Planning To Succeed

Politicos are Just Public Servants for Sake of Recovery

US Representatives Yvette Clarke and Ed Towns packed Brooklyn Academy of Music with curious, hopeful Brooklynites, Saturday, April 4, 2009. The draw was learning what New Yorkers stand to gain from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009—a/k/a Obama Money. Using the town hall model, news commentator Errol Louis emceed the cavalcade of satisfied Democratic leaders, deputy mayors, and state agency officials. Two key messages throughout the run down of agencies, funding allocations, Web sites and point persons were the time for relying on the government to handle things was over; now everyone is required to participate in the recovery. Most speakers described themselves as public servants.

State Senate Majority Leader Malcolm Smith said, “New York State will receive $24.6 billion that will keep needed programs operating and create 80,000 new jobs.” The billions is channeled through several public agencies and administered by various offices within each agency. The concern is moving the money from accounting spreadsheets and policy memos to shovel ready projects and programs that employ and serve New Yorkers as quickly as possible.

Deputy Mayor Linda Gibbs explained the Mayor’s Office placed the streams of recovery funds into “five thematic buckets:” Safety Net, Infrastructure/Energy Efficiency, Public Safety, Neighborhood Stabilization and Economic and Workforce Development. Gibbs identified the streams that went into each bucket and the deputy mayor and his chief of staff who is accountable. In short order, Errol Louis had each deputy mayor, state agency representative tell their funding allocations and Web sites to learn more about the programs.

Some funding winners include child care, Head Start, Workforce 1 Centers, repairs to public housing, low income housing tax credits and MTA station capital projects. However, the city received only $400,000 for the arts. Representing NYS Council on the Arts, Danny Simmons questioned this miniscule allotment; given the city’s art scene has been an economic engine. Simmons pointed to Brooklyn’s newfound attractiveness is due to the abounding art and culture. Simmons sadly added the money came too late to save the Dance Theater of Harlem which recently closed its doors.

Whether it is a coincidence or divine order that so many African Americans have critically powerful positions in government during this economic downturn shall be revealed. As it stands the US President’s father is a Kenyan. New York’s Governor is African-American. New York State Senate Leader is African American. One US Representative’s family hails from maroon country in Jamaica. The other US Representative is a North Carolina-born African American.
To stay on top of the Obama Money’s dispersal and outcomes in New York State and the city, visit the following Web sites: www.nyc.gov/StimulusTracker; http://www.recoveryny.gov/ and www.arra.org.

Labels: Brooklyn, economic recovery, economic stimulus package, Ed Towns, Yvette D. Clarke

posted by Unknown @ 9:58 PM 0 Comments

Is the President’s Economic Package Up for Public Scrutiny?

President George Bush aimed to start 2008 with a shot in the arm when he proposed a $150 million economic growth package, on January 18. The package is a one-year disbursal of personal tax rebates and business tax incentives. Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson believes the package “will counter the effects of higher gas prices, the capital market downturn,” subprime mortgage lending terms, tanking housing prices and nationwide home foreclosures. Key to the package’s impact is immediate release of money, specifically, “sixty days after the legislation is enacted.” The House and Senate must vote quickly in its favor and the IRS must process both tax filings and rebate checks. Middle-income individuals and families look forward to $800 and $1,600, respectively.

House Majority Leader Nancy Pelosi (CA 8th District) and House Minority Leader John Boehner (OH, 8th District) made separate triumphant statements about the January 24 bipartisan House approval. Pelosi described it as “an agreement to immediately jumpstart the slowing economy. Over 100 million households will soon receive ‘recovery’ rebates.” Boehner concedes, “The economic growth package will put money in the hands of middle-income families and give small businesses incentives to create new jobs.”

President Bush used the 2008 Congress of Tomorrow Luncheon, held January 25 in West Virginia, as an opportunity to press the Senate “to move quickly on the economic growth package.” The Senate shares the concerns of average Americans and wants add-ons for unemployment benefit extensions and increases in food stamps. Senate Democrats recognize roughly 65 million working Americans would get partial to zero rebates.

One college administrator who requests anonymity asked, “Are you talking about the money that they [IRS] were supposed to be giving back as a rebate but found a way to keep it?” She suggests a reprisal of the effects of the 2001 tax rebate. Councilwoman Letitia James (35th District) said simply, “It’s too little, too late.”

Americans riddle the “Ask the Whitehouse” page on the Whitehouse Web site with questions about the package’s soundness. Here in New York, Brooklyn resident Audrey Taitt-Hall remarks, “I have reservations about the package. What will we have to give up to get this money? Presently, childcare centers and senior citizen centers are either closed or significantly cutback. There are many cuts in education programs like music and sports. Is this the price to get these rebates?”

Labels: business tax incentives, economic stimulus package, George Bush, Henry Paulson, John Boehner, Letitia James, Nancy Pelosi, subprime mortgages, tax rebate

posted by Unknown @ 7:21 PM 0 Comments