Sunday, July 22, 2012

WHERE DID THE MONEY GO?

ACTUALLY....In my last post, I mentioned that I would have some information on President's Obama's 2009 stimulus package.  I have done some research and this is as close as I can get.  I'm the first to admit that this is indeed a confusing project.  This package was passed by the House in 2009,without the need for any GOP votes.

According to the administration, not that all the stimulus money has been spent; it has been committed for specific projects and programs. There’s still about $168 billion in stimulus money that has not actually been paid out. But it says nearly all of that money already is tied up in contracts with companies, obligations with states and local governments, promised taxpayer relief and commitments to government programs.

Raymond Scheppach, executive director of the National Governors Association has said "for states, much of that money for Medicaid and education has been worked into budgets, so if Congress took it back it could leave shortfalls that would be a serious problem because they’re depending on that money.”

According to  Liz Oxhorn, the White House’s spokeswoman for the economic recovery program tells us,  "these remaining dollars include funding for major high-speed rail, clean energy and other infrastructure projects that in many cases have already been awarded and just haven’t been formally put under contract.
Rescinding these funds could halt job-creating projects years in the making where preliminary work in some cases is already under way.”