Obama Stimulus Package Breakdown

January 26, 2009 - 11:16 ET

What is the money being spent on-general breakdown between infrastructure, tax cuts, etc…?

Some highlights of the package, by the numbers:

• $825 billion total (as of 1/15/09)
• $550 billion in new spending, described as thoughtful and carefully targeted priority investments with unprecedented accountability measures built in.
• $275 billion in tax relief ($1,000 tax cut for families, $500 tax cut for individuals through SS payroll deductions)
• $ 90 billion for infrastructure
• $ 87 billion Medicaid aid to states
• $ 79 billion school districts/public colleges to prevent cutbacks
• $ 54 billion to encourage energy production from renewable sources
• $ 41 billion for additional school funding ($14 billion for school modernizations and repairs, $13 billion for Title I, $13 billion for IDEA special education funding, $1 billion for education technology)
• $ 24 billion for "health information technology to prevent medical mistakes, provide better care to patients and introduce cost-saving efficiencies" and "to provide for preventative care and to evaluate the most effective healthcare treatments."
• $ 16 billion for science/technology ($10 billion for science facilities, research, and instrumentation; $6 billion to expand broadband to rural areas)
• $ 15 billion to increase Pell grants by $500
• $ 6 billion for the ambiguous "higher education modernization."

[Source: Committee on Appropriations: January 15, 2009]

Here is a further breakdown of the package:

NOTE: The following are highlights of the package; for the full 13-page summary from the Appropriations Committee, click here:

(as of 1/15/09)

Energy
$32 billion: Funding for "smart electricity grid" to reduce waste
$16 billion: Renewable energy tax cuts and a tax credit for research and development on energy-related work, and a multiyear extension of renewable energy production tax credit
$6 billion: Funding to weatherize modest-income homes

Science and Technology
$10 billion: Science facilities
$6 billion: High-speed Internet access for rural and underserved areas

Infrastructure
$30 billion: Transportation projects
$31 billion: Construction and repair of federal buildings and other public infrastructure
$19 billion: Water projects
$10 billion: Rail and mass transit projects

Education
$41 billion: Grants to local school districts
$79 billion: State fiscal relief to prevent cuts in state aid
$21 billion: School modernization ($15.6 billion to increase the Pell grant by $500; $6 billion for higher education modernization)

Health Care
$39 billion: Subsidies to health insurance for unemployed; providing coverage through Medicaid
$87 billion: Help to states with Medicaid
$20 billion: Modernization of health-information technology systems
$4.1 billion: Preventative care

Jobless Benefits
$43 billion for increased unemployment benefits and job training.
$39 billion to support those who lose their jobs by helping them to pay the cost of keeping their employer provided healthcare under COBRA and providing short-term options to be covered by Medicaid.
$20 billion to increase the food stamp benefit by over 13% in order to help defray rising food costs.

Taxes

Individuals:

*$500 per worker, $1,000 per couple tax cut for two years, costing about $140 billion.
*Greater access to the $1,000-per-child tax credit for the working poor.
*Expansion of the earned-income tax credit to include families with three children
*A $2,500 college tuition tax credit.
*Repeal of a requirement that a $7,500 first-time homebuyer tax credit be paid back over time.

Businesses:

*An infusion of cash into money-losing companies by allowing them to claim tax credits on past profits dating back five years instead of two.
*Bonus depreciation for businesses investing in new plants and equipment
*Doubling of the amount small businesses can write off for capital investments and new equipment purchases.
*Allowing businesses to claim a tax credit for hiring disconnected youth and veterans

[Sources: Associated Press: Highlights of Senate economic stimulus plan; January 23, 2009; WSJ: Stimulus Package Unveiled; January 16, 2009; Committee on Appropriations: January 15, 2009]

When is the money being is going to be spent, and on what?

The government wouldn't be able to spend at least one-fourth of a proposed $825 billion economic stimulus plan until after 2010, according to a preliminary report by the Congressional Business Office that suggests it may take longer than expected to boost the economy. The government would spend about $26 billion of the money this year and $110 billion more next year, the report said. About $103 billion would be spent in 2011, while $53 billion would be spent in 2012 and $63 billion between 2013 and 2019.

• Less than $5 billion of the $30 billion set aside for highway spending would be spent within the next two years, the CBO said.

• Only $26 billion out of $274 billion in infrastructure spending would be delivered into the economy by the Sept. 30 end of the budget year, just 7 percent.

