Barack Obama’s Stimulus Package Will Wash New Orleans Away
By Concerned Mother on February 19, 2009 at 5:50 PM in Barack Obama, Economic Stimulus, Hillary Clinton, Jesse Jackson Jr., Louisiana
(bumped up from last night late . this is a CRITICALLY IMPORTANT POST about what Barack Obama is overlooking)
Remember Jesse Jackson, Jr., and his claim that voters should “analyze” Hillary Clinton’s tears? We should analyze those tears in the wake of Hurricane Katrina, he said, especially as Hillary will have to face the Democratic voters of South Carolina, 45% of whom are African-Americans who see “real hope” in Barack Obama.
Maybe Jesse and all those African-American voters who dismissed Hillary’s tears but saw “real hope” in Obama should analyze this in the wake of Hurricane Katrina and of Barack Obama’s deceitful campaign:
WASHINGTON — In projecting the job benefits from the giant stimulus bill signed into law Tuesday by President Barack Obama, the White House says the 2nd Congressional District that includes New Orleans will receive the lowest job employment benefit among the 435 nationally.
The White House says it is a formula-driven number…
The 2nd Congressional District of Louisiana includes New Orleans, a city that is struggling to repopulate and to rebuild its infrastructure. Although the region is still recovering from Hurricane Katrina, it will receive the least amount of stimulus from Obama’s vaunted package. New Orleans, I guess, is only worthy of one’s attention when one is campaigning and race baiting, not when one is writing a spending bill. That is quite the Mardi Gras gift for a city that supported him with 79% of the vote during the general election.
New Orleanians will still celebrate Carnival tonight with the Ancient Druids in Uptown. And New Orleans will recover, even if Obama and his operatives in Washington, DC, will sit idly at their desks as this city sinks into the Gulf. Besides, we have seen this before. Does anyone remember George W. Bush in 2005 or John Calvin Coolidge in 1927?
Question Hillary’s tears all you want, Senate Candidate #5. At least her actions and her little formulas will not wash us away. Maybe you and the people you answer to can analyze that after you finally read the stimulus package for which you voted. And please tell me if the African-American voters of South Carolina will still see “real hope” in Obama in the wake of his decision to ignore New Orleans.























Who would work harder for African Americans? Obama or Hillary? This is dirt simple. Obama thinks African Americans owe it to vote for him, that somehow they might live vicariously through him as President. Hillary would have been Hillary. There is a reason people used to call Bill the first “black” President. Obama is for Obama. The rest of us are meaningless to him… regardless of our skin tones.
This is why he signed the Stimulus away from the White House and had Pelosi write it. Therefore he won’t get tagged with any responsibility for the consequences of it. He was actually hand- picked to run for president because he had done so little he couldn’t be held responsible for any mistakes the people trying to govern actually sometimes make. Everything is symbolic with him. The fate of New Orleans or any of us really he is indifferent to. It is about him period. Why else flaunt how often he can ride in his new Air Force One when the country is in the grips of a monumental economic hardship? “Winter of OUR hardship” ? Give me a break.Anyone who so champions him will be discarded by him when their usefulness is over.
Oh … but the chimp cartoon? He’s using that pretty much to his advantage, isn’t he? Personally? I think it looks just like Nancy!
He isn’t capable of putting together a stimulus bill. I believe this is a list of items the dems have had on the back burner for possibly years and was hastily put together. He is the messenger. But since he is also the POTUS he has to own it.
Jesse Jackson Jr.’s comments about Hillary were ridiculous and reprehensible IMO. Racist, even.
There. I said it.
Yep JJ Jr. is a racist — and a sexist pig. There I said it!
The sight of JJJr enrages me after these and other such comments during the primary campaigns.
