ADMINISTRATION ECONOMIC ADVISOR ADMITS STIMULUS SPENDING WON’T PEAK UNTIL END OF 2010
Inland Empire Unemployment at All-Time High of 13.7%
Washington,
Friday, July 17, 2009 -
Today Congressman Calvert blasted remarks by Lawrence Summers, head of the National Economic Council, that the peak effects of the stimulus bill, which was sold to the American people as an immediate boost to the economy and employment, will not be felt until the end of 2010.
According to a Reuters report, Mr. Summers stated:
“Given lags in spending and hiring, the peak impact of the stimulus on jobs was expected not to be achieved until the end of 2010," Summers said in a speech at the Peterson Institute for International Economics in Washington. (Source: Reuters, “Stimulus working, deficit can wait: Summers’” 7/17/2009)
“I voted against the bloated stimulus bill precisely because I knew the funding would not get to the people who need it quick enough and it was not going toward the real job makers: shovel-ready infrastructure projects,” said Rep. Calvert. “Now the Administration is telling us that we have to continue to suffer through increasing unemployment and higher deficits because Democrats failed to deliver a true stimulus, one that focused on tax cuts, incentives to small businesses, and ‘ready-to-go’ infrastructure projects.”
From the February 13, 2009 Press Release from Rep. Calvert on the passage of the stimulus bill:
“Shovel-Ready” Highway Project Funding Reduced
Funding for highways and bridges in the final bill has been reduced to $27.5 billion. The original House bill provided $30 billion. A recent study, which included the participation of all 50 States and the District of Columbia, identified over 5,000 “shovel-ready” highway projects, of over $64 billion in value, which could create nearly 1.8 million jobs.
“Most Americans, myself included, strongly support a short-term surge of funding to help construct and repair our nation’s highways and bridges,” said Rep. Calvert. “Yet somehow, despite the glaringly obvious need for more funding, the Democrats actually cut highway funding.”
Meanwhile, the final bill provides $8 billion for a High Speed Passenger Rail Program, after the House did not include any funding for the program and the Senate included $2 billion. There are no “shovel-ready” high speed rail projects in the country. The bill does not require that any of the high speed rail funding be spent for another three and half years.
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