Thursday, January 15, 2009

A trillion here, a trillion there...

So the US House has fleshed out the Senate's "sense" that the government ought to "create jobs, restore economic growth, and strengthen America's middle class." The "American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009" was introduced today as H.R. __ (as in House Resolution "Fill in the Blank). It's 258 pages long, so hit the link and start delving into the devilish details.

It's going to take a team of readers exercising a bit of common sense to separate the recovery parts from the pork, but at first glazed eyed glance, there seems to be a lot in terms of investment for infrastructure, education and energy. Unlike the bank bailout which gave away billions in a faith based bid to stave off economic collapse, this new bill explicitly creates jobs. Yes, Martha, that's a good thing.

Update: ReadTheStimulus.org has put together a useful spreadsheet.

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