This was when JJJr cranked up his role as chief race-baiter for the Obama Campaign and never let up. He solid got what he deserved
- his brother admitting to raising money for Blogo in the pay-for-play attempt at BO’s Senate Seat, ending his chances for the seat he felt entitled to in light of who he is and after his major role in O’s campaign.
Instead, O threw him under the bus which is what O does to stay above the fray. There is reason to believe more is in store once the Blogo tapes are released and Fitzgerald’s case is unveiled.
I look so forward to seeing this contemptible man who is an embarrassment to the AA community stopped for good. What we saw in 2008 was not equality prevailing, but rather fighting racism with racism. Regardless of which side it comes from, it is reprehensible.
Yes JJJr, Obama and Obama’s surrogates played the race card at every turn and blamed Hillary for doing what they were doing. The strategy became necessary in their point of view when Obama lost NH and Nevada before the primaries moved to SC with it 45% black voters. At this point polls showed Hillary capturing 65% of those votes, thus the racial strategy to rile up and make the black voters mad at her and at Bill Clinton. Yes folks they made a fool out of their own people. I am an AA female Hillary supporter and I saw this ulgy strategy play itself out. Had Obama lost SC with its high # of black voters his campaign wopuld have been over.
I will never respect, support or vote for these people in my remaining lifetime. I despise them all (JJ, JJJr, NAACP, John Lewis, Clyburn, Maxine Waters, etc) because they betrayed MLK’s dream for America (that a person would be judged by the content of their charcacter not their race), one that I shared and marched for during my college days.
Wisewoman, your comments bring me to tears. I am so saddened by all of this and particularly for the backward steps race relations have taken since Barack Obama started campaigning. People are getting angrier. This is not good.
God bless you.
You are indeed a wisewoman! It is very encouraging that an AA woman has such insight in light of the understandable joy felt by AA’s with Obama being elected. But when you take the time to understand what happened, any fairminded person, black or white, has to be outraged.
It is a slippery slope for those of us who have never been inclined whatsoever to speak in terms that are considered at least negative by many and even racist by some. In my case, I couldn’t care less because I know without a doubt racism does not enter into it for me. I have always fought tooth and nail for civil rights and AA’s and am sure I will continue to do that.
But, I have to say, the events of the past year have set me back on my heels like nothing has ever done. Call me nieve, but I never dreamed this kind of deviousness was possible among democrats.
I second both: a racist and sexist comment!
Coincidentally I am watching Top Chef filmed in New Orleans. What a beautiful city and my musically oriented husband says he heard the best music ever in that city.
LA has a republican governor — there is no pay to play and AAs gave him the farm without demanding anything from him. Why would he do anything for them? — he gets to play without paying.
Great article.
I’m so glad Jessie Jackson, Jr. was “so-o-o-o” sensitive in his analysis of Hillary Clinton’s tears. Wonder how sensitive he’ll be to the raw data on the man he insisted offered hope and change to the AA community, New Orleans in particular.
This whole thing is such a crock. GW, who missed the ball entirely on Katrina, can at least be given this in retrospect: he didn’t know [whether through ignorance or not] how bad it truly was at the start.
But now? The suffering and the struggle of NO is the stuff of books out the yahoo.
So, where is Barack Obama? Using the excuse of what: magic formulas? Sounds like the BS from the Wall St. quantitative analysts.
I hope people are beginning to get it. Elections matter; they matter big time. And you, my fellow citizens elected another George W. Bush, who might give a good talk. But never had the real walk.
Another lo-o-og four years! Another tragically missed opportunity.
JJ Jr. doesn’t really care about New Orleans and never did. That was just so he could bring up, Obama is not Bush. These creeps care about no Americans!
I’m so glad Jessie Jackson, Jr. was “so-o-o-o” sensitive in his analysis of Hillary Clinton’s tears. Wonder how sensitive he’ll be to the raw data on the man he insisted offered hope and change to the AA community, New Orleans in particular.
This whole thing is such a crock. GW, who missed the ball entirely on Katrina, can at least be given this in retrospect: he didn’t know [whether through ignorance or not] how bad it truly was at the start.
