2010 Stimulus Check & 2009 Stimulus Check

...Information about the 2010 Stimulus Check

Stimulus Package

...now browsing by tag

 
 

How has the 2009 stimulus act done for creating new jobs?

Sunday, July 4th, 2010

Have you ever stepped back and thought about one of the original reasons the 2009 stimulus act was created and how it measures up to what actually happened?  The stimulus act was originally set up to provide new jobs to help with the ever raising joblessness rate.  If you look at how the money was split up, it didn’t do very well to create new jobs.

By tracking the money it was split up into roughly three thirds.

The first third was used as tax breaks to those that already had jobs.  Yes, it was nice for those of us that had jobs, but the little amount that we did save was meant to be spent to stimulate the economy.  Which is hard to track how well that worked out.

The second third was used to add funds to health care and education budgets to help teachers and other people make it through the falling incomes collected by taxes to pay salaries.  Teachers and other people in this field keeping their jobs is a good thing, since teachers are teaching the youth of America.  That is a field we can’t do without.

The final third was meant to create new jobs.  The money was sent out to grants and other channels with the intention of hiring those that didn’t have jobs.  The road improvements by far did the best for creating jobs and also doing something that has been needing to be done for a while now.  As for the rest of it?  There have been numerous reports of spending the money on needed upgrades in equipment and keeping people on payroll instead of laying them off.  With very little going towards hiring new people.

How did it fair, not very well if you ask me.

To figure out how this relates to the 2009 and 2010 stimulus checks that money would have been part of the tax breaks.  It has been helping people keep afloat in this tough economic times and not really spent on random things to keep the economy going.

Click to continue »

President Obama lowered expectations in 2010

Tuesday, January 5th, 2010

In 2009, President Obama set some mighty high goals for his first year in office.  To his credit, he hit most of them.  The big winners were the multi billion dollar stimulus package, making progress for financial reform, lowering unemployment rates and dealing with terrorist threats.

Since this is a blog about the Stimulus Check, I won’t go over the points from the other achievements President Obama has made.   The Stimulus Package that he signed into law shortly after coming into office created many opportunities and hope for businesses and individuals.

Not everyone can agree on how they see eye to eye on if what Obama did was the best, but it did work.  He got money into the hands of most of the people who needed it most.

Most of the plans from the stimulus package about helping those that are currently employed remain in effect through 2010.  For those currently not working and retired, there will more then likely be a 2010 stimulus check coming your way this spring/summer.

2009 Stimulus Check

Saturday, May 30th, 2009

In the recent stimulus package passed by President Obama earlier this year, otherwise known as the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, Obama provided many forms of stimulus and stimulus checks to provide the economy.  The only mentions of a 2009 stimulus check for the American public were in two places in the recently passed Stimulus bill.

The first is a 2009 stimulus check for those on social security incomes, military pensions and railroad pensions.  This is a $250 2009 stimulus check that is a one time payment similar to the 2008 stimulus check that President Bush issued last year.  To qualify for the 2009 stimulus check you had to have already been on social security by the end of 2008 to receive your 2009 stimulus check in May 2009.  If you started your social security income January 1, 2009 or later you do not qualify for this years stimulus check.  However if there is a 2010 stimulus check similar to how the 2009 stimulus check worked you would qualify next year for that stimulus check.

The second part of the 2009 stimulus check is a tax rebate that amounts to $400 if you are single or $800 if you are married over the course of 2009.  Starting in April 2009 the government is lowering the taxes withheld from your paychecks to the amount of about about $20/week so that over the course of the year it would amount to $400 (or $800).  This is the only 2009 stimulus check that is available to those that are working.  The 2009 stimulus check is essentially a $400 check paid over the course of the year.

This 2009 stimulus check that is being paid out weekly via a tax rebate will be in effect for 2010 as well.  The amount of the money making up the 2010 stimulus check on a weekly basis is less then this years $20/week because it is spread out over the course of the entire year instead of 8 months.

There is not a singular 2009 stimulus check for those on employment, it is split up into several incentives.  President Obama provided the following ways to help those on unemployment through the 2009 stimulus package.
Click to continue »

$2,500 Tax Refund from 2009 Stimulus Package

Monday, May 18th, 2009

With all of the talk about the $250 2009 stimulus checks going out recently, there is a way for many of you to save money and get back a large refund this next April from this recently passed stimulus package.

One of the parts of the stimulus package was to provide a $2,500 tax credit, per student for this year.  It isn’t a stimulus check but the value of it much greater then the $250 stimulus check going out this year or the $600 / $1200 stimulus check from last year.

Click to continue »

Great Smoky Mountains National Park

Sunday, May 17th, 2009

The Great Smoky Mountains National Park will receive $64 million in stimulus money from this year’s 2009 Stimulus Package.   The national park will use this money for upgrading roadwork, restrooms and trail maintenance.  These upgrades will be split between Tennessee and North Carolina.

A majority of this $64 million stimulus money will go towards building a bridging extension off the Foothills Parkway in Tennessee.

These updates are going to create up to 1,500 jobs to perform these updates.  Which will help out the ailing economy.

The Great Smokies National Park is one of the most popular parks in the nation attracting up to 9 million people a year.  The annual budget that the park has is just under $20 million and has a backlog of upgrades that total over $200 million.  These stimulus funds that they received for the $64 million upgrade will go a great way towards updating the park and it’s infrastructure.

$1.2 million of the stimulus funds from the stimulus package is to improve 22 miles of horse trails in Tennessee and 10.4 miles into North Carolina.

2009 stimulus package causing higher roofing costs

Sunday, May 17th, 2009

The 2009 stimulus package that was passed by President Obama earlier this year provided a large budget to replace many of the roads in the United States.  This has lots of positive effects such as the obvious of replacing the roads and also being able to employ people to do these road updates.

The downside to these road updates is that they use a lot of asphalt and asphalt is a primary ingredient in making roofing shingles.  Rising petroleum costs contributed to some of the cost increase and asphalt is a derived from the crude oil by product of petroleum.

The price of asphalt has risen 57% from March 2008 to March 2009 and went up 3.8% from Feb to March this year alone.

Those people who are planning on replacing their roofs this summer may be paying quite a bit more then they were planning on had they done it last year as a result of this years 2009 Stimulus Package.