Recovery

My dear friend, Dianna Degette, "D" as I affectionately call her, sent me an email today. Not only is she my dear friend, but my also my representative in the House of Representatives. I like her much better than my senators because she emails me once and awhile to let me know how she is doing and (more importantly?) what she is doing .

Today's email was more about Mr. Obama's address to Congress a few days ago. She is "inspired by his wisdom and confidence that he has for the future of our nation". I did not watch the address. She probably knows that and just wanted to fill me in.

D also invited me to check out recovery.gov so that I am able to monitor where the money is going to be spent for the The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. Isn't that sweet of her? She knew I was a little skeptical as to how that money would be spent, and looking out for me, she passed along a web address for me. This is why she is my dear friend; she is always looking out for my interests.

Honestly, one of the things I like about what Mr. Obama says is that he is going to add some transparency and accountability to the executive branch of the government. I really like the idea behind http://www.recovery.gov . I think it is a great idea, and I will probably look at it a lot. It is a good step towards his goal. It is a tiny step, and I have doubts as to just how much Mr. Obama will be able to restore confidence in the integrity of any politian, but at least he is taking steps toward that end. Yes, I did not vote for Mr. Obama and do not agree with lots of what he stands for, but I do like the idea behind the website. I have not had time to look through it, so at this point, it is just the idea I am excited about. I do not know how usful the content will be, but I am optimistic.

I am less optimistic about our ability to pay off this huge amount of money we are spending, but what the heck do I care? There is a new website out there. I do not know how much of the bill goes for creating and upkeep of the site. I figure that is in "other". I hope it is not all of other. 8 billion is a lot for a website.

In case you care (and don't want to look yourself) here is a breakdown:

Category	Amount ($ Billions)
*Tax Relief	$288
*State and Local Fiscal Relief	$144
Infrastructure and science	$111
Protecting the Vulnerable	$81
Health Care	$59
Education and Training	$53
Energy	$43
Other	$8

* Tax Relief - includes $15 B for Infrastructure and Science, $61 B for Protecting the Vulnerable, $25 B for Education and Training and $22 B for Energy, so total funds are $126 B for Infrastructure and Science, $142 B for Protecting the Vulnerable, $78 B for Education and Training, and $65 B for Energy.

*State and Local Fiscal Relief - Prevents state and local cuts to health and education programs and state and local tax increases.

By the way, D also invited me to add her as a friend on Facebook. Isn't that cool?

And... Colorado also has a recovery page: http://www.colorado.gov/recovery/