BoatBanter.com - View Single Post

no_time_to_hurry

In article ,
says...

On Sat, 19 Feb 2011 08:11:53 -0800, wrote:

Unemployment benefits are one of the
MOST stimulative things around.

I don't think there's any evidence for that. A lot of smart people
would argue that new infrastructure projects, as long as they're
really needed, not only create jobs but also leave behind something of
long term value. More importantly they increase the velocity of money
flow which is a basic economic principle.

The people collecting partial pay (unemployment) are not stimulating the
economy. They are barely getting by after 20 years of stagnant payroll
as it is. These folks are tightening their belts and they are not buying
anything more than what they need to live on. Just look at real estate,
retail, auto sales, vacation destinations, electronics stocks, etc, and
you know Emma is only posting talking points everyone here knows are
just more Obamaspeak!

There is just no evidence that a family making 50-70% of what their
lifestyle was based on just two years ago, is spending money on anything
other than bare necessities now. And certainly no evidence a family
making 50-70% of what they made just two years ago, is going to
stimulate the economy more than a family with a real job, making 100% of
what they made two years ago. It is just silly and dishonest to suggest
otherwise. Add in the fact that we are up to $3.50 a gallon for gasoline
again, and you know nobody is spending money on sneakers or wide screen
TV's. And we are not creating any new jobs except at the IR$.

Here are some facts, not talking points.

Mass. received just under $8B of the federal stimulus
package.
The bulk of the money was spent on:

1. Extension of initial unemployment benefits to 46 weeks.
2. Increase in the maximum unemployment benefit payouts by $25/week.
3. Subsidizing of 67 percent of Cobra Health Insurance costs by the
unemployed.
4. $400 tax credit to anyone with a job for the year (if you make under
$95k/year).
5. One time $250 Social Security payment bonus for non-workers.

You can argue that the $8B was spent wisely and for good reasons but I
don't think it can really be called "Stimulus" money. It hasn't
stimulated a thing in terms of creating jobs. All it did was to make
the current economic conditions a tiny bit more tolerable by those
affected for a limited period of time. The money is now gone and
there's no more coming.

These are the facts on the ground.