updated 2 minutes ago

NEW YORK – President Barack Obama sternly warned Wall Street Monday against returning to reckless and unchecked behavior that had threatened the nation with a second Great Depression.

Even as he noted the U.S. economy and financial system were pulling out of a downward spiral, Obama warned financial titans on the first anniversary of the Lehman Brothers collapse that they could not count on any more bailouts.

He credited his administration and the $787 billion stimulus package rammed through Congress in the first days of his taking office for pulling the country back from the brink.

Source:  http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/32835326/ns/business-economy_in_turmoil

Stimulus funds move too slowly
September 14, 2009
Two hundred days after Congress passed the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, federal officials are giving themselves top grades for quickly pushing their portions of the stimulus money out into the economy.
But critics say they want to see the feds — and the state and local governments mostly responsible for actually spending that money — pick up the pace.
Of the $499 billion that Congress authorized for agencies in grants, contracts and other spending, almost 47percent has been obligated — that is, set aside for specific purposes and waiting to be spent. Of that, 16 percent has been spent.
“On a scale of one to 10, I think it’s a 10,” said Edward DeSeve, who is overseeing implementation of the Recovery Act as special adviser to President Barack Obama.

Others, like Sen. Joseph Lieberman, I-Conn., see it differently.
“State government officials and private contractors are beginning to point fingers, each blaming the other for delays,” Lieberman said in a Sept. 9 letter to Office of Management and Budget Director Peter Orszag and Deputy Director Robert Nabors. “We can, and must, urge the states to increase their efforts to get shovels in the ground and our people back to work.”

.16 x 787 billion = 125.92 billion

Source: http://www.federaltimes.com/index.php?S=4273443

“$63 billion in tax cuts plus $89 billion in direct spending from federal agencies. That’s a total of $152 billion”

Source:  http://www.propublica.org/ion/stimulus/item/just-shy-of-20-percent-of-stimulus-spent-so-far-0909

Of that 63 billion spent by federal agencies 4 agencies seem to have spent the most (thousands):

Health and Human Services $29,916,053
Department of Labor $21,168,503
Department of Education $16,629,477
Social Security Administration $13,179,418

Breakdown of these agencies

Health and Human Service:

Dept of Labor

State WIA  Youth                                   Activities WIA Adult                  Activities WIA Dislocated Workers Wagner-Peyser Employment Service Unemployment Compensation Total Available Funding
State Total 1,167,210,000 493,762,500 1,237,500,000 395,034,690 499,856,935 3,793,364,125

Dept of Education:

  • $40 billion in state stabilization funds to help avert education cuts. Funds will be given to states in exchange for a commitment to begin advancing education reforms. School systems have discretion to use some of this money for school modernization.
  • $13 billion for Title I, including $3 billion for Title I school improvement programs.
  • $12 billion for Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) programs.
  • $5 billion in incentive grants to be distributed on a competitive basis to states that most aggressively pursue higher standards, quality assessments, robust data systems and teacher quality initiatives. This includes $650 million to fund school systems and non-profits with strong track records of improving student achievement.
  • $5 billion for Early Childhood, including Head Start, early Head Start, child care block grants, and programs for infants with disabilities. (Includes Department of Health and Human Services programs).
  • $2 billion for other education investments, including pay for performance, data systems, teacher quality investments, technology grants, vocational rehab, work study, and Impact Aid.

College Affordability — $30.8 Billion:

  • $17 billion to close the shortfall in the Pell Grant program and boost grant amounts by $500 to $5350 in the first year and more in the second year, serving an estimated 7 million low and moderate-income young people and adults.
  • $13.8 billion to boost the tuition tax credit from $1800 to $2500 for families earning up to $180,000.

Additional School Modernization — (up to) $33.6 Billion:

  • An additional $8.8 billion in state stabilization funds are available for other state services including education. School modernization is an eligible use of this funding.
  • Authority for states and school systems to issue $24.8 billion dollars in bonds over the next 10 years for renovation, repairs and school construction that will be retired through a combination of local, state and federal dollars.

Social Security Admin

Our responsibilities under the Recovery Act include replacing the National Computer Center, dedicating additional resources to the processing of disability and retirement workloads, and issuing a one-time payment of $250 to nearly 55 million Social Security and Supplemental Security Income beneficiaries. We expect to deliver most of the $250 one-time payments by late May 2009. Our Office of the Inspector General received additional funding for oversight and audit of programs, projects, and activities funded in the Recovery Act. Click on the Major Communication link for more details on each of our Recovery Act programs.

So this is how we’ve recovered from the brink of a depression:

1.  “Improving healthcare” and “Health IT” (30 bil)

2.  Modernizing schools, disabled and title 1 kids, a few college grants (16 bil)

3.   Unemployment and Adult and Youth services ( 21 bil)

4.  250 dollar check for social security recipients (13 bil)

5.  Other Agencies (4 billion)

6.  Tax cuts (89 billion)

Seriously, this is what made the economy recover?  No, it did it naturally.  That isn’t to say that the stimulus didn’t help but is it responsible for the recovery?  Absolutely not.  Too little to late in my opinion.

LOL