Dems push TARP money for jobs bill

So $200 Billion in Tarp is now going to be used to create jobs, what else can they come up with to push jobs into this economy. Seems the only thing they can create are transportation and infrastructure projects. What happens after these projects are through with and all the hundreds of thousands people hired to do this work are let go again, this is just temporary work to try and keep the economy afloat as they try to come up with new job ideas to keep the economy chugging along. Even if unemployment numbers drop to 6%-8% over the next 18-24 months it will be only temporary as the jobs this stimulus money is creating start to slow once again.



"The Troubled Asset Recovery Program funds would be used to pay for not only an extension of unemployment insurance but also transportation and infrastructure projects."




Dems push TARP money for jobs bill


By JAKE SHERMAN & MEREDITH SHINER | 12/4/09 3:39 PM EST



Unemployment numbers were down today, but congressional Democrats are still scraping for job creation ideas, including using repaid Wall Street bailout funds to pay for a two-part jobs bill House leaders hope to bring to the floor before the end of the year.

The Troubled Asset Recovery Program funds would be used to pay for not only an extension of unemployment insurance but also transportation and infrastructure projects. House leaders are discussing attaching this jobs bill to an omnibus appropriations bill.

Democrats — especially in hard-hit states like New Hampshire, Pennsylvania and Rhode Island — are eager for the TARP funds.

“I think we use [the TARP funds] for the most significant issue of the moment, a crisis equally compelling as the credit crisis and the financial crisis that involved the financial markets last year,” said Sen. Jack Reed (D-R.I.).

Republicans have decried the idea of using bailout funds for a jobs bill, calling TARP a slush fund.

“TARP funds borrowed from the taxpayer should not become a slush fund for the political whims of Washington,” said House Minority Whip Eric Cantor (R-Va.). “The TARP was passed last fall because most experts believed that our capital markets were on the verge of absolute collapse.”

Democrats are considering several ideas as part of a jobs package. They must extend safety-net measures such as COBRA and unemployment assistance but are unsure if the extension will be for six months or a year. That measure, which Democrats say is an emergency measure, will most likely cost around $100 billion.

The transportation and infrastructure idea is a bit more complicated. It’s expected to cost around $70 billion and would also include small-business assistance. The logical place to attach this measure would be the must-pass omnibus appropriations bill, but it is unclear if Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) can cull the 60 votes needed to pass that measure on the already-thick omnibus.

Reid would face serious opposition from Republican senators if he tried to tap any bailout money for a jobs bill.

“TARP authority should only be used to prevent dire and irrevocable harm to our financial system and credit markets that provide liquidity for businesses and consumers — it was not designed to be used like rainy-day cash to throw around at any problem,” said Sen. Judd Gregg (R-N.H.).

But Democrats are lining up with ideas for how to use the TARP money.

Sen. Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.) is hoping for investments in green jobs using the funds. Speaking to reporters Friday, she singled out a factory in New Hampshire that is transitioning from producing printing presses to wind turbines. Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.) said he wants the transportation projects in the bill to fix the country’s “decrepit” roads system.

But even if the TARP is spent to create jobs, it is not likely to fully please every Democratic constituency. Rep. Peter Welch (D-Vt.) is the leading proponent of the so-called cash for caulkers program —meant to retrofit houses for energy efficiency. It’s likely to create 600,000 to 850,000 jobs. House leadership said this idea is not likely to end up in immediate jobs legislation.

 

Both the repub thugs and dem wimps suck ass.

But I despise the thugs more. Whatever they touch turns into shit.

If we take the exact opposite action of what the thugs want, we'll be much better off. It's like fading a trader that has 100% losing history.

 

anyway it's not that bad

USA needs infrastructure and if government can pay salary and get infrastructure instead of paying for food stamps then why not?

even if it's only temporary it gives them time

the world won't end even if dollar collapses and new infrastructure will stay

 

Really? How's the past 10 months working out for you then?

 

Sounds like forward funding. I thought that was illegal...oh wait a minute, not when Congress does it.

 

I'm making more money than I ever did before.


How about you?

 

I was referring to the state of the nation shit for brains. But you already knew that.

 

Keep at it. Eventually something will click inside your dumb brain and you'll start making $

 

Ha ha ha ha ha. That's the funniest thing I've read today! But didn't your daddy ever tell you not to waist your time arguing with a moron?