What the Recovery Act Means to You: My Talk With White House Officials

Exactly what I was thinking.

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So far, I have not seen the Recovery Act help the state of education here in CA. In fact, we were told at the last PTA meeting that there will be another round of lay-offs this year. From what I've read, Duncan is determined to not give more money unless and until schools meet his demands. I don't believe this helps our students. I also think it has a negative effect on our teachers' ability to be the best teachers they can be because too many of them are worrying about the possibility of a pink slip. I am dissapointed that this Administration seems to just be following in the footsteps of NCLB. As was the case then, too many students are slipping through the cracks and feeling the brunt of the consequences of this approach.

I like the "Act"...let's hope someone remembers to recharge that mobile device!

Judy Anne Cavey-Educator/Writer-Work Experience Edublog creator: http://workforcedevelopment.edublogs.org/

...the extension AND the reduction in fees. 

Help is what people need. And I hope to see more of it soon. 

Politics & News Contributing Editor Erin Kotecki Vest ( http://queenofspainblog.com/ )

I got laid off as part of a massive reduction in force from a Fortune 100 company. I received 3 months' severance and health insurance, but reached the end of that.

I was SO HAPPY to discover that I only have to pay 35% of my COBRA to receive continuing healthcare for up to 15 months. That means that I don't have to shell out $500 a month for health insurance when I am only receiving $1800/month in unemployment benefits.

Of course, I am hoping to only use this benefit briefly, but I am thankful it is there to help me.

Your experience is both laudible and hearwrenching.  I, too, am an educator although I am not teaching professionally right now.  But I will always be an educator.  How difficult it is, though, to help people find resources and "lifelines" when the ocean is so crowded with castaways raching for the lifeboat.  Too many at a time, it's too much sometimes.

Thank you,

Claire

-- "When choosing between two evils, I always pick the one I never tried before." - Mae West - Claire A. Murray (Clamo88)

Politics & News Contributing Editor Erin Kotecki Vest ( http://queenofspainblog.com/ )

Erin....you know I tend to comment on the broader good of all of this....b/c that is how I see it...did I look at the photo correctly?

Were you the only woman at the table?

I believe you were the only woman at the table.

A moment to acknowledge THAT. For however wrong that is..one woman was at the table. Huge.

And that woman was/is you.

Another huge.

And she was representing BlogHer.

Huge.

Thank you for representing us Erin...for being that woman.

Tre~

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It has been all too much to handle for all too many. And even those of us who are doing ok or well are doing our best to help others...at least, I'm seeing it more often. 

Thanks for chiming in. 

Politics & News Contributing Editor Erin Kotecki Vest ( http://queenofspainblog.com/ )

I have to say, I love this.  

Politics & News Contributing Editor Erin Kotecki Vest ( http://queenofspainblog.com/ )

Disagreements aside, I think it says something the Administration didn't just put those who would toe the line - their line- in the room. 

And it's ok John, I didn't know yours either ;) 

Politics & News Contributing Editor Erin Kotecki Vest ( http://queenofspainblog.com/ )

Statistics don't speak as well as real people, that's exactly right. It's so refreshing to hear your local story. Thank you

Politics & News Contributing Editor Erin Kotecki Vest ( http://queenofspainblog.com/ )

You asked and you shall receive, here is my take as an educator and writer:

History tells us a great deal about how we will recover. In the Great Depression, people were living in shanti towns, standing in long food lines and things were dismal for quite a while. You can't expect a miracle to turn things around in a few months, it will take years. It took us years to get here.

Living in California, in the financially broke state, is no pic-nic. Education took a major hit across the board here, from K-12, to higher education (which is where I am). I watched as jobs disappeared from the job boards and only recently have noticed a bit of an uptick. When I say a bit, I mean just that, nothing to write home about. But, it's still better than nothing at all.

Basically, employers won't hire until the fear is gone. Fear the economy will tank more, fear they will fold, fear, fear, fear. Let's remember the quote, "We have nothing to fear but fear itself" by another president during another difficult time in our nations history. Fear breeds panic. Fear comes from a negative place. Fear doesn't help the problem.

