Democrats get little boost from stimulus

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Source: The Washington Post

ELYRIA, OHIO -- Republican House candidate Tom Ganley sold more than 800 cars last summer through the "Cash for Clunkers" government rebate program. But does Uncle Sam get a thank you?

"Let's talk about Cash for Clunkers," the voluble millionaire, who owns the largest auto dealership group in Ohio, told a group of voters here recently. "It created a 30-day surge in auto sales. After it ended, there was no business. It was like the faucet was shut off."

As the nation struggled through a painful recession, the Democratic-led Congress rushed through nearly $1 trillion in spending and tax cuts, aiming to jump-start business investment, keep state and local governments afloat and put people to work, if only temporarily.

Most economists say the nationwide stimulus effort has generally paid off, although they differ on how much. But the cash infusion appears to have done little to restore public confidence either in the federal government or in the Democratic Party. The stimulus may have created or saved up to 3.6 million jobs, as the White House contends, but the jobless rate in Ohio still hovers at a crippling 10.4 percent.

That has left Democrats such as Ganley's opponent, Rep. Betty Sutton, trying to convince voters that the stimulus made a bad situation somewhat less bad.

Read more: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/08/06/AR2010080606450_pf.html

[Raggz]

1. "a new wave of innovation, activity and construction will be unleashed across America."

Obama said that as soon as the $780-plus billion stimulus plan got signed into law, "a new wave of innovation, activity and construction will be unleashed across America." He added that it "will ignite spending by businesses and consumers" and that the "goal at the heart of this plan" is "to create jobs."


That was then and this is now... We needed jobs - and we still do.