President Obama claimed a major victory less than a month after being in office. His battle to get his stimulus bill was won today, but was it really a victory? Although the bill passed, a $787 billion bill to be exact, not one of the House Republicans voted for it. In fact, there was a little drama from House Republican leader John Boehner of Ohio, who dumped a copy of the 1,071-page bill to the floor in a gesture of contempt and stated, “The bill that was about jobs, jobs, jobs has turned into a bill that’s about spending, spending, spending.”  But, isn’t that the purpose of a stimulus bill – to get people to spend, spend, spend? And what’s that old adage, you have to spend money to make money.  Anyway, here’s the breakdown of the stimulus bill and how it will (maybe) impact you personally:

• High-speed and inner-city rail: Went from $300 million in House bill to $2.25 billion in Senate to $8 billion in final version. There also is a $6.9 billion provision for public transit.

• Amtrak: Picked up $500 million from both House and Senate versions to total $1.3 billion. The bill stipulates that no more than 60 percent can go to the Northeast Corridor.

• National Institutes of Health: Ends up with $10 billion in the final bill. The House proposed $3.5 billion and the Senate wanted $10 billion — $8.2 billion goes to the NIH director for his discretion.

• Government oversight: Board to oversee stimulus bill spending will get $84 million to do the job. House bill allocated $14 million while the Senate bill called for $7 million. There is also more than $100 million more for various inspectors general in different agencies.

• NASA: Banked just more than $2 billion, including $400,000 for science/global-warming research.

• Veterans: Nearly all items for Veterans Affairs were reduced and the $2 billion the Senate wanted for VA construction was wiped out altogether. The VA did get one thing: $1 billion for medical facilities renovation and retooling.

• Military construction: Cut and put into a general pot, a change from targeted money for each branch of the services. Army construction alone went from $600 million in the Senate and $900 million in the House to $180 million in the final bill. But negotiators compromised over a general military construction fund — the House wanted $3.75 billion while the Senate allocated $118 million and settled on $1.45 billion for all services.

• FBI: Senate had allocated $475 million but all was cut out of final bill.

• Pandemic flu research: Although senators agreed it wouldn’t produce jobs, it’s getting $50 million in the final bill, down from nearly $900 million

• Foreclosures: $2 billion is set for a neighborhood stabilization program that helps areas plagued with foreclosures by buying back properties and preventing blight.

• Homeless: $1.5 billion is directed to homelessness prevention.

• Passports: $90 million is going to the State Department to deal with domestic facilities that deal with passports and training.

• Social Security: $500 million goes to replace its 30-year-old computer system.

• Car buyers: Anyone who buys a new car in 2009 gets to deduct the sales tax. To qualify, buyer must make less than $125,000 individually or $250,000 jointly. Cost is $1.7 billion.

• Homebuyers: First-time homebuyers who purchase this calendar year get an $8,000 tax credit which does not have to be repaid like a similar measure last year. This phases out for people making more than $75,000 individually or $150,000 jointly. “First-time homebuyer” is defined as someone who has not owned a home for the past three years. Cost: $6.63 billion.

• Pell grants: will increase to a maximum of $5,350 per student in 2009-2010 year thanks to two provisions in the stimulus.

• Tax credits: Individuals making less than $80,000 or families making less than $160,000 can get up to $2,500 in tax credits for college tuition. 40 percent ($1,000) of the credit is refundable. Cost: $13.9 billion over 10 years.

• Tax credits: Anyone making $75,000 individually or $150,000 as a family will get refundable tax credit up to $400 per person or $800 per family

President Obama is expected to sign the bill within a few days.

Ryan Kazinec has been a consistent contributor here on 7daybuzz and his opinion is something we value.  Ryan is the founder of JealousBrother.com, an author on The Official JealousBrother Blog and on his personal blog GetToKnowTheCEO.com.  When Ryan has something to say, it will be thoughtful with a heavy dose of common sense.  Without further ado…

Planning for the Worst Case Scenario

I didn’t live through the “Great Depression” and was only eight years old when the savings and loan(S&L) crisis took place so it’s safe to say I haven’t experienced anything remotely close to as serious as the crisis the United States (and World) is currently facing. We’re all hoping for the best but are you preparing for the worst? The economic distress becomes more obvious each and every day. A simple drive home from work uncovered several more businesses closing their doors, neighbors foreclosing on their homes, and news on the radio of more companies going under with a horrendous amount of jobs being lost. In times like this it can be dangerous and borderline reckless to be overly optimistic.

