ABC News on Stimulus - WOW!

[kpete]

Run time: 02:19 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P2VrcExdIDM   Posted on YouTube: December 04, 2009 By YouTube Member: Views on YouTube: 0   Posted on DU: December 06, 2009 By DU Member: kpete Views on DU: 8075

 
TRANSCRIPT:
http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2009/12/6/811275/-ABC-News-on-StimulusWOW!

[ProgressOnTheMove]

1. This is where I think the critique maybe a little overly harsh on Pres. Obama it is possible to talk

ourselves out of power, believe in the product it will sell yes it is all marketing unfortunately. Now sure things aren't all we can hope and dream for but the Bush administration dug the nation into an intentional deep hole. Pres. Obama is climbing out slowly but surely and think the turnout for Democrats will be higher given that less people call themselves Republican. We just have to make sure folks drive Mr. "not sure"(D) to the polls on election day in 2010.

[cilla4progress]

2. Great to hear

Agreed - even though I was recently laid off...it's great to hear that folks are getting back to work, and the stimulus funds are paying off - in the new jobs and the ripple effect. With the news of the last couple days (drop in unemployment), and the "recovery" starting to reach beyond the financial sector, perhaps we are beginning to Obama's economic strategy working. I'm hopeful.

[HughMoran]

3. Nice - Dems need to tout this regularly. I heard a similarly positive report on NPR

There have been many positives to this stimulus bill - in my state, many roads in need of repair were repaved and a huge project widening the interstate that's been a funding issue for years has been put into high gear. Lots of jobs created - I see these people out there working every day where the stimulus signs are posted. I've also personally benefited since being laid off this year - my Cobra coverage was subsidized for 9 months which was great as it covered the 7 months I was unemployed or contracting with no health insurance offered.

[cilla4progress]

5. COBRA subsidy?

I can't get the subsidy since I have other insurance "available." Yah....my husband's...at $800 / mo. premium for my daughter and self...

[HughMoran]

6. Yep - I couldn't use it after getting a job that offered insurance

The benefit to me was that it WAS offered while I was contracting.

[katkat]

47. Cilla

I'm a retired person, and I was just number crunching about my medical costs:

Medicare Plan A $0
Medicare Plan B $1156.80
Medigap $1505.56 (extra coverage and reduces all copays and deductibles for medical stuff not including prescriptions to $0)
Plan D $489.60 (prescriptions)
copays for Plan D $1200
donut hole $3600

total: $7951.96, or $662 a month

My retired neighbor, not yet old enough for Medicare, pays $600 a month for insurance for himself and his wife.

By the way, yesterday I had a prescription for migraine med filled. They have raised the price to $40 a pill. This has been on the market a long time. No one can tell me this is a price justified by "research costs" or whatever other crap BigPharma is spewing currently.

This is a systemic problem. Only getting BigPharma and BigInsurance under control will fix it. We have to elect Congress people who have not been bought by them.

[amyrose2712]

44. Cobra discount has been the only way I could keep my ins. nt

[MannyGoldstein]

4. A Small Fraction of What Went to the Bankers

$13 Trillion in guarantees for junk assets... hundreds of billions for TARP... a huge amount in secret gifts via the Federal Reserve Bank (which hopefully we'll get sunlight on when they're audited)...

Why isn't this on the TeeVee? I suppose that Larry and Timmy were too clever about how they did it, so it can't be explained in a 15-second clip.

Great that the Obama Administration also let some of the little people can keep alive on mac 'n cheese.

[HughMoran]

7. It's always negative spin from your perspective

I already know what you're going to say before I read your post though - which is nice and predictable.

[Detroit Progressive]

11. Reality

You need to understand the reality of the situation before you can make it better. If everyone was like you and only looked on the "bright side" we would never make any progress. If you want to make something better you don't focus all your attention on what's working, you also need to focus on what's not working and change it. Don't let your petty emotions and desire to remain "upbeat" keep you from doing this. It's selfish and short sighted.

[HughMoran]

12. There is no good news!!!11!!!

Reality has good and bad. It's not simply an or situation.

[AlbertCat]

42. your petty emotions

Nice.

Why should we weigh YOUR petty negative emotions heavier? I don't see anyone saying everything is perfectly OK.

Just askin'...

[Dawgs]

14. There would be millions more "little people" if the banks weren't saved.

Ask Krugman and others if you don't want to believe it.

[MannyGoldstein]

15. They Were Saved In The Worst Way, Says Krugman

Using ferocious torrrents of our tax money as gifts. Heads the bankers win, tails the taxpayer slose.

