Open Left

State & Local Government Funding

The three biggest problems with the stimulus bill were (1) emphasis on tax cuts, which are poor job-producers, (2) failure to fully fund state & local government shortfalls, therefore causing spending cuts, which are counter-stimulative, and (3) failure to include short-term job-creation programs, ala WPA, which are the cheapest way to create jobs in a jobs/$ spent metric.

A proper focus on job creation would lead to everything else falling into proper place as well.

State & local government funding are crucial, since both (2) and (3) would be implicated (it's much more quick and efficient to have WPA-type programs launched by local governments meeting local needs), and since manifesting the benefits of spending as close to home as possible helps counter the misleading allure of tax cuts in the individual wallet.

"Senate passes expanded GI bill despite Bush, McCain opposition"

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by: Paul Rosenberg @ Wed Jul 08, 2009 at 17:27:18 PM CDT