Biden's big Speech on the Stimulus today

[Thrill]

McClatchy Newspapers reports that Vice President Joe Biden will claim that the $787 billion stimulus plan "is doing more, faster, more efficiently and more effectively than we had hoped."

In a speech planned to mark the 200-day mark since the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act took effect, Biden will say that $62.5 billion in tax cuts have been delivered, $1.9 billion in contracts have been awarded to small businesses, and more than 10,000 transportation projects have been approved.

In many areas, he'll say that work has exceeded goals:

-Work has started on 2,200 highway projects, for example, 700 more than expected at this stage.

-Work's also started on 192 airport projects, 94 more than scheduled.

-Health care centers in all 50 states are providing expanded health care to 500,000 patients, 200,000 more than forecast.

Biden also will say that several planned projects are on schedule.

Work is under way to build 200 new waste and water systems in rural America, which he said will provide clean drinking water to 4.5 million residents. Work also has started or been accelerated at 20 contaminated Superfund sites, Biden said.

He'll boast that some projects are coming in under budget.

He'll say that construction contracts at the Defense Department so far are 12 percent under budget, on average. Also, he'll say the General Services Administration reports that most other bids are coming in at 8 percent to 10 percent below estimates.

"Recovery Act dollars are going farther and working harder than we anticipated," Biden will say at the Brookings Institution, a center-left policy organization in Washington, according to excerpts of his speech released by his office.

Biden also will claim success at creating jobs and heading off a depression, two more subjective and difficult-to-prove claims.

On jobs, he'll say the administration's already met its goal of saving or creating 135,000 school jobs and 5,000 law enforcement jobs. It's difficult, however, to say how many jobs would have been eliminated and were saved only because of the stimulus money.

The White House Council of Economic Advisers is scheduled to release its estimate of jobs created or saved on Sept. 10.

Biden also will claim that the stimulus spending so far has warded off a much worse crisis.

"There is a growing consensus that the Recovery Act succeeded in avoiding a depression and is effectively working to help catalyze our recovery," Biden will say.

"Two hundred days in, we know there is much more to be done. But we also know that thanks to the Recovery Act, where we are today is a much better place than where we might have been."

http://thepage.time.com/biden-at-brookings/

[Dawgs]

1. Of course it's working. It's a DEMOCRATIC plan. They almost always work.

:)

[Jennicut]

2. The MSM is finally starting to give some credit to the stimulus.

It must be killing them.