No doubt about it; the stimulus means jobs

“I came from nothing and now I have a job that is a future for me. Not just a job, an actual career.”

Previously on this blog, I quoted these words of Rhea Mayolo, a Maryland mother of three who left public assistance for a job as a construction inspector on a highway project funded by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.

I quote them whenever I'm talking about putting Americans back to work because they get right to the value of the Obama Administration's infrastructure stimulus.

Image of Rhea Mayolo's Voices of the Recovery Act video interview

 

And Rhea is no isolated example. Newspapers across America are talking about local jobs created by the stimulus and about jobs that would have been lost were it not for the stimulus.

Yes, as critics are fond of pointing out, it's just 50 jobs for a railroad project in Coshocton County, Ohio, and 85 for a highway project in Brevard County, Florida. But as Washington State Senator Mary Margaret Haugen and State Rep. Judy Clibborn point out:

"Imagine all the projects funded by the stimulus spending and all the people who are working on them, and then eliminate them. That's how many more people would be out of work, how much money wouldn't be spent in our communities, and how much more we'd be paying out in unemployment payments for the unfortunate people who lost their jobs."

They are absolutely right.

For critics to conclude that the employment effect of the stimulus is weak because the unemployment rate has not declined requires ignoring how that rate would have jumped without the stimulus. It requires putting your head in the sand and pretending that the economy this Administration inherited magically ceased to be a factor at noon on Tuesday, January 20, 2009.

So, yes, let's hear their argument for taking away that road-building payroll, for closing down that rail car assembly line. Let's hear their argument for putting over 17,000 Ohioans on the street. Let's hear their argument for telling the Rhode Island DOT they can't complete the extra eight bridge and highway projects they were able to stretch their stimulus dollars to cover.

Let's hear them knock on the doors of those good people's homes and tell newly rehired workers that because the Obama Administration hasn't fixed everything yet, they would dismantle all the good that we have achieved this past year.

No, they can't do that because the reality is simple:

At the end of the Administration’s first year, the Recovery Act has emerged as one of the most effective tools we have in this recession to create good-paying jobs today, while laying the foundation for a more vibrant economy tomorrow.

Folks, I have seen it firsthand. Traveling the country, I’ve met scores of workers who, thanks to the stimulus program, have been given an opportunity to hold onto the American Dream during one of the most challenging economic crises in modern U.S. history.

The stimulus program is responsible for saving or creating upwards of 2 million jobs nationwide last year with even more on the way. And not for throwaway projects, but for important transportation and infrastructure improvements that cash-strapped states otherwise could not afford to make.

11,000 projects to rebuild and repair roads, tunnels, bridges, airports and other critical infrastructure in cities and towns across the country. And every one of these projects creating the kinds of jobs people can depend on--jobs that simply would not exist but for the Recovery Act.

Look, there's no question that, as we begin Year Two, our economy is still fragile. But that economy stands to gain even more as the Recovery Act continues to build steam.

In 2010, more stimulus-funded jobs will come on line than last year, as many of the projects begun in 2009 continue--and as larger, more complex infrastructure projects ramp up.

So, whatver kind of counting you're doing, don't count the stimulus out.

Comments

[Catherine]

THANK YOU!!! For pointing out that the 8 years destruction prior to President Obama's taking office is going to take A LOT longer to fix than a mere year. Rome wasn't built in a day, and thank God the US wasn't completely destroyed in 8 years.

[Michael E. Bailey]

The ARRA has been the thing that has kept the economy moving. Without it, the unemployment rate would be a lot higher. With it, the economy is starting to improve. More workers have good jobs as the result of the ARRA. That means more money going to businesses every time people go to the store to buy things which puts still more people to work. Even the housing sector is starting to improve again with new building permits issued being up 15.8% in December 2009 from where they were in December 2008 according to the NEW RESIDENTIAL CONSTRUCTION REPORT issued today by the Census and HUD. Best wishes, Michael E. Bailey.

[Edd]

Here in California there are dozens of construction projects funded by infrastructure stimulus dollars that are being delayed by the state's Office of Historic Preservation failure to approve new construction in existing structures. As an example, according to the Los Angeles Times, "New air-conditioning, fire alarm and lighting systems worth $1 million at the Watts Healthcare Center had to wait 70 days for the go-ahead."

Laura Chick, who is responsible for overseeing American Recovery and Reinvestment Act expenditures in California, has indicated that such state created backlogs are worsening.

[Kris]

I really really really hope it does. I know so many that are unemployed and it really painful to see great men idle.

Lets work together and make this a proud America again!

[Joe]

Its all artificial, and wont last.

[McKinney Homes]

We all could use a little help. I hope it works

[McKinney Homes]

Hmm interesting point

[marty cairns]

it seemed to work ok in australia

[Girlfriend]

Well that worked well in Australia but it's been about 9 months now and the stimulus plan seems to have put this country is debt more than anything else.

I'm scared that the country is hanging on by a thread... and I'm wondering what we'll be seeing in 2011.

[PUA]

I am a lot more confident about the future of this country, than I was during the previous administration...

[Philip Whitsundays]

Although our economies are of course different, the economic stimulus package that was implemented in Australia after the GFC was actually quite effective. I hope things improve in the US soon, particularly for those who are struggling.

Regards,
Philip