Has the American Recovery & Reinvestment Act of 2009 -- better known as the stimulus package been a success? The answer like so many others in Washington D.C. these days has become political. Ever since the U.S. economy imploded two years ago some 8 million American jobs have vanished.
Among the legions of clobbered companies across the land is New Bedford Panoramex a 49-year-old airport lighting manufacturer. In the beginning months of the recession owner Steven Ozuna was dreadfully positive that 15 of his 50 employees would soon be unemployed.
Then just weeks after President Obama signed into law the historic stimulus bill in February of 2009 Mr. Ozuna got an unexpected phone call.
It was an official with the Federal Aviation Administration. He asked if Mr. Ozunas company could take a $3 million stimulus-funded contract manufacturing and installing new runway lighting systems at about a dozen airports around the country. Given how the company typically takes in about $8 million a year it was a huge shot in the arm.
They said When can you start? Mr. Ozuna remembers speaking by phone to Hispanic Business magazine. I said We can start yesterday.
All 15 jobs were saved and the highly skilled employees are still working -- for now.
The American Recovery & Reinvestment Act of 2009 -- better known as the stimulus package -- has been a historic effort to save the economy from utter catastrophe. The $787 billion package is enormously far reaching and complex but broadly speaking breaks down into two categories: Tax breaks which constitute about a third of the total amount and expenditures -- namely on transportation schools infrastructure health care housing and energy efficiency -- which make up the balance.
By April roughly 40 percent of the money had been spent. It is slated to be 100 percent spent by 2012.
Nationwide the stimulus package has saved or created nearly 2 million jobs most economists agree. Thats about a
quarter the amount of jobs that have disappeared in the past two years.
But the unemployment rate has been stuck for months at 9.7 percent. Among Hispanics it has reached a troubling 12.4 percent -- double the rate at the start of the recession.
Has the stimulus been a success? The answer like so many others in Washington D.C. these days has become political.
Republicans say no. They often point to the Obama administrations assurances before the stimulus passed that the bill would prevent the U.S. unemployment rate from exceeding 8 percent and would create 4 million jobs. On this the administration was wrong.
I am appalled at the dismal failure of the so-called stimulus bill said outgoing Congressman Lincoln Diaz-Balart (R-Florida). The legislation has created very few jobs and the American people are left footing the bill for this wasteful and ill-conceived spending program.
Democrats of course disagree. They point to all the jobs saved and say that without it the nations jobless rate would be as high as 11 percent right now.
As a fiscal conservative a blue-dog Democrat I had a very difficult time voting for it Congresswoman Loretta Sanchez (D-Calif.) told Hispanic Business magazine. A year later Im pretty excited about the fact that it has worked.
In many respects the jurys still out. The last few weeks have been encouraging but there is a long way to go.
In March the economy added 162000 jobs -- the third gain in five months and the largest jump since 2007. The service sector witnessed the largest expansion since 2006 and manufacturing grew for the eight straight month.
But the recovery has been slower than expected. And some worry about the possibility of another nosedive once the stimulus is spent.
Mr. Ozunas company which the FAA selected for its innovative methods in designing and installing airport lighting systems offers a telling case in point. While the stimulus allowed him to save all 15 jobs he didnt create any. Now hes worried about his companys prospects once the stimulus work dries up this summer.
We got hit with about a 30 percent decline in business right off the top (at the start of the recession) and its almost continued to still be that way he said.
One nagging problem about the current recovery is that it is relatively jobless. Employers wary of another economic plunge are trying to maximize the productivity of their surviving ranks.
A $15 billion jobs bill signed by President Obama in March attempts to address the matter by offering tax incentives for companies to hire unemployed workers. But Congressman Raul Grijalva (D-Arizona) said hed like to see the federal government tackle the problem more aggressively.
To date he said the stimulus package has made inroads on jobs in a manner that is largely passive.
I think its got to be more of an assertive role Mr. Grijalva told Hispanic Business magazine.
He added If youre going to give incentives to businesses to expand I think part of the incentive package needs to be additional incentives for hiring. That needs to be part of the equation and hasnt been.
For Hispanic-owned businesses the stimulus has been a mixed bag said Javier Palomarez CEO and president of the U.S. Hispanic Chamber of Commerce.
Mr. Palomarez said while the bill has pumped a lot of money into infrastructure projects not enough contracts are going to Hispanic-owned companies.
Hispanics own about 7 percent of all businesses in the United States but Hispanic-owned businesses have received less than 2 percent of the $46 billion spent on federal contracts to date he said.
Its not really the fault of the federal government as the federal government has put the plan in place he told Hispanic Business magazine. It really comes down to the local governments.
Less than half of the states he said have a disadvantaged business enterprise program in place. These programs ensure that small and minority-owned businesses get a fair share of contracts.
Nationwide the true depth of the crisis is difficult to convey. In a nutshell the 162000 jobs gained in March represents just a sliver of the 8 million jobs lost. The best years of job creation in U.S. history came in the 1990s when an average 242000 new jobs were added every month.
Even if the economy resumed this level of job creation it would take five years to knock the unemployment rate down to 5 percent according to Jay Hancock a financial columnist for the Baltimore Sun.
Still the benefits of the stimulus package are palpable in places like Orange County California according to Congresswoman Sanchez.
In her district it has meant that schools slated for closure have stayed open police departments facing force reductions have kept cops on the street creeks prone to flooding have found funding for restoration and clogged freeways have been widened.
Keeping the schools open she said has arguably been the most noteworthy benefit.
Thats a big deal especially for Hispanics since we send our kids to public schools Ms. Sanchez said. Can you imagine coming to school in the morning and seeing a chain-link fence and a lock? Thats what we were facing a year ago.
