Today’s Q for Gibbs

who cares? its payback time and i hope obama and the liberals tax (and spend) 200% of the money the rich fatcat republicans have boosted over the last 8-10 years.

There’s $726 million for after-school snacks, $50 million for the NEA, $44 million to repair the USDA, and $200 million to work on the National Mall, including grass.
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After-school snacks also involve after school personnel employment after hours. 726 million dollars to feed schoolchildren in programs which are badly needed, isn’t frivolous- and least of all to children. The snacks themselves could also stimulate the vending companies providing them. The National Arts endowments along with stimulating culture in communities also provides employment for those in the arts. Restoration of the National Mall creates added employment also, and lawn maintenance shouldn’t be relegated to something insignificant. Is there really a lot in the package that doesn’t stimulate the economy?

“Afterschool Meals: $726 million to make all states eligible to participate in the Afterschool Feeding Program for At-Risk Children and to encourage participation by new institutions by increasing snack reimbursement rates. Currently, only eight states (Delaware, Illinois, Michigan, Missouri, New York, Oregon, Pennsylvania, and West Virginia) are authorized to provide suppers in afterschool care programs through the Child and Adult Care Food Program (CACFP). Expanding at-risk afterschool suppers to all states will allow institutions currently serving snacks under this component of the CACFP to expand their services to include an evening or weekend meal to an identified population of children in need.”
Suppers?

Not a great question, Jake. While bipartisanship is dandy, its not a cover for a party to sulk and obstruct the operation of the country. The constitution mandates that a bill passes a committee/congress with a majority of votes. It says nothing about the political affiliation of those votes. So no need to dwell over how many republicans/democrats vote for this bill and that bill.

What do kids do when they go home from school? Head to the fridge. Why not feed or make food available to the kids that are being tutored or they are taking a prep course for an exam.
It is an investment. As well as school breakfast.
The National Mall project could qualify as a construction or rehab project. It is necessary.

To Kathy and all those so in favor of schools offering after school snacks and supper programs. What ever happened to parent involvement with their children? Our values are so low, it brings tears to my eyes. We need a change in how parents raise our future generation or our problems will never be fixed. We want government to take care of our children until suppertime? Parents should work on improving the quality of the horrible nutrition offered by our public school systems instead of asking for more of it to pollute our children.

The Arts Mean Business. In 2007, the arts provided 5.7 million US jobs and account for $166 billion in economic activity annually.
Specifically, the arts/entertainment industry is the second largest U.S. export category, just behind defense products. Ironic isn’t it.
Because arts industries are by nature, fragmented, no single organization’s demise threatens the greater economy and claims headlines. But thousands of organizations, and the state of America’s arts ecology, are in danger.
If you don’t think the arts are an integral part of our economy, you are sadly mistaken.

To Kathy and all those so in favor of schools offering after school snacks and supper programs. What ever happened to parent involvement with their children? Our values are so low, it brings tears to my eyes. We need a change in how parents raise our future generation or our problems will never be fixed. We want government to take care of our children until suppertime? Parents should work on improving the quality of the horrible nutrition offered by our public school systems instead of asking for more of it to pollute our children.
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First of all, parental involvement has decreased because of economic realities. Both parents are wage earners, many exceeding a forty hour week to make ends meet. Taking care of kids till suppertime? That’s very relative to a family- after school programs provide a source of safety and increased educational opportunities for the working family, whose parents are able to pick their kids up after work. After school daycare programs outside the school tend to be extremely crowded without ample supervision and also expensive. Providing support to families who need it hardly indicates “low values,” nor is providing adequate nutrition in schools. The studies correlate academic achievement and nutrition in an indisputable way. You sound fortunate in your parenting situation, but apparently, have difficulty seeing after school programs in a perspective outside your own.

Great question, Jake. Keep up the good work.
The stimulus bill contains way too much stuff that is by no stretch stimulative. And when they assure us that 75% of the money will be spent in the next 18 months, as if that’s okay, I want to remind them that given the enormity of the numbers being tossed around, 25% of this spending bill is a huge amount of money. If it doesn’t get spent in the next year and a half, it is not going to have an effect on the present recession and does not need to be in this bill. And I’m really disturbed that only 3% of the money is dedicated to infrastructure, after all Obama’s emphasis on that area. Many of the spending priorities here are laudable projects (like afterschool snacks) but not stimulus-related projects. Let them stand on their own merits and be voted on in separate bills, not just lumped together in a joke of a grab-bag. Leave this bill for the real stimulus projects– shovel-ready infrastructure, spending in targeted areas that will get money into the economy and provide paychecks to those who need them most, etc. This is starting to make the TARP look downright sensible and well-planned.

Jake, I think you and your media fellows (and the “let’s do nothing” House Republicans) are being a bit too nit-picky (and also ill-informed).
The projects you outlined in your question all would have stimulative effect. (How exactly would they not?) They may not be your idea of road building or high-tech infrastructure but they will get dollars into the economy to good effect. And they make up less than .2% (a fifth of one percent) of the total package.
I was going to give you the NEA money, but as Philip M. notes, art and creative content are one of our biggest exports. And, who knows, perhaps some of that money is for building upgrades.
Same thing for the USDA. Obama has said repeatedly that government office buildings would be upgraded to save energy costs (thereby saving $$$ long-term). The USDA is one of the oldest departments of the gov’t, so I imagine they do have many outdated facilities leaking lots of energy.
And what’s wrong with doing upkeep on the National Mall? Is there any greater national image or more often used public space than the National Mall? It is likely among the most highly visited tourist attractions in the country. As such, I imagine it could use some upkeep. Along with the grass, I imagine there will be sprinklers installed or repaired (especially if there are breaks and leaks, which I imagine happen when the ground freezes in winter). And perhaps there are security upgrades that need to be made as well. lights, cameras, etc. All that sounds like a lot of good contracting and construction work to keep people working, paying taxes, etc.
The school snacks are obviously not infrastructure spending, but they’ll of course have secondary effects of helping food companies, farmers, and food wholesalers/distributors. And it sounds to me like EXCELLENT PUBLIC POLICY!!!
Millions of people are losing their jobs and families being forced to cut back on everything, including food. Good nutrition is so important for kids, especially these at risk kids who are likely not the most well-fed. A nutrition program like this will not only help supplement these kids basic food needs, but will have secondary effects of giving them better focus on their school and moderating behaviour problems.
And as for the GOP’s professed concerns with the deficit, how is it that tax-cuts do no harm to the deficit? How do they think we went from a budget surplus in 2000 to adding over $5 trillion to the National Debt. It just wasn’t increases in spending. It just goes to show that these fools are still clueless since they even refuse to listen to economists of their own political persuasion. The only economists who are calling for their plan are libertarian types who would prefer to see all the troubled banks, auto companies, investment cos, etc., etc. go bankrupt and millions lose their jobs, to satisfy their fixation on free-market orthodoxy. Some people on here have noted that what we are doing is borrowing money to spend it. Would they prefer what GWB did for 8 years – borrow money so that the top 10% could have massive tax cuts? I think it is time for the bottom 90% to get a break this time.
So, Jake, I think you really need to think through some of these questions to look at the benefits of programs before you start being so nit-picky. If you like, you can post the questions in advance and we can all screen them for you.
Just trying to do my part.