Saturday, January 24, 2009

The President's Stimulus Package!


The Chicago Sun-Times reports on President Barack Obama selling his stimulus package in his weekly address. The stimulus package presently is estimated to cost $825 billion, and focus on improving our nation's infrastructure and the following areas:

-- Double within three years the amount of energy that could be produced from renewable resources, an ambitious goal given the 30 years it took to reach current levels. Advisers say that could power 6 million households.
-- Upgrade 10,000 schools and improve learning for about 5 million students.
-- Save $2 billion a year by making federal buildings energy efficient.
-- Triple the number of undergraduate and graduate fellowships in science.


The plan would also provide health insurance for workers who lose or shift jobs, and the president claims that it will save or create 3 to 4 million jobs over the next few years.

The focus on education in the package is essential, but the other areas of emphasis, seem very generic and it's hard to see them stimulating an already shaky economy. I assume that the saving of jobs and the creation of new ones is the meat of the package.

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