By Joshua Resnek
The Stimulus Bill is going to take the rough edge off the recession.
It is not going to end the recession, which is more likely than not going to dog us for quite some time to come.
However, the savage job layoffs sweeping the nation and affecting cities like Revere will be partially mitigated by the stimulus package.
If jobs aren’t made from this stimulus package or because of it, then at least some jobs will be saved.
Revere, for example, may receive millions as a result of the stimulus – and even if it isn’t many millions, it would be enough to make a big difference in stemming the downward cycle.
The mayor may not have to lay off so many public employees, and public works projects may account for some new jobs, as well.
The state is expecting to receive something like $11 billion. Again, this will take the bad results of the recession up a notch and improve the Massachusetts economy.
It will also raise consumer confidence and confidence in general, which is sorely lacking.
It will even dent the 24/7 negative news cycle whose excessive mongering of the recession has cause nearly all Americans to believe that we’re heading toward the end.
I’m not an economist, obviously, but you and I don’t need to be an economist to understand what all the major economic voices are saying – and they all tend to agree – that the government needed to put this stimulus money into play in order to keep the recession and job loss from expanding, in order to create some jobs and maybe millions of them with public works projects, etc.
The stimulus bill has the power to check the recession, to take some of the wind out of those who believe we are facing a meltdown. It will help to calm working-class Americans, the middle class and the rich.
There are tax cuts, education aids, and a grocery list of monies to stem foreclosures.
In all, the stimulus plan isn’t panacea.
It can only do so much.
Without it, we stared into the abyss.
With it, we step back from the abyss.
Far better to be a few steps back from it than falling into it.