Last January, I traveled 11 long hours from my home to a job fair in San Diego. I wound up assisting with critiquing resumes, but it turned out to be much more than that. One person after another sat down and told me how they were losing their home, or unable to pay their credit card bills, couldn't put their child through college, and watched their future die as retirement funds went south. A woman literally broke down and couldn't stop crying. I put my arms around her and did all I could to reassure her "it would be ok"...someday. By the time I left, I was so emotionally exhausted I went to the beach and looked out over the crashing waves as waves of tears washed down my cheeks.

I saw some of what has happened coming years ago. Knowing how the mortgage/banking industry works, aware that Wall Street is where you don't put everything you own, and living financially responsibly, I had a clue what was to come. Reading and speaking with those "in the know" backed up my hunches. Before the market fell, I did all the right things. Thank God. So, I'm not in the desperate position many are finding themselves in today. I felt some survivors guilt, but that soon passed. Why should I feel guilty for not following the crowd and jumping off the proverbial bridge?

By the time I got home, I had made up my mind to do what I could to help people. That's when I had the idea for my Edublog. Having been a Work Experience educator at a community college and a long time community volunteer assisting in other job-related programs, I put my knowledge to good use. I knew students would probably be the first laid off, so I provided blogs, links and other resources to assist them. Then, I remembered the people I had spoken to at the job fair and included information to assist with their search. Much of my day was spent searching information online and at the library. I joined LinkedIn and became active in several groups, passing on what I found there and encouraging others to spend time assisting fellow job seekers.

What did I find in the last year? Much less than I had hoped. Humanity disappointed me. Selfishness, sexism, racism, ageism, complaining, back biting, irresponsibility, lack of integrity and the list goes on and on. It began to affect me, even though I tried to stay above it. Finally, I've come to the conclusion, not easily mind you, that perhaps this economic disaster is actually a good thing. Why? Because Americans in particular had lost their perspective. What had we become? A country of mindless drones. Debt reached astronomical levels, money became god, workaholics thrived on the thrill of climbing the ladder, "things" had more meaning than people, and integrity, morals and values were just words. But then something happened and changed everything.

This is America's opportunity to be the phoenix that rises from the ashes of it's self-inflicted destruction. We have a choice, as life is nothing but choices, to do it right...or wrong.

Judy Anne Cavey-Educator/Writer-Work Experience Edublog creator: http://workforcedevelopment.edublogs.org/

...but that rumor was unfounded and destructive. You pointed directly at the administration and faulted them on the strength of nothing more than a rumor. When I called your attention to facts in the comments, I was flamed, called names, and ridiculed.  All part of the territory, of course, except that you were wrong, and when I didn't back down, you even took it to Twitter without correcting the record. Again, it's part of living on the Internet but I haven't seen anything to contradict my assertion that you cannot stand this administration. Spreading rumors like that without the benefit of facts to back it up is destructive, to say the least.

Personal differences aside, I would like to see at least credit for what has been done in the past year highlighted as opposed to what you wish had been done, or what you think had been done. There were some very real benefits from this bill for the employed and the unemployed and the US economy as a whole. They might have been bigger, yes. However, when only 6% of people in this country think it was of benefit, there's not much to conclude other than a breakdown in communication. None of us have done a very good job of communicating the more nuanced, but still valuable benefits, and that includes the White House. Now they're trying. It's a message worth communicating..

Good summary, Erin, and sorry again about not knowing your name!

And Karoli, I read what you wrote about my "Obama hatred." I guess all I can say is, just because someone disagrees with you doesn't mean they're necessarily lying.  I quoted multiple news reports showing an odd new message that the compromise health care reform bill would ban pre-existing conditions for children under the age of, I believe it was, 19, and I asked if this was part of the "compromise" - dropping the pre-existing condition ban for anyone over 19. I think that's a fair question, especially considering how much has already been "compromised' out of health care reform.  I hardly think it's a radical position to worry that the Obama administration may be caving on health care reform.

As for my "Obama hatred," you might want to talk to some Hillary supporters.  Our blog was one of the first national political blogs, if not "the" first, to come out swinging for Obama a year before the election, before it was cool to be for him.  We ticked off a lot of Hillary supporters, who promptly left our blog.  Ask them how anti-Obama we are.  We also raised $43,000 for candidate Obama, and I went on national television and repeatedly defended him during the campaign, and after he was elected.

