocks’ long, impressive fightback, bears have tried to savage it; the recovery is an illusion, they growl, mere inventory rebuild. The economics look terrible, there’s no demand, we’re sure to get a double dip, for God’s sake get out while you still can, save yourselves, etc, etc… And the indexes, by and large, just kept on rising, despite the ursine hysterics. Who cares about the real economy when central banks are throwing printed money around like confetti, positively begging you to borrow some cash, for nothing, and punt it in rising markets? Click here to read more…

Stimulus Programs Hobbled By Regulations

admin — Wed, 18 Aug 2010 23:47:14 +0000

(Washington Post, August 18, 2010) The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act — also known as the stimulus – was supposed to be timely, targeted and temporary. A year and a half since its passing, much of the money devoted to tax cuts and aid to states and social benefits has been paid out. But some of the act’s more ambitious programs have failed on the first score. The latest example comes from the Energy Department’s inspector general, who last week reported that a $3.2 billion program to fund energy-efficiency improvements in state and local government buildings has spent just over 8 percent of its cash. ”The slow rate of spending block grant funds has neither met initial departmental targets nor achieved the desired stimulative effect on the nation’s economy,” Inspector General Gregory H. Friedman wrote. Click here to read more…

Congress’ Best Stimulus Is To Stop Dragging Its Feet

admin — Thu, 05 Aug 2010 01:27:09 +0000

By: Brian Jacobsen

(Forbes, August 2, 2010) Businesses are not hiring because they do not know what taxes or the regulatory environment will be like over the next few years. This past year has been a whirlwind of legislative activity. It’s mind boggling to think of the number of pages of legislation that have been passed on two topics alone: health care and financial regulation. Despite the verboseness of these pieces of legislation, there is actually little substance. It’s hard to gauge how these pieces of legislation will be implemented and enforced until numerous rules are written. Of course, just because the rules are written doesn’t mean they will be enforced as advertised. Wasn’t that one of the lessons of the special dispensations the Securities Exchange Commission gave some of the big investment banks back in 2004 related to leverage limits? When the rules are there, but not uniformly enforced, they hardly qualify as rules. Click here to read more…