• Just one in seven dollars of a huge $18.5 billion investment in energy efficiency and renewable energy programs would be spent within a year and a half.

• About $907 million of a $6 billion plan to expand broadband access in rural and other underserved areas would be spent by 2011, CBO said.

• Just one-fourth of clean drinking water projects can be completed by October of next year.

• $275 billion worth of tax cuts to 95 percent of filers and a huge infusion of help for state governments is to be distributed into the economy more quickly.

[Note: The CBO's analysis applied only to 40 percent of the overall stimulus bill, and doesn't cover tax cuts or efforts; a CBO report outlining all of its costs is expected in the next week or so.]

• The Obama administration said $3 of every $4 in the package should be spent within 18 months to have maximum impact on jobs and taxpayers; if House or Senate versions of the bill do not spend the money as quickly, the White House will work with lawmakers to achieve the goal of spending 75% of the overall package over the next year and a half.

[Source: AP: Three-quarters of stimulus to go in 18 months; January 22, 2009; Bloomberg News: Much of Stimulus Wont Be Spent Before 2011, CBO Says; January 20, 2009; link]

Who will be spending the money? Will the states be receiving any money to spend, community organizations? Churches?

The economic stimulus plan now moving through Congress would shower billions of federal dollars on state and local governments desperate for cash:

• The House stimulus bill includes an extra $87 billion in federal aid to state Medicaid programs.

• It allots some $120 billion to boost state and city education programs.

• There's $4 billion for state and local anticrime initiatives in the legislation, not to mention $30-plus billion for highways and other infrastructure projects.

• $6.9 billion to help state and local governments make investments that make them more energy efficient and reduce carbon emissions.

• $87 billion to states, increasing through the end of FY 2010 the share of Medicaid costs the Federal government reimburses all states by 4.8 percent, with extra relief tied to rates of unemployment.

• $120 billion to states and school districts to stabilize budgets and prevent tax increases and deep cuts to critical education programs.

Overall, about one-quarter of the entire $825 billion recovery package would be devoted to activities crucial to governors, mayors, and local school boards - making them among the plans biggest beneficiaries.

A Pork-Barrel Stimulus Package (Rep. Michele Bachmann)
December 20th, 2008

It’s no secret that when President Obama gets sworn into office, among his top priorities will be to guide Congress through an $850 billion economic stimulus package. As a result, this astronomical number has created a tsunami of activity from special interest groups looking for their piece of the pie. $850 billion is simply an astonishing figure - not only exceeding the hefty $700 billion price tag of the financial sector, but also dwarfing the annual budget for the Pentagon.

What does Obama intend to do with all of your hard-earned money? According to today’s Washington Post, the 850 billion “would include at least $100 billion for cash-strapped state governments and more than $350 billion for investments in infrastructure, alternative energy and other priorities…”

You’ve got to wonder if the infrastructure investments that Obama is going to include in his package might come from the list of 11,391 projects that the U.S. Conference of Mayors recently submitted to Congress. The list includes things like a $4.8 million polar bear exhibit at the Providence, RI zoo and a $1.5 million water ride in Miami, FL.

According to a recent CNN article, other abuses of taxpayer dollars found within the report include: “a proposed $20 million minor league baseball museum in Durham, North Carolina; $6.1 million for corporate jet hangars at the Fayetteville, Arkansas, airport; $20 million for renovations at the Philadelphia Zoo; and a $1.5 million program to reduce prostitution in Dayton, Ohio.”

If nothing else, the next four years look to be a spending bonanza and a pork barrel free-for-all. Hold on to your wallets!

I wonder if Michelle Bachmann considered bridge repairs in her district to be pork.

I consider decrying an entire bill as "pork" when part of the funding is going toward infrastructure repair to mitigate the risk of additional bridge collapses like the one in Minnesota to be a short-sighted attempt to score political points.

You clearly have no idea how the Interstate Highway System is funded.

You guys are nuts for living in MN. It's cold as shit up there. Time to move.

no shit

It makes the vast majority of the bums move away for 6 months of the year. The only ones that stay are the natives generally. I don't love cold weather, in fact my favorite weather is 100 and humid, but it also keeps most of the insects away. If there is one thing I hate more than cold it is cockroaches or other insects in my house.

Are the Radio people over reacting or not?

Sorry, I couldn't get past this line without LOLing....



