Obama Could Send More Aid to State (Nevada)
Jason Hidalgo
Reno Gazette-Journal
A struggling Northern Nevada could benefit from President-elect Barack Obama’s proposed economic recovery plan, which would create jobs and provide federal aid, according to proponents who urged legislators Thursday to support it.
Former Democratic congressional candidate Jill Derby headlined a local panel of supporters as part of a simultaneous 40-city event organized nationwide by advocacy group Americans United for Change to promote the plan. Reno and Las Vegas were chosen to take part in the event because of Nevada’s designation as a battleground state in the past two presidential elections.
Participants in the Reno event specifically called on U.S. Rep. Dean Heller, R-Carson City, to support the plan. Heller was not immediately available for comment, according to a representative reached by phone. Heller, however, strongly has opposed bailouts for financial institutions and the auto industry, but indicated in a statement released earlier this month that he prefers economic reforms that generate jobs.
Obama’s plan, estimated to cost between $600 billion to $1 trillion, primarily relies on significant investments in U.S. national infrastructure, transportation, telecommunications and energy efficiency. But supporters said Northern Nevada also could directly benefit from the plan through increased federal aid. The money could be used to fund law enforcement, education, health care for children and low-income families and other services, proponents said.
“This economic crisis is the most pressing issue facing the country,” Derby said. “And anybody who’s been paying attention knows that Nevada has been one of the hardest hit areas during this economic downturn. Part of the plan is to provide aid to state and local governments, and Nevada needs it. The state can’t withstand further cuts (to its programs).”
The economic recovery plan also should produce more tangible results for ordinary Americans than the recent bailouts given to financial institutions, said Robert Townsend, a former Democratic candidate for Assembly District 25 and a supporter of the plan. By investing in highways, construction and telecommunications across the country, for example, the plan will directly benefit people by creating at least 2.5 million jobs.
“(The economy) is an awfully big boat to turn around … and we have to drive it from the bottom up to get it moving,” Townsend said. “That means investing in projects that will create jobs and wages for actual human beings. I mean, look at the bailout money given to AIG. We don’t even know what they did with it.”
Some analysts have said the Obama recovery plan is not a silver bullet, citing the Great Depression-era plans by President Franklin D. Roosevelt as an example.
“Government spending alleviated pain of (the) patient, but did not cure the patient,” Amity Shlaes, senior fellow on the Council of Foreign Relations and author of the Forgotten Man, told Foxnews.com recently.
“It’s a mistake to confuse infrastructure spending with the cure; the private sector is the engine of true recovery,” she said, adding that building the economy through the public sector can lead to a “less good and less enduring recovery.”
Supporters of the plan, however, said they hope to build consensus among members of the Senate and the House early enough so legislation will be in place and ready to be signed by the time Obama assumes office. But doing so will require cooperation from both sides of the aisle, said Mike Galeoto, a consultant who put together the local event.
“This is really all about getting Democrats and Republicans to come together and work on a solution instead of having all this partisan bickering,” Galeoto said.
http://www.rgj.com/article/20081219/NEWS04/812190486/1321/NEWS
Tags: Nevada
