American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009

The Economic stimulus package is a 2009 bill by president Barack Hussein Obama and the Democratic leadership in Congress to spend $819 billion or more dollars to revive an ailing U.S. economy, battered by the Recession of 2008. It includes $275 billion in tax cuts, and the rest for spending on a very wide variety of projects.

"The strategy under this bill is to throw billions of dollars in every bureaucratic direction, and cross our fingers and hope for the best," said Rep. Ken Calvert (R., Calif.) during debate. Rep. David Obey (D., Wis.), the chairman of the House Appropriations Committee, responded, "We need to compare the cost of this package against the cost of doing nothing. The cost of nothing would be catastrophic."

The stimulus package is aimed at preventing the economy from collapsing and restoring it to normal. Conservative critics claims it will do little to help the economy and is filled with non-essential spending. The Congressional Budget Office says $347 billion more in interest will be the result, which brings the total plan over 1 trillion dollars. According to the CBO analysis, timely spending of the money will be hampered by bureaucratic delays of up to two-years and the inability of state and federal agencies to efficiently and effectively spend the massive inflows of new money.

House Republicans proposed a stimulus bill tilted more sharply toward tax cuts, which they say will generate the most economic activity the fastest. Their substitute proposed cutting individual and business taxes as well as reducing much of the bill’s spending; it was rejected by a party-line vote of 170-266. The failed GOP measure totaled about $479 billion, a little more than half the total passed by the Democrats.

The 2009 bill includes tax rebates that resemble in part the $152 billion stimulus law proposed by President George W. Bush and passed by Congress in Feb. 2008; those rebates were mostly saved and failed to stimulate the economy in 2008.

House

The House of Representative passed the economic stimulus package January 28, 2009 by a vote of 244-188, and now the bill heads for the U.S. Senate. All Republicans cast a no vote as did eleven Democrats. It is expected the Senate will increase the amounts allocated for tax cuts.

Non Essential

The people in charge of spending tax dollars are set to spend like never before and special interest groups are poised to be the recipients. Some of the 'stimulus' works proposed;

• $25 million for new ATV trails
• $400 million for the National Endowment for the Arts
• $400 million for global warming research
• $30 billion has been set aside for infrastructure spending
• $200 million for Dep. of Defense to acquire alternative energy vehicles.
• $1.5 billion for a CO2 Reductions
• $4.2 billion for community organizing
• $3.5 billion for higher education facilities
• $400 million for HIV and chlamydia testing
• $150 million for The Smithsonian
• $81 billion for Medicaid
• $36 billion for expanded unemployment benefits
• $20 billion for food stamps
• $83 billion for the earned income credit.
• $54 billion will go to federal programs Economic Development Administration, the Small Business Administration, the 10 federal job training programs
• $66 billion for education
• $650 million coupons to subsidize digital television conversion
• $572 million for Coast Guard improvements

Items removed from the House bill

• $200 million for new contraceptive service
• $20 million to renovate the National Mall