Just because someone thinks our President is messing up - and that minority view we had six months ago has now become a majority view in the Democratic party, that the administration is really starting to mess up - doesn't make some "anti-Obama."  It makes them honest bloggers who are even willing to criticize the man they helped elect when he messes up, repeatedly.  I'm sorry, but I did not start my blog to be a knee-jerk Democrat - I am a proud Democrat, but I will hold my party responsible for things I think they're doing wrong.  And I'm sorry that bothers you, but I'm not going to lie to my readers.

Again, I get that you disagree with me.  And I disagree with you.  That doesn't make either of us liars, or evil.

Thanks again, Erin.

JOHN

Here are some examples of how ARRA (American Recovery & Reinvestment Act) funds are being used in my place.

This year, I have a part-time Assistant Coordinator for the VITA (Volunteer Income Tax Assistance) program I coordinate, which I do as part of a very full job.  What I normally would do in 30+ hours week, I only have 16 hours to do because I no longer am a contractor but a full-time employee with other responsibilites.  The Assist. Coord. is making this possible by picking up the slack of those other hours.   It also means we were able to expand the program to serve more than double the number of low income taxpayers and manage several more volunteers. 

We had two part-time youth employees this summer, one of whom has been able to stay on through some extensions of the program funded through ARRA.  This person brought skills to our center and has also learned other skills while here.  He will be more employable when his position ends in May. 

We also contracted someone to be a Site Manager for our computer center, bringing  stability to that site which is 99% volunteer managed.  In addition, this person has expanded our collaborations with other organizations (a long-time goal) so we now have a training facility that is utilized 90% of the day rather than 10-15% of the day.  Some of the collaborations also bring in some revenue. 

Those 4 jobs for real people are providing direct services for more than 300 real people, with an exponential result.  The VITA volunteers are checking income levels of taxpayers to identify who should be getting the services I handle for my regular job; then I sit down with them and do those benefits while they're getting they're taxes done.   And I identify clients who need their taxes done and schedule one appointment to do taxes plus their benefits -- freeing up more daytime appointments for people not needing taxes done but who need benefits help. 

We are also using ARRA funds to support the local food pantry, which hired an outreach worker to ensure that homeless families temporarily living in nearby motels get food each week and identify their need for and hook them into other services.  The food pantry also was able to hire additional food prep staff to handle the huge increase in volume for their soup kitchen (hot dinners served 4 evenings/week). 

We used some of the funding to create a housing resource center and shift some staff responsibilities around (preserving jobs) to help people who were/are on the verge of becoming homeless and rapidly rehouse them to prevent homelessness.  A new staff position (licensed social worker) coordinates closely with them to preserve tenancy for people with disabilities, so they retain their current housing and get needed services and support to remain there and be able to pay their rent. 

The only downside is how we keep up this momentum when the ARRA funding ends.  So we also hired a Development Director (a long, long, long-term goal) who is seeking unrestricted funds to help preserve some of these critical positions post-ARRA.

There are some other things we are doing, but this gives you an idea that real jobs that affect very needy people are a result of ARRA.  I, for one, am grateful and wish more people were telling the story of how this funding is helping.  Of course, there's also the extra money in my paycheck.  Statistics don't speak half as well as real people. 

-- "When choosing betwe en two evils, I always pick the one I never tried before." - Mae West Claire A. Murray (Clamo88)

Everyone at the table had very different agenda's. As we left Chris thought progressives really needed to be blogging more about the positive stories coming out of the Recovery Act, while others felt like they have been, and still others felt like stories for their particular audience were harder to come by. 

I was very encouraged with the 'Year Two' approach that's starting now where all of these things begin to really get moving. It's then I think more people will 'feel' it at home and it will be an easier sell, so to speak. 

Politics & News Contributing Editor Erin Kotecki Vest ( http://queenofspainblog.com/ )

...and the stats attached?

Politics & News Contributing Editor Erin Kotecki Vest ( http://queenofspainblog.com/ )

14.something percent. Scary. But it does appear to be stabilizing and once these other programs kick in...well, hopefully 

Politics & News Contributing Editor Erin Kotecki Vest ( http://queenofspainblog.com/ )

Yes, the jobs are important. I won't minimize that. But they weren't all of it by a long shot. The COBRA subsidies, for example, kept more people insured and with at least some access to health care than I can count. Real people. People who are now very nervous that those subsidies will run out before they either find another job or health care reform passes. I was a beneficiary of those subsidies until BCBS did a back door rescission, and was incredibly grateful for it.

