http://www.afscmeblog.org/2010/12/06/spending-package-worked/?__utma=1.1847225545.1261531521.1276731138.1289957884.87&__utmb=1.1.10.1291769553&__utmc=1&__utmx=-&__utmz=1.1283951865.86.5.utmcsr=search|utmccn=%28organic%29|utmcmd=organic|utmctr=people%20pac&__utmv=-&__utmk=218069910
December 6th, 2010
Recovery ActThe definitive answer is ‘Yes!’ The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) is creating new jobs and stabilizing the economy.
The source? No less than the Congressional Budget Office (CBO), Congress’ own non-partisan economic and budget analysts. In a recent report, the CBO estimates that as of September up to 3.6 million people owe their jobs to the Recovery Act’s infusion of more than $230 billion in federal funds.
Significantly, not one Republican voted for this successful measure, with its primary goal of protecting the economy during the worst of the recession and keeping state and local governments afloat.
AFSCME members helped make it happen. We did it again in August when we led the fight to pass a jobs bill – vital legislation to provide more than $25 billion to help financially strapped states and local governments deal with budget shortfalls and save jobs. The Democrats and only four Republicans in the entire U.S. Congress supported the bill. Had the Republicans succeeded in blocking it, 300,000 additional jobs could have been lost.
The CBO report confirms what the American public has been saying all along. By a margin of more than 2 to 1, Americans believe that saving and creating jobs is very important in moving our economy forward. It’s clear that they know who is standing up to save our struggling economy, and who is playing politics with our lives and jobs.