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Suffolk sticks hand in stimulus pot
Published Saturday, February 28, 2009
Across the nation, governors and mayors are trying to figure out what they need to do to get a piece of the stimulus pie.
Suffolk has its hand in the pot, too, with requests on a Gov. Timothy Kaine-established Web site and a resolution on Wednesday’s agenda to authorize the city to apply for stimulus aid.
Good luck, says U.S. Rep. J. Randy Forbes (R-4th).
In February, U.S. President Barack Obama signed into law the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009. The law, a $787 billion spending package designed to give the nation’s economy a boost, has been touted to create or save millions of jobs by providing money for governments to do transportation projects, infrastructure improvements, and to give tax cuts to the working classes, tax credits to military and first-time homebuyers and more.
The official Web site developed for stimulus information, www.recovery.gov, outlines the general spending amounts anticipated. According to the site, about $288 billion will go toward tax relief; $144 billion toward state and local fiscal relief; $111 billion, infrastructure and science; $81 billion, protecting the vulnerable; $59 billion, health care; $53 billion, education and training; $43 billion, energy; and $8 billion, other projects.
However, Forbes says that the bill won’t work, will sink the country deeper into a depression, and furthermore will burden future generations with debt that will be impossible to pay off.
“I am one of 17 people that have voted against all of the bailout packages so far,” Forbes said in a phone interview this week. He referred to bailout packages presented both by former President George W. Bush and by Obama.
“They’re not going to work. The debt that they’re saddling our grandchildren with is just untenable.”
Even the Congressional Budget Office, whose job it is to take an objective view of the federal government’s money issues, says the act will make the economy worse, according to Forbes.
“Just assume you’re not going to pay it back,” he said. “How are you going to pay it back? They cannot answer that question.”
Forbes used as an example his granddaughter Hannah, who recently turned 2. By the time she is as old as he is now, the interest alone on the most recent stimulus package would have covered the entire budgets for NASA, the Department of Homeland Security, the Department of Transportation, the FBI, the Department of Justice, White House operations, Congressional operations, and every single U.S. Army Corps of Engineers project in the country.
Forbes believes that Virginia ultimately will suffer from the stimulus package, because the federal government will have to cut defense costs to attempt to pay back its debt.
Regardless of whether Forbes believes the act is folly, it is now the law. However, the bill does not lay out many ground rules on how the money will be distributed or spent, Forbes said.
“What we’re doing is dumping money over to the states,” Forbes said. “A great deal of it is up to the governor’s office.”
To that end, Virginia Gov. Timothy Kaine has set up a Web site, www.stimulus.virginia.gov, to accept suggestions from state residents and local governments on how the money should be spent. Forbes said that this site currently is the best way to let Kaine know the wishes and requests of residents.
A site search for projects mentioning Suffolk came up with 55 requests on Friday evening. A third of the requests were submitted in the name of the city of Suffolk, and mentioned Sherry Hunt, the city’s chief of staff, as a contact person.
The city’s requests range from the replacement of the Kings Highway Bridge and the widening of Holland Road to intersection improvements and sanitary sewer extensions for various neighborhoods. Also included is a Route 58 water storage tank, two additional lanes at the Godwin Bridge on Route 17, the renovation of the old courthouse to become the visitor center, the renovation of the Phoenix Bank building and the construction of a new elementary school to replace dilapidated Southwestern and Robertson elementary schools.
Nine of the projects are listed as “shovel-ready,” and the rest are listed in the engineering or planning stages. Many of the projects are listed in the city’s 10-year capital improvements plan.
Other people also have listed suggestions for projects on the site. Several mirrored requests placed by the city, but some suggested other things, such as paving roads, burying power lines and developing a light-rail system similar to the one currently being constructed in Norfolk.
Despite the requests on the Web site, Forbes is not counting on Virginians seeing much of the money.
“Literally, nobody knows (where this money will be spent),” Forbes said. “There’s nobody that you could ask anywhere (that could tell you).”
“We don’t know whether this will be parceled out on a political basis. We’ve never spent this kind of money before.”
Forbes said the lack of transparency in this law from the start — the 1,400-page bill was filed at midnight the day before members of Congress voted — will make it difficult for ordinary citizens or even the government to determine where the money is going.
“It’s just such a lack of transparency to really know,” Forbes said. “It’s going to be very, very difficult for the ordinary citizen to step up and say, ‘Where did this come from?’”
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Comments
Posted by OD (anonymous) on March 1, 2009 at 1:20 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Oustanding article and commentary Tracy. Its your best to date. Randy Forbes is not a slinky. He has a spine, something that the majority in Washington dont have. He should be rewarded with being re-elcted but the next time out as becoming a senator.
I am sick of the following words of the messiah.Inherited......crisis.......bipartisan.....W.....failed policies of the last 8 years. I do give credit when credit is due. Barry did explain how he will transform a recession into a Great Depression.
All through his "speech" I kept trying to think where I had seen this before. I finally remembed where I saw the story before - it ends with Slim Pickens riding an H-bomb into the earth waving his cowboy hat and screaming like Howard Dean.
Obama is arrogant as they come. He has a history of being late. My grand mother once told me that being late is a sign of disrespect for other people's time. This man is full of disrespect. Does anyone remember Bush ever being late for a national address? Ever? In 8 years? Obama made point that Biden was going to have the responsibility of overseeing how they(congress) were going to be monitored and offering policies to the WH for consideration, rejection and acceptance because no body meses with Joe. Nobody messes with Joe in the same way nobody messes with blind retarded kid for fear they might hurt him.