The extra money in my unemployment check didn't hurt either. Yes, it's only $25/wk, but it makes a difference. Also? the money I had to pull out of my 401K to cover expenses was exempted from the 10% pre-59 1/2 penalty. That's another $400 for me instead of the IRS.

A lot of the benefits of the Recovery Act will show up on tax returns this year. That's not the same as a job, but it makes not having a job a heck of a lot less painless than what it could have been.

This economy sucks. I wish the stimulus had been bigger, but it could have been nothing. So are we really going to criticize it for not going far enough? Really?

karoli

odd time signatures ( http://www.drumsnwhistles.com/ ) (life)

ps. Aravosis despises the Obama administration with a deep abiding passion. He's the guy who started the false rumor that HCR was going to be amended to weaken provisions about pre-existing conditions, then refused to retract those rumors once he was proven factually wrong. He does a ton of harm to all of us (not partisan -- US) with his grudge-blogging.

Economically Michigan may not be doing worse than it was last year (we're losing fewer jobs than last year), but there are many of us still unemployed who have fallen out of the stats now that we are no longer receiving unemployment benefits. *poof* If you can't see us, I guess we're not a problem.

Carol Lynn

Pop and Ice

I work for a state Department of Transportation.  The reality for us is that the stimulus bill helped us fill a gap in our budget last year, but it was a temporary plug in the wall, with cracks showing everywhere.  The projects that were put on the street were quick fix type projects.  They needed to be done, but I don't believe they really did much to stimulate our economy...the same contractors did the work that always do, very few new people were hired.  In the midst of this, our state government is taking most of our vacant positions away.  It doesn't matter what the position was there to do...it's gone. 

I, too, want change.  But I want change that doesn't set us up for failure down the road.  And I just can't buy into the idea that this check isn't going to come due someday.  I also have real issues with all of the things that politicians slide into bills that inflate the cost of government, and all the favors I see being done for politicians and their cohorts.  I don't know exactly what the answer is, but I truly don't see shining examples of fiscal responsibility in my state or in the national government.

I will say that I know that my family is lucky...my husband (and my family) sacrificed a year of our lives so that he could serve over seas with the military.  This allowed us to stay afloat, and we are still doing okay.  My salary was cut, but I still have a job and benefits.  I know we are blessed...but I worry about my children's future.

I don't know what it will take to sell me on the stimulus, but I know I haven't seen it yet.

mamalang

That's awesome! Love it.

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Given the length of my comment, I basically unloaded a great deal. Usually I'm the one encouraging others, but felt it was time to tell it like it is about what's going on.

I agree, all that's happening can be too much sometimes, and it helps to establish boundries to keep sane. I learned a long time ago, you can't save everyone.

Judy Anne Cavey-Educator/Writer-Work Experience Edublog creator: http://workforcedevelopment.edublogs.org/

<!-- /* Style Definitions */ p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal {mso-style-parent:""; margin:0in; margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:12.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";} p {mso-margin-top-alt:auto; margin-right:0in; mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto; margin-left:0in; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:12.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";} @page ( http://twitter.com/page ) Section1 {size:8.5in 11.0in; margin:1.0in 1.25in 1.0in 1.25in; mso-header-margin:.5in; mso-footer-margin:.5in; mso-paper-source:0;} div.Section1 {page:Section1;} --> I won't lie. I don't follow politics too closely unless it deals with early childhood or the environment but I do notice that here in northern Michigan unemployment, poverty and families being homeless...it is something I'm seeing more and more. If the Recovery Act is indeed working I wonder when it will hit the rural areas.

I don't like plans or an idea that bandages help solve a problem or taking a medicine to help a symptom is the cure. I like to have a bigger picture perspective and though I'm biased when it comes to early childhood based on my background I think that nationally we have to think long term investment of our dollars and of course my belief is that it early childhood investment is one place we all should be looking. I know this is a big push for the Obama administration on a federal level but I think States need to also think about this and not just rely on federal dollars. A great report on this would be a recent study from the Wilder Research report ( http://greatstartforkids.com/research/wilder-resea... ).

Thanks Erin for keeping us up to date and letting us have a voice. I look forward to reading more and doing a better job at participating in these discussions. It’s too bad you were the only woman at the table though!

Sommer Poquette