But now? The suffering and the struggle of NO is the stuff of books out the yahoo.
So, where is Barack Obama? Using the excuse of what: magic formulas? Sounds like the BS from the Wall St. quantitative analysts.
I hope people are beginning to get it. Elections matter; they matter big time. And you, my fellow citizens elected another George W. Bush, who might give a good talk. But never had the real walk.
Another lo-o-ong four years! Another tragically missed opportunity.
My family are Louisiana natives. Our daughter went to Loyola and after graduating, stayed and worked in Uptown, Mid-City, and the Quarter for several years. She left N’Orleans 6 months before Katrina.
Bless your hearts! We will NEVER forget y’all, and will never forget what Obama has NOT done for you!
Thank you for the post.
This whole issue surrounding “African Americans” and they needing special help to succeed is completely getting under my skin. They need absolutely NO help any longer. The doors that are closed to them and the obstacles that they must endeavors to open them are the SAME for white, black, asian, any one who wants to achieve.
At what point do we say, “Thats enough”? Thats the question that MUST eventually be answered. If the premise is because a certain percentage of them don’t succeed, what is that definition of success? And what percentage is acceptable based on that definition? These are things I don’t see being defined or addressed.
Only the top 1 to 2% of americans are wealthy enough to not worry about bills and such. And if you look at the statistics, the amount of wealthy “african Americans” are statistically proportionate to the population as a whole with in that percentage. To me, its like they are saying they are entailed, each and every one of them, to be more successful than any other race. Every race has their poor, every race has criminals, and every race has their elite class.
The whole idea of racial inequality is an illusion. Once you reach a certain point in your career track, the color of skin doesn’t matter. What matters is what you bring to the table.
As far as someone being insulting to this self defined group of americans, what specific goal were they hoping to gain from electing Obama to office? If it was to give them hope, well they have it now, so time to put your money where your mouth is and live up to it. I no longer have any sympathy for their perceived disadvantages–they should now be inspired enough to make it happen. It is all in their hands now, I wash myself clean of it all.
I am so with you. And shame on Eric Holder for saying that we are a bunch of cowards for not being willing to talk about race. To me there is nothing more to say.
What about talking about sexism? No one wants to admit that problem needs to be discussed and addressed and NOW!
And what did Eric Holder mean by “WE are a bunch of cowards for not talking about race”, anyway! Seems to me ‘race’ is the ONLY thing we’ve talked about since Obama entered the campaign for POTUS.
Last night on Anderson Cooper Roland Martin, David Gergen, and another AA got into a heated discussion about Eric Holder’s comment. Naturally, Roland Martin agreed with Holder. To his credit and my shock, David Gergen said, “But we just elected the first AA president, and I have to disagree with my good friend Roland Martin…….”. The other AA pundit was most disgusted that Holder had made that remark as well as with Martin’s dogged support. Martin told him he was dillusional.
Seems some of the AA’s won’t be satisfied no matter what. I totally “get it” that nearly every AA in this country felt validation with BO’s election.
I have been involved in politics as a liberal democrat all my life with Civil Rights being at the top of my priority list. But I can tell you, I’ve about had enough of this BS.
Well said…..
This isn’t about race, it’s about how we live our lives-PERIOD.
I apologize for the double post. I didn’t think the first one went through.
Me bad!
Peggy–don’t worry….I’ve done that, too!
Your comments were very good ones. And do you remember that Obama wouldn’t even go to N’Orleans last year for the State of the Black Union Convention( I think what’s what it’s called?) because it was right before the Ohio primary? And because When Tavis Smiley called him down on not attending, Tavis and his family rec’d death threats!! Hillary was the only presidential candidate who went to the convention and spoke. That was so brave of her, because she knew the audience would be fairly hostile (it was after Bill had been called a “racist” because of his remarks in the S. Carolina primary). The snub Obama gave the blacks of post-Katrina N’Orleans and the black convention-goers speaks volumes about him!