Speaking of slinkies, every time I see Harry Reid, he looks like an anorexic chihuahua.. This is not a stimlus package, its a investment in "gubermint" and liberal politics of Harry and San Fran Nan. If you want to see her idea of a stimulus package google Folsom Street Festival. I wont provide the link for I dont think that Suffolkians want to promote the agenda that Nancy feels is OK to be openly displayed on the strets and the cops have been instructed not to arrest anyone.
Obama/Biden/Pelosi/Reid think of them this way: The first joint session of Congress with a Socialist President and socialist leadership.
Posted by Dougbaby (anonymous) on March 4, 2009 at 6:07 a.m. (Suggest removal)
The economy is messed up and once again "OD" the brainless puppet of the republican party is talking about disrespect i think George W showed no respect for the families and regular working class people that have to deal with his pyle of leftovers as he walked away with clean hands after 8 yrs and you call yourself a real american your no more real as gold paint that comes in a spray can before i would denounce the incoming president i would atleast give him a chance i mean no one has costed america more then the last president but if you think he did such a great job and we dont need to restructure the economy then why dont you ask him to send you a copy of his stimulus plan,but no i think that this country is living in what the former president left us in .As long as Obama is on your mind, i guess maybe you can learn something cause he's smarter than you,(true fact) is that really your problem with the president elect? (If they write a story about a water main breaking you will find a way to mention Obama in a negative way that's spineless)I know you won't answer that and as for what randy forbes said that's just his opinion(I'll knock the new president cause i'm gonna need some votes) the problem with package is the politician say it won't work and throw up a bigger fight for failure than for success and then the panic set in before they actually know how much money will really be allocated to different projects but if some americans will jus pretend that Mr.President is John McCain his plans might be more Accepted but this isn't Wonderland and everybody is feeling the effects from the last 8yrs of Lies,deception and Oil!!
Posted by OD (anonymous) on March 5, 2009 at 12:36 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Dougbaby nice to see you comeback after running away.I see again that you present no fact no substance, no value, just another personal attack. (brainless repug of the repug party in which I am not a member of) I have spoken of Obama in the positive before and i give credit due when earned. He has earned it. He has told the entire country and the world how he is going to take a country from a recession and put it in a depression. Credit earned credit given. You are so dead set in saying like Obama the last 8 years blah blah guess you cant count at all. The first 6 years of his adminstration the economy was great, we passed 13000 in the market, better numbers than 8 years of bj guy.Who took control in 06 in the congress and where has the approval rating of that body gone but only down. Lets try civics 101 because as you say Bush"costed" this country. You AGAIN GO on the personal attack about my being American, you say no more than gold paint that come in a can. Are you huffing again Dougbaby? Brilliant you accuse me of bashing Obama if a water main were to break.Does that remind you of who was being blamed for that same water main break? I never said I was smarter than the president,after all he is a Harvard educated lawyer.Who has a MBA from Harvard? Randy Forbes hasnt knocked or attacked Obama, he voted no on the stimlus package of Obama and Bush's buyout of the banks. So in your opinion if you vote no to Obama then your attacking him? You say that many some should pretend that McPain is the president. why pretend when the fact is he isnt.I dont remember voting for him either. I dont believe in unicorns either. Dougbaby you mention lies, deception and oil.Take those three topics and you have Obama, lies, deception and oil, oil that we cannot or will not be able to drill for, so if you think that your going to find peterbuilt trucks running around with solar power and or wind turbine blades sticking thru the roof, you do believe in Utopia and unicorns. Dougbaby can you tell me in regards to the new budget what percent of the earmarks in that budget is and who is the party put those earmarks in? Try 40% repugs. Did you know that Obama voted with Bush on the taxcuts he never voted no on social policies of Bush.But he did vote to cut off the funding of our military but claims to support them then and now.Doug if you have time you should 'try" and read a book called Atlas Shrugged. You might learn something but then again you are a victim and that is what you have been told by the liberals in Washington since the introduction of the great society of the 60's. Doug please feel free to debate or debunk my comments. If not I am sure you will attack some more the messenger and not the message. Just think Doubaby just because you want to go on the attack and come from the gutter,while you are there try and open your eyes.Even you could maybe see the stars.
Posted by pwrwithin71 (anonymous) on March 14, 2009 at 10:02 p.m. (Suggest removal)
I agree with you, Dougbaby.
Apparently some people can always "find" money to spend on wars and big corporations. Where was the hoopla over budget spending before the execution of the Iraq War? (being that the public was hit with exaggerated/false claims that Saddam was linked to 911)
Discretionary spending went up in Bush's first term by 48.5 percent, not adjusted for inflation, in two full terms. Spending was up to record highs under a Republican Congress & a Republican President for the first six years of the Bush administration, But NOW they are "concerned" about spending. ...Yeah, right.
The only 2008 Republican candidate who truly broke away from the Republican/"Big Government" mold was Libertarian leaning Rep. Ron Paul. He advocated for a "smaller" government and for the most part...meant it. The Republicans didn't take him seriously during the primaries, opting for McCain...so much for the "small government" idea. That said, even Rep. Ron Paul himself had earmarks for his constituents (even when he doesn't believe in them!)
The disespect from some people that I've read that's geared towards President Obama does makes me wonder... Thank goodness that those people are in the minority though.
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