That's real cash that's being hosed at the bankers that need not be, except that Larry and Timmy and Rahm want more enormous paydays in the future.

[valerief]

20. The masses only get crap news. Didja hear 'bout Tiger? What's the latest with [celebrity name here]?

[Chris Crew]

28. Check your facts -- TARP was a terrific success!

I am unaware of the "$13 Trillion" to guarantee junk assets but the as for the TARP money, most of that was loans. And to date, around 90% of the loans have been repaid with interest (around 10%). Not to mention that we now own a large portion of Citibank as well. All and all, the TARP bailout went pretty good for the American taxpayer while simultaneously stopping the banks from going bankrupt which would have made this recession look like walk in the park.

Don't get me wrong, I would like to see more money spent on main street and see CEO salaries cut substantially, but that is not a reason to be critical of the overwhelming success of the TARP bailout.

[katkat]

49. CEO salaries

http://dealbook.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/12/07/aig-execs-said-to-threaten-walk-out-over-pay/

"Five senior executives at American International Group told the insurer last week they may quit if their compensation was cut significantly by the U.S. pay czar, The Wall Street Journal reported on Sunday.

The five senior AIG executives indicated on December 1, in written notices, that they were prepared to leave by year-end, the paper report, citing unnamed sources. Two of them changed their minds over the weekend, the paper added.

AIG, which was propped up by the government with some $180 billion in taxpayer funds, has been sparring with the Obama administration’s pay czar, Kenneth Feinberg, over executive compensation, Reuters reported. Even Chief Executive Robert Benmosche reportedly threatened to quit last month, in part because he did not have discretion over pay packages for top executives.

Feinberg has cut average compensation for the 25 best-paid employees at companies that received multiple bailouts and is setting guidelines for pay for the next 75. For AIG in particular, Feinberg has vowed to limit bonuses at the company’s financial products unit, whose massive payouts earlier this year sparked huge outrage."

[katkat]

48. TARP

"The Treasury Department expects to recover all but $42 billion of the $370 billion it has lent to ailing companies since the financial crisis began last year, with the portion lent to banks actually showing a slight profit, according to a new Treasury report."

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/07/business/07tarp.html

[fasttense]

8. Perhaps, but I wonder why the long term unemployment rate is not declining.

AND workforce population is shrinking.

Currently there are (according to the BLS, which doesn't count discouraged workers) 9.050 million people (about 6% of the total workforce) who have not been able to find a new job in over 15 weeks. This number is NOT declining.

Yet, short term (less than 15 weeks unemployed) is declining.

Something else interesting in the BLS numbers the working population (total civilian workforce) has been declining since Aug 2009.

It peaked October 2008 (right before the presidential election) at 154.878 million and has declined 1.001 million or about .65% to the current total civilian workforce of 153.877 million.

[ooglymoogly]

9. self delete wrong place

[cartach]

41. Long term ?

Hasn't happened yet. It's all about time and before you start moaning and groaning about the long term employmant rate not declining why don't you wait until some time has passed before you make a judgement.

[ooglymoogly]

10. A little bit of right goes a long way...as in this wonderful Christmas story

An astronomical tally of wrong, as in Bailout, goes much, much further in the wrong direction. I hope Obama takes this blatent clue and sees this amazing and prescient difference; This difference, here shown crystal clear, if expanded to the max will get him re-elected come next election; Depending on the path he chooses and puts his weight behind, which, thus far, has been conflicted at the very least; Unfortunately the indicators except for these small, but amazing steps have been unsettling. Does this pull his boots out of the sucking mud that is Wall St?

He needs much, much more of this kind of thinking to polish his tarnished image and lift this country, like FDR, out of the starving gutter that Bushcobal and the pugs have put us in and make that distinction clear; A form of FDR-ism or a form or Hoover-ism

[quaker bill]

13. Turning the corner

All the naysayers will continue to be concerned for some time to come. Bottom line however, I see people going back to work, here in the construction industry and design businesses. It is not a dramatic shift, but it will gain momentum as confidence builds and consumer spending increases as a result of decreased unemployment. The 787 billion in stimulus is actually alot of money relative to the GDP, particularly when the multiplier effect comes into play on the macroeconomic dimension.

There will be no double dip, and unfortunately for the short sellers, the dollar will not collapse. I fully expect moderate growth next year and a steady decline in unemployment.

[SergeStorms]

36. What bothers me.........

is that there are very few people in the construction trade. What this country needs is good paying manufacturing jobs, and that ISN'T happening. Yes, construction, police and teachers have started back to work (at least until the stimulus money runs out) but most Americans don't fall into those categories. What about them?

