ABOUT THE BILL

The economy is in a crisis not seen since the Great Depression. Credit is frozen. Consumer purchasing power is collapsing. The country has lost 2 million jobs in the last four months, and we are expected to lose another 3 to 5 million in the next year. Conservative economist Mark Zandi put it bluntly: “the economy is shutting down.”

The American Recovery & Reinvestment Act is intended to help address that.

The package contains targeted efforts in:

• Clean, Efficient, American Energy
• Transforming our Economy with Science and Technology
• Modernizing Roads, Bridges, Transit and Waterways
• Education for the 21st Century
• Tax Cuts to Make Work Pay and Create Jobs
• Lowering Healthcare Costs
• Helping Workers Hurt by the Economy
• Saving Public Sector Jobs and Protecting Vital Services

How Money is Spent

^{* Tax Relief - includes $15 B for Infrastructure and Science, $61 B for Protecting the Vulnerable, $25 B for Education and Training and $22 B for Energy, so total funds are $126 B for Infrastructure and Science, $142 B for Protecting the Vulnerable, $78 B for Education and Training, and $65 B for Energy.}

^{* State and Local Fiscal Relief - Prevents state and local cuts to health and education programs and state and local tax increases.}

Since 2001, as worker productivity went up, nearly all of the income growth in this country went to the wealthiest 10% of society.  While they were benefitting from record high worker productivity, the remaining 90% of Americans were struggling to sustain their standard of living.  They sustained it by borrowing... and borrowing... and borrowing, and when they couldn't borrow anymore, the bottom fell out.  This plan will strengthen the middle class, not just Wall Street CEOs and special interests in Washington. 

Our short term task is to try to prevent the loss of millions of jobs and get our economy moving.  The long term task is to make the needed investments that restore the ability of average middle income families to increase their income and build a decent future for their children.

According to estimates, the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act will create or save more than 3.5 million American jobs over the next two years, including 70,000 in Wisconsin. The vast majority of those jobs are in the private sector. At the same time, it will invest in repairing crumbling infrastructure, help our economy go green so we can reduce our dependence on oil, and provide tax relief for millions of Americans.

The Obama administration has said it will try to make this effort as transparent as possible. The administration has already launched http://recovery.gov, a website open to the public to see how the money in the Act is being used.