It appears that there has been an agreement reached between the House and Senate on the stimulus bill. Yahoo has a summary article. Here are some of the highlights:
- Cost: $780 Billion – That’s an increase of about 7.3% to the National Debt.
- Breakdown: 1/3 Tax Cuts and 2/3 Spending
- Medicaid: $90 Billion to help states with funding – something that should have been in a separate bill.
- Education: $10 Billion on program to assist low-income students – another for a separate appropriations bill.
- Infrastructure: $150 Billion – $50 Billion of that is transportation infrastructure.
- Tax Cuts: $400/year credit that applies to 95% of workers – Yes, that’s our direct share out of the $780 Billion bill.
- Timeline: Some construction projects could begin in 90 days – unfortunately, no details on how soon the jobs will end.
It is disappointing to still see a lot of items that should have been in separate appropriations bills. Many such items could stand on their own merit instead of being tagged onto an ‘emergency stimulus bill’. I guess it goes to show that there isn’t a bill that a politician can’t find a way to stick a rider to.
Digg it!
Stumble it!
Join 17 feed subscribers and subscribe to this blog with an RSS reader!
Posted under Economy
Written by admin on February 12, 2009
Another interesting 