The stimulus hasn't worked? It's helped my family personally in 4 ways

[Phoebe Loosinhouse]

1. A family member bought a house using the 8K tax credit - that house purchase helped move a house in a sluggish market and gave opportunities to 2 families - the buyers and the sellers.

2. A family member upgraded to an energy efficient heating/cooling system helped by getting $1500 tax credit - that purchase will save future energy dollars and it helps keep the manufacturer and the contractor/installers employed.

3. A family member who lost their job qualified to have the 65% COBRA subsidy - HUGE! Maybe another family won't have to go under and lose their house due to medical bills.

4. I just heard about the program to make student loans less onerous and that will help another younger family member.


The pundits don't have a clue. It probably hasn't translated into jobs YET in such a short time, but it will. In the meantime it is making some very big differences in the day to day lives of many.

[livetohike]

1. This is what we need to promote - concrete examples of how

the stimulus is working. Thanks for posting this :hi:.

[Cha]

2. This is good to hear..personal

stories who are being helped with our Recovery Plan.

[rrneck]

3. Hear, hear. K&R nt

[alcibiades_mystery]

4. Good luck swimming against the consensus view of the so-called DU "dissenters"

Needless to say, their "dissent" is so uniform as to make them look foolish the more they trumpet their outlaw status.

[Skittles]

5. oh so now we must all think things are awesome lest we be "foolish"

nice to see on a so-called Democratic board

[alcibiades_mystery]

12. No, you can think they suck

Just have an original thought about why. And if you can't, don't pretend that you're some "outsider."

[Skittles]

17. LOL

you poor thang

[readmoreoften]

19. Why on earth does dissent have to be judged on "originality?"

Do I have to come up with novel claims about why Afpak is a disaster? Or can I just agree with experts who make sense to me and the troops that've been fighting there?

[alcibiades_mystery]

20. It doesn't

But you don't get to pretend that you are some original thinker if all you're doing is parroting the "dissent" points. Everyone makes him or herself out to be some kind of rebel, struggling heroically in "dissent." But they're mostly just fans of another product. It's not interesting.

[grantcart]

6. job creation and/or unemployment are always lagging indicators

[rucky]

7. We just started the first shovel-ready project in my area.

A couple of people I know just picked up some work - 6 months after they were laid-off from a GM contractor.

[HughMoran]

8. The Cobra subsidy is saving my bacon too.

Thanks to the stimulus.

[Cronus Protagonist]

9. Good for you. I got nothing at all

Just higher bills and less income.

[Oregone]

10. Only an idiot would say the money goes into a black hole. But will it help enough?

Was it designed to turn the rate of change in production to a positive amount in an economy with a 10%+ unemployment rate, such that we will reach baseline in a reasonable amount of time? Or will is merely slow a decline or promote stagnation in the currently recessed economy? Was its effectiveness merely "designed" (I use that word loosely) to be effective in an economy with a slighter unemployment rate of 8%.

Im glad to hear its personally helped you/your family.

[MADem]

11. I have two relatives who are "on the dole."

They've lost their jobs and aren't having much luck finding new ones.

We'd move over and make room if we had to, but it would be a hardship. As it is, they need some financial help, but they can at least stay put, for now.

[cojoel]

13. jobs not lost

Even if it doesn't translate immediately into new jobs, it certainly translates into jobs not lost.

[southernyankeebelle]

14. THATS GREAT - YOU SHOULD SEND IT TO MORNING JOE -

AND DARE HIM OR MIKA TO SHARE YOUR INFORMATION.

[no limit]

15. The stimulus is about to save the company I work for

Without it I would probably be losing my job at the end of the year. Now we will be getting new orders purely based on the stimulus money. Whats funny is the owners of this company are hard core republicans against Obama. He just saved their ass.

[Ikonoklast]

16. I am considering applying for a partial grant for idle-reducing technology.

The Federal gov't is offering grants up to 40% of the price of a new APU (Auxiliary Power Unit) that would provide heat, cooling, electricity and battery charging for heavy trucks. It would save millions of gallons of diesel fuel otherwise burned off idling for extensive periods, and millions of tons of pollutants.

I just have to come up with the rest of the price, which is a goodly sum itself as these things run around $8-9K, but, 40% paid for is a huge incentive to buy while they are still offering it.

[readmoreoften]

18. Make that three people it's helped. "Hearing about" a program that will make loans less onerous

doesn't make it fact. Nothing is yet helping anyone I know. I'll know it when I see it.

I don't see any help anywhere around me so far.

[B Calm]

21. I was thankful for the additional 25 dollars per week unemployment

compensation. Last week I was called back to work and I'm employed in the auto industry. Thank GOD for President Obama!

[callous taoboy]

22. A friend of mine wants to partake in Cobra, however last we spoke

his employer was fighting it. Company is requiring its employees to be on a rotating lay-off schedule and during the two month lay-off my friend, who has diabetes, gets cut from company health program. Private insurance would be exorbitant, Cobra would bring this down substantially but, like I said, employer is trying to get out of his part of the deal.