A Jobs Program That Works
By BOB HERBERT
NYT
Is it possible that there is a federal stimulus program that is putting many thousands of struggling individuals to work and is getting rave reviews not only from Democrats but from officials in conservative states like South Carolina and Mississippi?
It may be hard to believe, but it’s true. The program, part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, allows states to use federal dollars to temporarily subsidize the salaries of individuals placed in private- and public-sector jobs. More than 30 states are participating.
The program, though small, appears to be working exceptionally well. States expect to have placed more than 200,000 individuals by this coming autumn. Some of those workers would otherwise have landed on welfare.
The catch — there is always a catch — is that the program will expire at the end of September if Congress does not act to extend it.
The U.S. is trapped in an agonizing period of sky-high unemployment and the latest data from the Department of Labor offers no cause for optimism. A program that is actually putting people to work, and thus helping families fend off destitution, ought to be looked at closely for what it can teach us about employment expansion. It makes no sense to simply let it die.
(More here.)
NYT
Is it possible that there is a federal stimulus program that is putting many thousands of struggling individuals to work and is getting rave reviews not only from Democrats but from officials in conservative states like South Carolina and Mississippi?
It may be hard to believe, but it’s true. The program, part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, allows states to use federal dollars to temporarily subsidize the salaries of individuals placed in private- and public-sector jobs. More than 30 states are participating.
The program, though small, appears to be working exceptionally well. States expect to have placed more than 200,000 individuals by this coming autumn. Some of those workers would otherwise have landed on welfare.
The catch — there is always a catch — is that the program will expire at the end of September if Congress does not act to extend it.
The U.S. is trapped in an agonizing period of sky-high unemployment and the latest data from the Department of Labor offers no cause for optimism. A program that is actually putting people to work, and thus helping families fend off destitution, ought to be looked at closely for what it can teach us about employment expansion. It makes no sense to simply let it die.
(More here.)
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