I do remember the Tavis Smiley bit, Cindy. In fact, I think he went off the radio [at least temporarily] because he was receiving death threats. But then, I heard him a month ago and obviously all was forgiven. He said something to the effect, that it was up to commentators like himself to make sure Obama was a “great president.” Made me want to gag, very Chris Matthews-like.
And yes, it was brave of Hillary to attend the conference. She was given so little credit for what has been a lifetime of working on human/civil rights. Drove me crazy.
Thanks for giving me a pass on the double post. I groaned when it popped up. I don’t know what it is but the filter randomly eats my posts or chokes on them for some reason. The mysteries of cyber-world!
Cindy, this is a group he feels comfortable in snubbing because he knows they will always be with him **no matter what**. They will never be able to see Obama objectively. Evenso, this is politics at its worst to treat the people of NO like this after what they have been through.
Fran–You’re exactly right. Obama feels he doesn’t need them, etc. He is about as cynical as they come! It seems that he is ten times more cynical than George Bush ever thought about being!
And Peggy Sue…..that’s a shame about Tavis falling back in line with the kool-aiders. But, you know that they, with the help of ACORN, are targeting AA Obama slackers (those who weren’t as gung ho as they wanted them to be at the beginning of the campaign); so, he may still be getting threats and HAS to say what he does. maybe?
I have to agree, Touchet. No more favors for blacks. No more special programs or special funds. No more preferential hiring or passes on educational accomplishments. Many blacks need to realize they are humans first and a color second.
I watched way too many poor, black and white, pass up opportunities for education and jobs because they thought they were entitled to welfare, or better yet, that being on welfare WAS their job.
The days of enabling incompetence needs to be over. Look what we’re getting by enabling Obama…
I just read “Angela’s Ashes” and was astounded that even with a little welfare, those McCourt kids basically grew up on bread and tea. A lot of the time they went hungry.
But the point is they SURVIVED! And a lot of them became successful!
Welfare is incentivizing the wrong behavior. We need to start encouraging people to put their kids up for adoption if they can’t afford to raise them.
I did not vote for George Bush, I am a Democrat, but I am seriously starting to hate welfare!!
When I hear the word welfare, I think of bailing out financial services companies with billions and billions of taxpayer dollars for mismanaging company assets, not providing food and shelter for families still living below the poverty level.
When I hear the words affirmative action, I think of admitting legacy students to ivy league schools which their parents attended.
Having a black child colors my perspective.
I have fostered children of many races, from many places and none has had the impact of making me fail to comprehend English. I have no idea how having a black child would impair you in this way.
Welfare is financial assistance paid to people by governments. AFDC is an example. Corporate welfare is big fat cash handouts to businesses often based on patronage. Check out our current stimulus package for an example of this.
Legacy preference in college admission is an affinity program which applies to people without regard to race. It is meant to thank your parents for being loyal customers. I believe Presiden Obama used it when he applied to Harvard. Affirmative action refers to policies that take gender, race, or ethnicity into account in an attempt to promote equal opportunity. You may or may not like one or the other, but they arent equivalent.
When words lose their meanings we can no longer communicate effectively. The idea that communication is a game where we associate words with personal feelings and react accordingly is really a problem these days. How can we speak to each other if we have to live in fear that our words will be interpreted incorrectly by someone, and that that persons opinion/feeling of the word trumps Websters dictionary?
Obummer also used Affirmative Action to get into Columbia. The college he was attending at the time, Occidental, had an Affirmative Action exchange program with Columbia. Obummer went to Occidental and took advantage of the Affirmative Action exchange to get into a school he didn’t make the grades to get into. Occidental is known as a college that you can get into if your parents/grandparents can pay the tuition. So, Obummer has used Affirmative Action and legacy policies to get where he is. All that crap about his intellect is just that, crap. He is an opportunist with a very shallow talent who used the programs in place to get where he is. And thanks to a media with an agenda, none of this was reported. It is why Obummer won’t release his school records. If he did, it would show he is a fake who used the system instead of the “brilliant intellect” that his supporters claim he is.
jbjd |– I totally agree.
