Norton Goes to White House as District Shows Benefits from First Year of Stimulus Funding
February 17, 2010
Norton Goes to White House as District Shows Benefits from First Year of Stimulus Funding
(February 17, 2009) WASHINGTON, DC – Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC) this morning went to the White House to hear President Obama offer a report card on the effect of the stimulus funds on jobs and the economy, on the one year anniversary of passage of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. Norton, who secured $3.5 billion for the District of Columbia in stimulus funds, more than many states, said that the District and only one state show net new jobs since passage of the stimulus bill. “The untold story in the District and elsewhere is the number of layoffs of police and fire officers, teachers, social workers, and other vital personnel that were prevented by the Recovery funds,” Norton said. “Imagine what the unemployment rate here in the District would look like if these indispensible employees had been laid off and added to our already high unemployment rate.” Norton said that D.C. residents were among the 20 million Americans who have received unemployment benefits from the stimulus package. Norton also was delighted to meet two executives from a clean energy company, Distributed Sun, located in the District, who had been invited to the White House presentation. She said the city, which is largely dependent on tourism and development, needs to diversify its economy with start-ups and clean energy companies of the kind sometimes found in Maryland and Virginia. They may be more open to locating here, she said, in light of the federal emphasis on green jobs, with billions being spent to fuel a new economy based on clean energy.
Norton noted that the President, once again at this morning’s event, said that 95 percent of the American people have received tax breaks, but reports say that most people believe they have not received any benefit from the package. After the President’s speech, the Congresswoman sent word through a Presidential aide that she hopes the President will add a line or two to make people understand that they received their benefits through an increase in take-home pay because of a tax credit of up to $400 for individuals, and up to $800 for married couple, provided through Recovery funds. This tax credit was handled through automatic changes in the amount withheld for taxes in individuals’ paychecks. Economists advise that adding funds to people’s take-home pay this way would be a better stimulus, and with greater benefits to individuals, than the lump-sum payments used by the Bush administration, much of which was saved or went unspent, and, therefore, did not stimulate the economy.
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