Their job is to over-react and make everyone listening think the sky is falling.

...but I am unable to determine how this is going to help the unemployed worker from "The Home Depot" .

If there are more people with Jobs then there are more people that can lose jobs, right?

I'm not going to argue that the GOP has great economic policies - it's a losing position to take, because they don't. The past 8 years have proven that.

But to go from one extreme to the other is not the right solution. I would actually favor a stimulus bill with ZERO tax cuts if the spending measures in it actually made sense, but a whole lot doesn't. I've read that it doesn't go far enough, and I tend to believe that. I don't mind feeling the pain of taxes the way they are if it means less pain down the road. Unfortunately, the jumbled mess we have now, mostly due to Obama letting Pelosi put a Christmas list together, will do nothing to alleviate our current pain and will make things really suck in about 5-10 years. Can't wait to see the effect on social security, too, with all the damned baby boomers starting to hit the system.

So now we have TARP 2 this week, and guess what folks? It's only February. How long until we see another bailout of automakers, or, more likely, their suppliers? What's next after that? When does it end?

For example: Let's build/fix this bridge/roadway! Cool, that put workers to work and improves some infrastructure but when the bridge/road is finished what happens to those jobs? They either have to move to another project (usually not in the same community) or have to find other work.

-or-

Let's make it a national priority to totally rebuild our electricity grid. This is a multi-generational project. Not only will we be working to improve our way of life, but you will have long lasting impact on communities across the nation. You will be tapping into every range of skill set and developing new skill that will improve conditions for many more people.

This stimulus package has so much potential to positively impact the economy, security and quality of life for the near and long term future of the U.S. and all of its citizens, I can't comprehend how anyone can deny it. Sure it has a hefty price-tag but things have been allowed to deteriorate to such an extent that routine maintenance is insufficient. The nations infrastructure requires an overhaul along with much else that is fundamental to national prosperity.

the impact of this kind of government borrowing is inflationary. How inflationary we don't really know at this point but we had all better hope that the short term stimulation of the economy hits before the inflation. If it doesn't things will get worse and ugly quickly.

On a related note:
Republicans, I'd like to also have seen you give at least a little. It's not your world anymore. Obama met with you several times, and put forth a plan that included tax cuts that he didn't have to. He put those in based on your input. There is going to be shit in the plan you aren't going to like, but you could have given some ground somewhere. The Democrats certainly don't need you to pass their bill. Perhaps, as he said tonight, he should have included no tax cuts at all, and then let you put a few in to claim "victory." Instead he did the gracious thing and included you in his planning. The response? You're given an inch, and you try to take a mile.

I was impressed that Obama actually spoke of the idea of returning to a manufacturing/producing economy rather than a consumption based economy. He's right. In the long term the consumption based model in unsustainable.

I'm sorry. I didn't realize we elected a king in November. Maybe you see this arrogant, condecending asshole as a wiser, stronger, prettier, and overall more perfect replacement for Jesus Christ, but a good many of us don't.

Bush and the Republicans fucked things up, including (but not limited to) the idea of making the Secretary of the Treasury into a de facto co-president. This douchebag who thinks he's Abe Lincoln with a jump shot is making them far worse by trying to shove every socialist program possible through in one bill, while calling it an emergency stimulus package so that we can "remake America" into a new People's Republic where the many owe their entire existence to the benificence of the very few. And we're supposed to want this -- why? Oh, right. Because it's for our own good, and Lord Barry and his little friends tell us we have to do it, even if we don't want to.

God, how I love fascists.

What I find truly amazing about this is the ENTIRELY different tune republicans are singing about "wasteful spending".

Apparently it is ok to increase the debt of this nation as long as we're spending it in wars abroad, but not at home or if a democrat proposes it.

This is without even going into how much better we'd be able to actually handle this situation financially if we hadn't had Bush's War of Lies to contend with as a nation.

I keep coming back to Bin Laden's very early claim that he wanted to bankrupt America. Seems to me, after the last 8 years of Bush playing along with that game, he might live long enough to see that come true. I hope not, but man...I worry.

It includes Obama's signature "Making Work Pay" tax credit for 95 percent of workers, though negotiators agreed to trim the credit to $400 a year instead of $500 — or $800 for married couples, cut from Obama's original proposal of $1,000. It would begin showing up in most workers' paychecks in June as an extra $13 a week in take-home pay, falling to about $8 a week next January.