I’m also disgusted by Holder’s comments — even as is now AG and Obama Prez!
Women have been getting the short end of the stick since Fredrick Douglass decided it was politically expedient to omit them from the 15th Amendment, essentially abandoning woman who fought for the abolition of Slavery and for black suffrage.
(http://capitalismbad.blogspot.com/2005/12/frederick-douglass-feminist-of-day.html)
The “American Dream” is not an entitlement, it is an opportunity. I truly believe that a person’s success in this country is based largely on whether or not he believes the above statement.
Here is Jesse Jackson Jr’s office phone number in Washington D.C.: (202) 225-0773
Call him and tell him all these things.
He needs to hear from us.
I have always considered myself to be a generous, charitable person. From this point forward, though, I will be far more discerning about my donations.
I am angry about the scores of people who make no effort on their own behalf!
We had evacuees here from New Orleans twice. They were housed and fed, yet pan-handled at our major intersections until the police removed them.
Many owners of rental properties, that made homes available were repaid by having the walls smashed, garbage strewn throughout, and appliances overturned and destroyed!
I am with you on that. When a person realizes you have to give to receive, things will look up. Otherwise, they will remain right where they are.
let’s say a person is on welfare, can’t find a job. But they could still do volunteer work, help at a local school, animal shelter, something to give back. They would see opportunities coming their way. You get what you give.
As for charities, I help none but my local SPCA for animals, that’s it.
But how do they eat and pay the bills?
“…They need absolutely NO help any longer.”
“… I no longer have any sympathy for their perceived disadvantages–they should now be inspired enough to make it happen. It is all in their hands now, I wash myself clean of it all.”
“No more favors for blacks. No more special programs or special funds. No more preferential hiring…”
This is the b(l)ack-lash I was expecting when That One was elected. I also predict that race relations in the US will make the 60’s look like a picnic.
Thanks, O-Dumbass
The world is an Orwellian place these days.
It is wrong to take into consideration a person’s gender, race, or ethnicity in hiring, granting contracts or school acceptance.
Every person who hires should strive to evaluate applicants based on personal qualifications for the position. Applicants should be evaluated as individuals, not members of groups with historical wrongs to be righted.
Affirmative action works in direct oppostition to these ideas. Therefore its time to get rid of it.
If this makes me racist, so be it.
I remember this all well. It was the first example of empty talk. The One was NO WHERE TO BE FOUND for help, in personal hand in, or even TALK. As a matter of fact, when situations arised even following Katrina in New Orleans, Obama was ALWAYS absent and even used excuses that he had to personally be in DC for voting. Uh yeah right. That excuse was blown to hell.
But I do remember the difference in real leadership displayed. When Al Gore personally hired two planes to go rescue people. Even Bush’s folks got wind, they tried to stop him and he had to call DC for some help to get clearance for the plane to land. HE was there personally to help in the effort. Not empty words from the all talk no action BOberry.
http://farm1.static.flickr.com/232/481718893_13ed8b9f9c.jpg?v=0
http://farm1.static.flickr.com/222/481718899_17a439e277.jpg?v=0
Louisiana is getting very little of the bailout money, I think I heard 4 billion. If that’s true, than they’re only getting 1/200th of the money in the bill. Why so little for a state still recovering from the most expensive natural dissaster in U.S. history? It’s very obvious.