While I applaud President Obama's efforts, I feel it's too little, too late. There's an unemployment pit in this country that will take decades to refill, if it can ever be refilled at all. Corporate greed is the root cause of the mess we're in, and until that behavior is reversed, the economy will never really recover. The chances of reversing this climate of unsurpassed corporate greed? Do I even have to offer a guess? I think we can assume "never" is the correct answer.

I don't see this country ever returning to a climate of prosperity and greatness. I see a slow death spiral, an ever tightening vortex of corporate greed and poverty among the masses. I really don't enjoy having these negative thoughts, but from what I've seen - and being grounded in reality - I can draw no other conclusion. The days of the United States being that shining beacon on the hill, of being a land of opportunity, prosperity, and equality for all............ are over. Forever.

[katkat]

51. Serge

Don't like manufacturing being overseas? Buy American.

[SergeStorms]

54. Unfortunately........

the government doesn't allow it's citizens to buy weapons of mass destruction, which seems to be the ONLY things this country produces any more. And yes, I do buy American whenever possible. I'm keenly aware of where my money goes, which is why Wal*Mart is on the top of my verbotten list. :)

[ozone_man]

46. Whistling past the graveyard?

Any apparent recovery is like the apparent recovery under Bush in 2003-2007, when he started the Iraq war. Sure, it is a temporary boost, but it did not address the underlying problems and in fact made the bubble far worse. So, rather than address the root causes, debt and over consumption, we are creating more debt and trying to keep alive an unsustainable economy and failed banking system.

As soon as the deficit spending is complete we will resume the bear market. The regrowth of a bubble in equities, houses, commodities, will have to be deflated. I agree about the dollar though, as deflation accelerates, it will be the beneficiary.

Obama had a chance to appoint responsible people for the FED and Treasury, but chose to continue with the people who got us into this mess, bailing out Wall Street and especially Goldman Sachs his largest corporate contributor.

[mzmolly]

16. Good to hear

some positive news. :toast:

[winyanstaz]

17. thanks for the good news....

Its been depressing lately with all the bad news.
I would like to see this be made more public so more will be aware that some good has come of this.

[firedupdem]

18. Rec'd...nice to see a positive story. n/t

[Cha]

21. And, on corporate media. nt

[whathehell]

38. Yes, It's a nice change, isn't it?

Good to see some positive news about the Stimulus.

[Lilyeye]

19. It's great to see some positive news around here for once.

[orbitalman]

22. Where's the 1 or 2 paragraph summary (synopsis)? n/t

[stevenleser]

23. Transcript

Charles Gibson, ABC News: The White House has been under scrutiny regarding the number of jobs created by the $727 billion economic stimulus program. Reports from The Administration and Congress have provided only rough estimates. So, we asked Chris Bury to see whether he could find evidence as to whether the program had paid off.

Chris Bury: For these police cadets in Missouri, teachers in Virginia and construction workers in Pennsylvania, the stimulus means paychecks.

Bury: What were you doing before this?

John Barrett, Construction Worker: I was laid off, collecting unemployment, trying to survive.

Bury: After eight months of scraping by, John Barrett is among the painters, carpenters and other tradesmen newly hired to fix up broken down public housing in Philadelphia.

Barrett: It means a lot. It means we can start living like we used to live.

Bury: The jobs came only after the Philadelphia Housing Authority got a nice slice of that stimulus, $127 million. Would you have these jobs without the stimulus money?

Carl Greene, Executive Director, Philadelphia Housing Authority: Without the stimulus money, 3,000 less people would have the opportunity to work.

Bury: On projects like this, the stimulus means more than just construction jobs. Tens of millions of dollars in new federal spending are rippling across the region. At first, the owner of this Pennsylvania window company had big doubts about the president's plan.

Alan Levin, CEO, Northeast Building Products: I was definitely skeptical, wondering if we're mortgaging our future.

Bury: Now, his firm is building the windows for that public housing and hiring another 100 workers. and now?

Levin: I'm a believer. I think everyone in this factory is a believer.

Bury: So is the St. Louis Police Force. After budget cuts canceled this entire cadet class, stimulus money revived it -- $8.7 million to pay 50 salaries for three years.

Dan Isom, St. Louis Metro Police Chief: This is the time to invest in police officers, not disinvest in them.

Bury: Unlike those police officers, 275 teachers in Chesterfield, Virginia, are getting only one year's salary after $20 million in stimulus spending here.

Smith, Chesterfield County Schools, Va.: We're going to save jobs, but we know it's a one-time fix.

Bury: But any jobs are better than none, say the stimulus believers and they see the benefits spreading beyond mere paychecks, to safer streets, stronger schools and better housing.

