How much stimulus money....

Upon waking this morning, I began to try to summarize in my mind the amount of Federal "stimulus" and "recovery" monies that this county has benefited from.  Not an easy task!  Not so co-incidentally, the Bellingham Herald today  featured an article about energy efficiency stimulus funds currently being administered by the Opportunity Council and Sustainable Connections.  (BTW, some current "stimulus funded" job opportunities - albeit some of them limited to those who can lift 70 lbs. and/or run power tools - are listed here.)

As I started to run down the list of federal 'recovery'  and 'stimulus' programs in my mind, I realized that in ten short months, Barack Obama's administration has most probably eclipsed in complexity, real spending, and nominal spending all of FDR's administration efforts during the Depression!  A partial list:

• TARP (started in Bush Administration)
• ARRA (American Reinvestment and Recovery Act)
• Auto Bailouts
• Bank Bailouts
• FED repurchasing of $1.2 Trillion Mortgages
• FED purchase of Treasuries
• FED extended  low interest rate policy
• First Time Homebuyer Tax Credit
• CARS program
• .... 

There is a an easier way to track the monies  provided by the 'recovery act' : http://www.recovery.gov.  Washington State has been awarded nearly $7 billion in recovery monies, although some more than $2 billion has been paid out. We are considered the #2 recipient of jobs created by federal stimulus monies to date. To track the monies in Washington state and Whatcom County, pursue the "Where is the Money Going?" link  and start clicking on the dots.  I attempted to go through a text list of Washington State monies and pull out those listed for Bellingham. However, the list is incomplete for various reasons.