We are in a mostly manufactured economic crisis. Look up the concept of the Cloward-Piven Stratagy of Orchestrated Crisis and you’ll begin to see what has happened. While this crisis has severely hurt the vast majority of us, it has been a windfall for a relative few. The group most visibly benefitting beyond their wildest dreams are the Democrat politicians; they’ve won the Whitehouse and huge majorities in Congress, and in record time they’ve rammed through the biggest robbery of current and future taxpayers in order to pay back the fools that put them in power. Less visible to benefit are the criminals behind the scenery like George Soros, he’s made his billions by destroying people and economies. Both groups would have been inconsequential if the public had been better informed and educated by a media that chose to do the opposite for selfish and destructive reasons of their own.
The answer to the question of why so little to Louisiana; Bobby Jindal, maybe the greatest Republican threat in 2012. Jindal would be wise to simply refuse the money and demonstrate that a properly run state government can solve it’s own problems without the help and oversight of Big Brother.
So … suffer the innocent to suffer more? That surely shows how truly bipartisan this administration intends to be.
If the money comes with strings attatched that will cause the state to have to match funds and create programs that will fiscally obligate the state in the future when federal funds dry up, then it may make economic sense in the long run to refuse the money. And that’s ignoring the likely damage the bill will cause overall.
And yes, Obama would shove a knife in his own mother’s back if he believed he would somehow benefit from it.
But also keep in mind that Obama wrote nothing in the Swindle-us bill, it was all the Democrat Congress with a few payoffs to the three treasonous Republican Senators. They remind me of the Nobles that were bought off by Longshanks to betray William Wallace in the movie “Braveheart”.
Let’s also not forget that the 2nd district is now being punished for giving the boot to cold cash William Jefferson, the ethically challanged former U.S. Representative and Pelosi pet of the 2nd district.
Andrew and others. I have read many posts on the stimulus package. What I find most astonishing is that no one has done the simple math to demonstrate what a farce this bill is. Obama says for $787,000,000,000 he will “SAVE” OR “CREATE” 3,500,000 jobs (3.5 million). Mathematically that is $224,857.14 per job. In other words each job will cost $224,857.14. IF THAT IS NOT THE HEIGHT OF LUNANCY AND ABSURDITY WHAT IS. Over 220K per job. This man should be run out of the WH as a stark, raving lunatic.
1. One could send 35 million Americans a check for $22,485.71. This would help 10 times more people for the same money.
2. If there are 15 million unemployed Americans with this money each person could get a check for $52,470.
3. If there are 20 million unemployed Americans with this money each person could get a check for $39,350.
You get the picture, how absurd!!
Wisewoman, I’m with you all the way on the preposterous claims that have fueled this bill, but the claims are just a smoke screen meant to shroud the biggest political payoff or pay-to-play of all time. Notice how Obama and his imps always hedge their bets by stating that the bill will create or “save” 3.5 million jobs? Essentially, when the dust settles, if only 3.5 million Americans still have jobs, then Obama and crew can claim victory in having “saved” those 3.5 million jobs because they too might have been lost without his devine inspiration.
Wisewoman, Andrew, everyone else here, (except Bots) you are all 100% correct about the Bacon Bill. God help us. Absurd is right.
Andrew-
I am very impressed with your well-informed, intelligent and well-written posts. You typically sum up EXACTLY what I think. Thank you.
Sarah, I’ll express something that you’ll never hear from Obama. I’m humbled by your comment, and you’re most welcome.
I think when Obama fails the racial backlash will be so strong that no person of color will ever be President again. Obama’s presidency has stirred up so much anger. It’s sad in a way because one day a qualified black person may want to be President and won’t have a chance. Eric Holder’s comments were absolutely disgraceful and added fuel to the growing fire.
While I agree with you that Obama will fail, and that Eric Holder is, and was, a disgrace, there are currently AA’s that I would vote for in a heartbeat.
It is undeniable that the race card was played often (shamefully so) in this last election, it was the only way such a miserable candidate had a chance, and it is certain that race was the deciding factor for many voters, but I firmly believe that there are qualified AA candidates out there that can truly transcend the race issue based on their inherent talents. No matter how dissasterous Obama will be, I don’t believe that should doom subsequent AA candidates. If that were true, then we just might have racist issues that need to be sorted out. It would be horribly wrong to equate a lousy performance of a tragically flawed individual like Obama with his race. There are screw-ups and brilliant stand-outs in all races.
