Has or Is the Stimulus Bill working...

I live in California and the employment picture is terrible here. Some areas of the state have unemployment rates that are as high as 15%. I have friends who have been out of work for over a year. DH and I are fortunate enough to be retired but the situation here breaks my heart. As well intended as the stimulus might have been, I think that most people used it to catch up on bills or like us saved it because we are all too afraid to spend money. To restart the economy, people have to start spending again but I absolutely understand why people are afraid to spend right now. If you're concerned about the future of your job, why would you spend money. Credit hasn't freed up yet either. I think that we will probably get another stimulus check but I don't really think that it's going to do any good until we all start to feel a little bit better about our economic situations.

I have seen some of the stimulus money at work, I was just at a customer of mine today who is doing great because of the stimulus money. The reason so many companies aren't hiring is because no one knows what the economy is going to do. The problem is the cost of hiring right now is so high, this is why so many are hiring temps. A large part of this cost is health care which has sky rocketed for the last 8 years. If you look at the temp hiring it is insane how many of them need workers, and very fast to fill all of the jobs. The only way you are going to get companies to hire is to give them a reason to hire either with tax credits, or a more stable economy.

Oh My this is bad and getting worse every day...11.8%(p) in Dec 2009 for Florida. That's not even close to the real number of people who are unemployed in central Florida, so how can they say that is for the whole state. Guess they fail to count those who do not apply for unemployment or for those who have used up their unemployment funds. Just 2 weeks ago my son got laid off because the company he was with had no work...they are on the verge of shutting down for good. Problem is because of the "extended unemployment" Obama has issued the rate of pay for unemployment dropped down to around 40% of what your pay was when working...when before you would get at least 80%. Which means his weekly check will be less than minimum wage. The only thing I can see that the stimulus has done is line the pockets of those who didn't deserve it. Stimulus and Bailouts ...what a joke!!! The banks knew what they were doing when they sold houses to those they knew could not afford to pay the mortgage. That money could have helped thousands of people get back on their feet. When does the little man get a break? The mom and pop stores that have been here for years are closing. The smaller Manufacturing businesses are folding. We have 10 or more people and families with small children, every day, trying to get into shelters for the homeless. They have lost their homes, cars and most of their possessions. Children are in the streets begging for food and warm clothing. One man threw a rock through a jewelry store window so he would get arrested. When asked why, he replied "I need somewhere to rest for a few days and the shelters and churches are overrunning with people". Then they went so far as to deny the people who get SS and SSI a cost of living raise but you can bet they all got one. The ruls are different for the rich. Those numbers must have been for some small county that has very few people living there. In central Florida it is much higher. Just how did they come up with those numbers anyway? Did they just check with the board of labor and take their word for it?

Well in mathematics, when a number is undefined it is called imaginary. Therefore, an imaginary number of jobs has been "saved" or created since no one can actually define the amount spent versus what that money actually was used for. But what has become abundantly clear is that this administration does not actually follow the strict and rigid rules that are clearly defined in mathematics. In other words, this administration thinks that 1 + 1 = 600.

We seem to be working on a new standard of judgment when it comes to this stimulus money. These days, the money doesn't have to create anything. It just has to "save" jobs in order to be counted as working. According to presidential and stimulus supporters, the "saved" jobs mean that the stimulus is working. For everyone else, the 4,000,000 unemployed since the stimulus was signed means that it didn't work nearly well enough. I guess it depends on how you want to argue it. "It could have been 6,000,000!" "Yeah, but it's still 4,000,000 after that INSANE amount of money that we were told would actually STIMULATE the economy and not just save some police and fireman and road worker jobs and the like." Take your pick. All I know is this: If I lose $400, I'm not thankful that it wasn't $600, I'm pizzissed because it was $400!

I don't think the stimulus bill is working for the average person. It seems to be working just fine for banks and big businesses. We tax payers now own a car company, is that good? Unemployment benefits are as high as 91 weeks, is that good? I am trying to think positive about this whole thing.

it is easy to get frustrated when that huge amount of bailout money is not being felt by the taxpayers. but the impact of the stimulus package will be felt years later, not now. the aim of the stimulus is to halt the downturn and meltdown of the economy. and it has done so, so far. now the recovery must be primed up to continue the gains, and not go back to the cycle of crisis.