[BlueJac]

24. Don't forget Kool-aid is almost free

[donheld]

25. k & R great news

[SpartanDem]

26. Wish the MSM did more reporting like this

[democracy1st]

27. K & R

[Historic NY]

29. Nah he don't a freaking thing.....Where's my stimulus?

:sarcasm:

[Naked_Ape]

30. All the Nay-sayers...

need to learn how to cope with good news: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Dj_U0NKqrg

[Douglas Carpenter]

31. kick and recommend

[avaistheone1]

32. lol....I thought ABC News was not considered a reliable source in this forum.

I guess it depends on whether people here like the report or not.

:shrug:

[Hekate]

33. What a great piece of good news! And what a bunch of gloom & doomers we have at DU...

How do they ever get up in the morning?

Hekate

[eilen]

35. They get up in the morning unemployed and discouraged.

And happy news segments don't mirror their reality. At least that is how it is at my house.

[Hekate]

52. I'm truly sorry, & hope things get better soon for you. I know there are millions like you out there

... and that we have a long, long way to go.

But that's different from the unceasing drumbeat from some quarters around DU that this is a failed presidency after less than a year, and that Obama has either done nothing at all or has done a Jekyll and Hyde on us and turned into Dubya with melanin. How can those people who wail "all is lost" day after day after day "get up in the morning"?

The few DUers who consistently bring us encouraging news and/or news that is simply reported without evident negative bias are becoming my heroes and the reason I don't quit this place. That I rejoice with them doesn't mean I'm not aware of our remaining problems as a nation and the remaining problems individuals have, as well. I sincerely hope that Dems/liberals/progressives can somehow manage to work together to bring about positive change, instead of acting like crabs in a bucket.

Be well, eilen.

Hekate

[DFW]

34. Maybe ABC is looking for some "exclusive" interview with Obama

It's always good for ratings/advertising revenue, and the White House always checks to see who its friends are
in the media, always has, no matter who was living there. ABC news may be run by people hostile to Obama, but
they are even more hostile to low ratings and dwindling advertising revenue. It doesn't do much for their objectivity,
but it sure helps us to have the MSM report it when things go our way.

Considering that the MSM is rightward-leaning, we should be thankful for every report like this we can get. Be assured
they'll pounce on Obama and Democrats as soon as the wind changes. This is money talking, not some newly-found found
sense of journalistic integrity.

[audas]

37. Wow - 50 jobs for a year

500,000 a month were being lost for a year - thats dropped to 150,000 and people are cheering.

Yes - there is nothing to get happy about.

The biggest stimulus to the US GDP came from the Cash For Clunkers programme which was instigated by the Chinese
who threatened to pull their support of Treasuries - the clunkers are shipped to China as raw materials for recycling and
steel - all the Americans got was MORE DEBT - for bad car they already owned. What a deal.

You are being had.

50 jobs for a year.

Laugh my arse off .

[trumad]

40. And you're nothing more than a lying troll...

Dec. 1 (Bloomberg) -- President Barack Obama’s economic stimulus package has generated between 600,000 and 1.6 million jobs, according to a new government report likely to become fodder in debates on additional efforts to combat unemployment.

The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office said the $787 billion stimulus package approved in February lowered the nation’s unemployment rate by between 0.3 and 0.9 percentage points while boosting the economy by between 1.2 percent and 3.2 percent. The analysis also found that three-quarters of the money provided in the stimulus had yet to be funneled into the economy by the end of September.
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601103&sid=aJI_OZwQHz_U

[Turborama]

43. I'm surprised that you're still here. I'll ask again, what's with those numbers?

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=385&topic_id=406322&mesg_id=406552">Still waiting for an answer...

1640 - 1660 English Civil War

1789 –1799 French Revolution

1775 - 1783 American War of Independence

And your point is?

[Hekate]

53. Visiting from elsewhere are you? Apparently there are trolls under Australian bridges as well...

Welcome to DU. Enjoy your stay.

Hekate

[AllentownJake]

39. The media is touting the economy during the Christmas shopping season

The dickens you say.

[swilton]

45. This clip paints a rosey picture

But there is not a good explanation of whether or not these cases are exceptions or the rule. With all the cities and states in this country that need help, it would be easy enough to find at least some where the stimulus has trickled down - this clip doesn't explain how these examples are representative of the whole pie.

[Britethorn]

50. Saw This

I sometimes feel like I'm living in an alternate universe when I see reports like this one. So much negative stuff out in the media-- and then you see this! Which one's right? The latest economic numbers would tend to favor this reports view.