No amount of money is going to fix what is wrong in New orleans and many other cities with economic problems. You can’t live without integrity and expect good to come of it. Doesnt’ work that way.
JJJ was only a symptom, of course, of the broader smear campaign against Clinton’s character waged by Obama/Axelrod - such deceit emanated from that gang!
The media keeps scratching their heads about how Obama’s campaign was such a smooth machine, yet his transition has been anything but. What the media does not seem to understand or want to investigate is this White House transition team are not the same people.
They were the ones interviewed and talked about as the campaign, but in fact were running their part of the campaign like they had always run campaigns in Chicago. The sleek campaign was the CA company in Nancy Pelosi’s district that she hooked Obama up with. This company had raised millions for Pelosi’s 2006 Congressional campaigns as well as was the top fundraiser for John Kerry in 2004. That was the real campaign - that Obama had nothing to do with, plus he was not the hi-tech visionary he has gotten credit for being. They were.
To better understand this, you must read the June 2008 article “The Amazing Money Machine” by Joshua Green. Go to http://www.theatlantic.com and then put The Amazing Money Machine in the search box. It is a pro Obama article, but unwittingly discloses many tidbits that we would not have otherwise known.
The article was written before all the final financial reports were released, like only 24% of Obamas contributors were under $200 and 76% of the contributors gave over $2,000 each. They tried to bamboozle us into thinking they had raised $700 million with $3, $5, $10 contributions in those little campaign offices. Think again.
Jesse Jackson Jr is a joke. As I recall I never saw him on TV, print or anywhere else sheading any tears over Katrina
Nope, only saw his tears when he realized he wouldn’t get Obama’s seat.
I spent some time this afternoon walking through the education section of the stimulus bill. The bill itself is not as daunting as some make it out to be. The fact that the font is good size, margins wide and all double spaced conflates the number of pages.
What I noticed about the bill is the way in which huge numbers are thrown around. In the education section for instance there are really no new initiatives or new thinking reflected. Just big globs of cash assigned to existing education titles. The only thing remotely new to the game box is the section on “greening” our schools. All of the construction money is aimed at repairs, remodeling and greening campus buildings. NEW CONSTRUCTION IS PROHIBITED. That does not mean it is useless but it is sad that this huge expenditure of funds has been put together so rapidly that it is forced to use existing program hooks. It is sad that the huge outlay for Innovation and School Improvement is not fueled with better and newer thinking about how the brain works, how children learn.
The most concern I have is with the processes that will move these funds from the signed bill to the classroom. Large sums are targeted for release on July 1 or October 1. Schools receiving funds in the first tranche must spend them within one year. My guess is the applications will require two to three months to move through receipt by the school district, preparation by the school district, submission, approval process, funding approval—we are at Mar/April 10. Which means new programs/hiring etc. won’t launch until the fall of ‘10. I think they should have given every family in America a voucher of $5000 for each child and let the free market sort it out.
The legislation says have the funds for each bucket
I think there are valid arguments on both side about this government plan. Will it raise the budget deficit? Probably. Will it help? That’s a good question. I think economies go through cycles and this might be one of them. I read a good article on recessions and their history on
http://www.recessioninfocenter.com
JJJR, Axelrod, Obama are all products of the Chicago machine. They have no morals. They will say anything to get elected. Obama is inexperienced and does what Axelrod and Michele tells him to do. JJJr is a fraud and has done nothing. Axelrod got caught in an expose with a young woman and he’s a misfit. These Chicago Thugs are all for themselves. What makes you think they will change.
It’s ashamed that no one and even Obama never read the stimulus bill before signing it. How dumb is that? What has America done? We will pay for selecting Obama out of hate for the former president. America is the laughing stock of the world.