Instead of looking at it as a glass half full or empty would it not be wiser to look at it as a glass that you will do everything in your power to keep from running dry, tipping over, or cracking? If you’re anything like the wife and I, you may live comfortably, pay all of your bills on time with a little extra money each check. The unfortunate thing is our relatively smooth situation could take a sudden and prompt turn for the worse if either one of us became unemployed. I’ve actually been forced to think about the “what if’s” and come up with the “would do’s.” For example, priority one would be to keep a roof over our heads at all costs, so that means luxuries like satellite television, telephone service, and internet would immediately have to go along with other wants like eating out, pricier foods, and unfortunately the beer would have to go as well. Sure filing for unemployment may buy us some time but I’m also forced to consider the dwindling job market and this is where the worst case scenario begins.

The situation I described isn’t a delusion, or a rare occurrence, its happening daily. If things keep getting worse how bad can it get? It’s hard to imagine our current society reduced to animal like behavior forced to cheat and steal in order to keep food in our stomachs but then again people did stomp a man to death in Wal-Mart on black Friday over slightly discounted merchandise. To further define the “worst case scenario” we need to take a look at the past. According to Wikipedia, “The market crash marked the beginning of a decade of high unemployment, poverty, low profits, deflation and lost opportunities for economic growth and personal advancement.” Sound familiar? Well that’s a small portion of a description of the Great Depression; much like our current situation it is nearly impossible to isolate a sole cause for the downfall in the economy but the affects are eerily similar. Is it a stretch to compare our current situation to the Great Depression? Sure, but then again I’m writing about the worst case scenario.

A lot in our society and country has changed since the 1930’s like the invention of the television, computer, and internet but something that stands out as even more significant is our inability to self sustain. It would seem with our constant advancement in technology as a society we have forgotten how to rely on ourselves. Considering the worst case scenario what would you do if you couldn’t afford groceries or even worse what if groceries weren’t available? Have we forgotten that our ancestors actually lived off of the land? They grew crops, raised the animals they would later have for dinner, and made their own clothes. We have become so reliant on others to provide our goods and services that in the event of our luxuries disappearing we might find ourselves helpless and confused.

A recession is no laughing matter and a depression is a pure nightmare. The U.S. unemployment rate has been consistently growing since January of 2008 and is showing no signs of letting up. At a current rate of 6.7% of Americans unemployed the U.S. is approaching a milestone we’d rather not meet. (Source) Aside from the Great Depression where at times unemployment reached nearly 25% the second highest rate of 9.7% was hit in 1982 which the U.S. is getting dangerously close to. (Source) I think it’s realistic to assume that there isn’t going to be an abundance of jobs created any time soon that will lessen the blow of the hundreds of thousands of jobs that are being lost on a monthly basis.

We’re a long way off from the staggering unemployment numbers of the Great Depression and unemployment is only one of many statistics used to measure an economy’s performance but let’s not be naive. Isn’t it always better to be safe than sorry? How hard would it be to start preparing for the worst even if you’re certain things will be okay? There are a lot of little things you can do now that will only benefit you if the unthinkable occurs. Learn how to garden and purchase plenty of seeds, learn how to can foods and gradually stock up on canning jars/lids, keep extra water around, and you can even dehydrate food and vacuum seal it. I’d be lying if I said I’ve taken all of these precautions but I am being honest when I say the thought has crossed my mind and there will be a boiling point when I will be more proactive in preparation. Optimism is a wonderful quality to have but be careful; being too confident in some circumstances can be a very poor choice. I’d love to hear your thoughts, opinions, views. Leave a comment here and then come express your opinions on our website where we have a rivalry involving a very similar topic. Very Scared/Worried vs. Everything Will Be Okay

Ryan Kazinec

CEO – JealousBrother.com

JealousBrother Official Blog

Personal Blog