"Judging Stimulus by Job Data Reveals Success"

Voabulary !!!

ZIP code scandal- the fact that a government Web site mistakenly reported money being spent in nonexistenet ZIP codes

tax revenue-government income due to taxation

tax credit- generally much more valuable than a deduction. It reduces the actual amount of tax that must be paid. A deduction, on the other hand, only reduces the taxable income. Therefore, the tax deduction is subject to the variation in the progressive tax rate. It does not depend on the tax rate and so it is of equal value to a taxpayer regardless of his income level.

http://www.businesstaxrecovery.com/articleupdates/definition-tax-credit
wordnetweb.princeton.edu/perl/webwn

A little over a year ago, Congress passed a stimulus bill that started to spend money within few weeks, it helped the economy rapidly, and it had a huge impact on jobs employing almost two million people. Economic research firms such as IHS Global Insight or Macroeconomics Advisors estimate the stimulus bill has added 1.6-1.8 million jobs. This bill does have a lot of criticism: complaints that the money could have been spent more rapidly, the ZIP code scandal, still having an unemployment rate near 10%, and American families still struggling. Liberals don't like the bill because they feel it should have been biggerto fully address all issues and Republicans do'nt like it because it is a Democratic program. The bill has been a little slow getting to the visable parts of the program (spending roads/highways, and buildings) while distributing aid to states, unemployment benefits (my cousin receives these benefits) and tax provisions have been much more successful which are not obvious to the public eye. Some are against the stimulus bill saying that the economy would be no worse without it. Two arguments in favor of the stimulus bill are that the stimulus was used quite frequently and considering the history of financial criseswe are in shape. In early months of 2009, state and government spending decreased along with tax revenue. In spring, tax revenue continued to decline but spending increased! The stimulus kept teachers, healthcare workers, police officers, and firefighters employed. The damage of the recession was intended to be much worse than it is. Republicans, Ben Bernanke and Henry Paulson and others had predicted in 2008, that the recession would evolve into a depression. Also our jobless rate is expected to decline consistently by the end of this year. According to Global Insight's economist, Nariman Behravesh the stimulus package deserves a lot of credit. The Senate is now debating about a smaller stimulus bill known as the "job bill" but this is potentially not a good idea since they may not end up with state aid. At this point the economic impact of the Senate bill is looking very small, and this would cause more tension among the American people. The Obama Administartion are discussing a follow-up stimulus bill which would start with: aid (of course), an addition on extended unemployment benefits, which also tend to be spent, and tax credits carefully drafted to get buisnesses to hire and households to spend money. I predict that our economy will improve, but I also think that before making big decisions they should consider the lifestyles of those whom are still struggling and are not among the 2 million who have got jobs. There are still people living very scarcely who were not before. I believe if we go fourth with the follow-up stimulus bill that it will restore confidence and allow our economy to run more smoothly.

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/02/17/business/economy/17leonhardt.html