Has the American Recovery & Reinvestment Act of 2009 -- better known as the stimulus package been a success? The answer like so many others in Washington D.C. these days has become political. Ever since the U.S. economy imploded two years ago some 8 million American jobs have vanished.
Among the legions of clobbered companies across the land is New Bedford Panoramex a 49-year-old airport lighting manufacturer. In the beginning months of the recession owner Steven Ozuna was dreadfully positive that 15 of his 50 employees would soon be unemployed.
Then just weeks after President Obama signed into law the historic stimulus bill in February of 2009 Mr. Ozuna got an unexpected phone call.
It was an official with the Federal Aviation Administration. He asked if Mr. Ozunas company could take a $3 million stimulus-funded contract manufacturing and installing new runway lighting systems at about a dozen airports around the country. Given how the company typically takes in about $8 million a year it was a huge shot in the arm.
They said When can you start? Mr. Ozuna remembers speaking by phone to Hispanic Business magazine. I said We can start yesterday.
All 15 jobs were saved and the highly skilled employees are still working -- for now.
The American Recovery & Reinvestment Act of 2009 -- better known as the stimulus package -- has been a historic effort to save the economy from utter catastrophe. The $787 billion package is enormously far reaching and complex but broadly speaking breaks down into two categories: Tax breaks which constitute about a third of the total amount and expenditures -- namely on transportation schools infrastructure health care housing and energy efficiency -- which make up the balance.
By April roughly 40 percent of the money had been spent. It is slated to be 100 percent spent by 2012.
Nationwide the stimulus package has saved or created nearly 2 million jobs most economists agree. Thats about a
quarter the amount of jobs that have disappeared in the past two years.
But the unemployment rate has been stuck for months at 9.7 percent. Among Hispanics it has reached a troubling 12.4 percent -- double the rate at the start of the recession.
Has the stimulus been a success? The answer like so many others in Washington D.C. these days has become political.
Republicans say no. They often point to the Obama administrations assurances before the stimulus passed that the bill would prevent the U.S. unemployment rate from exceeding 8 percent and would create 4 million jobs. On this the administration was wrong.
I am appalled at the dismal failure of the so-called stimulus bill said outgoing Congressman Lincoln Diaz-Balart (R-Florida). The legislation has created very few jobs and the American people are left footing the bill for this wasteful and ill-conceived spending program.
Democrats of course disagree. They point to all the jobs saved and say that without it the nations jobless rate would be as high as 11 percent right now.
As a fiscal conservative a blue-dog Democrat I had a very difficult time voting for it Congresswoman Loretta Sanchez (D-Calif.) told Hispanic Business magazine. A year later Im pretty excited about the fact that it has worked.
In many respects the jurys still out. The last few weeks have been encouraging but there is a long way to go.
In March the economy added 162000 jobs -- the third gain in five months and the largest jump since 2007. The service sector witnessed the largest expansion since 2006 and manufacturing grew for the eight straight month.
But the recovery has been slower than expected. And some worry about the possibility of another nosedive once the stimulus is spent.
Mr. Ozunas company which the FAA selected for its innovative methods in designing and installing airport lighting systems offers a telling case in point. While the stimulus allowed him to save all 15 jobs he didnt create any. Now hes worried about his companys prospects once the stimulus work dries up this summer.
We got hit with about a 30 percent decline in business right off the top (at the start of the recession) and its almost continued to still be that way he said.
One nagging problem about the current recovery is that it is relatively jobless. Employers wary of another economic plunge are trying to maximize the productivity of their surviving ranks.
A $15 billion jobs bill signed by President Obama in March attempts to address the matter by offering tax incentives for companies to hire unemployed workers. But Congressman Raul Grijalva (D-Arizona) said hed like to see the federal government tackle the problem more aggressively.
To date he said the stimulus package has made inroads on jobs in a manner that is largely passive.
I think its got to be more of an assertive role Mr. Grijalva told Hispanic Business magazine.
He added If youre going to give incentives to businesses to expand I think part of the incentive package needs to be additional incentives for hiring. That needs to be part of the equation and hasnt been.
For Hispanic-owned businesses the stimulus has been a mixed bag said Javier Palomarez CEO and president of the U.S. Hispanic Chamber of Commerce.
Mr. Palomarez said while the bill has pumped a lot of money into infrastructure projects not enough contracts are going to Hispanic-owned companies.
Hispanics own about 7 percent of all businesses in the United States but Hispanic-owned businesses have received less than 2 percent of the $46 billion spent on federal contracts to date he said.
Its not really the fault of the federal government as the federal government has put the plan in place he told Hispanic Business magazine. It really comes down to the local governments.
Less than half of the states he said have a disadvantaged business enterprise program in place. These programs ensure that small and minority-owned businesses get a fair share of contracts.
Nationwide the true depth of the crisis is difficult to convey. In a nutshell the 162000 jobs gained in March represents just a sliver of the 8 million jobs lost. The best years of job creation in U.S. history came in the 1990s when an average 242000 new jobs were added every month.
Even if the economy resumed this level of job creation it would take five years to knock the unemployment rate down to 5 percent according to Jay Hancock a financial columnist for the Baltimore Sun.
Still the benefits of the stimulus package are palpable in places like Orange County California according to Congresswoman Sanchez.
In her district it has meant that schools slated for closure have stayed open police departments facing force reductions have kept cops on the street creeks prone to flooding have found funding for restoration and clogged freeways have been widened.
Keeping the schools open she said has arguably been the most noteworthy benefit.
Thats a big deal especially for Hispanics since we send our kids to public schools Ms. Sanchez said. Can you imagine coming to school in the morning and seeing a chain-link fence and a lock? Thats what we were facing a year ago.
