WTF Has Obama Done? - Issue No. 006 - Economy

I almost have one week down.  Only 39 more weeks to go, LOL.  I may have to cut these to five a week, they're so time consuming.

On today's issue I will focus on the number one issue facing our country - the Economy.  

If you've been watching the news like I have all day; You would have noticed that another week of private sector jobs were added to the 22 straight weeks of employment growth.  While Republicans continue to berate the President and deny seeing any type of improvement, the economy is slowly improving.  Unemployment is now at 8.3% which was the case in February 2009, a month after the president took office.

But how was this possible?  Well, we can thank a President who's been resilient, despite no help from Republicans in Congress.  Today we'll look at one broad policy and two targeted actions (WTF-15, WTF-16) in regard to the Economy.

WTF-14

The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA): a $789 billion economic stimulus plan.

(1) To preserve and create jobs and promote economic
recovery.
(2) To assist those most impacted by the recession.
(3) To provide investments needed to increase economic
efficiency by spurring technological advances in science and
health.
(4) To invest in transportation, environmental protection,
and other infrastructure that will provide long-term economic
benefits.
(5) To stabilize State and local government budgets, in
order to minimize and avoid reductions in essential services
and counterproductive state and local tax increases. [Reference]

WTF-15

Raised the small business investment limit to $250,000 through the end of 2009.

Stimulus raised the expensing limit - During the campaign, Barack Obama promised to extend a tax break for small businesses to give them a boost during the recession. The tax change raised the expensing limit — the amount that small companies can claim as their business expenses for investments.

A sharp-eyed reader brought to our attention a tiny provision in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, the economic stimulus package, that did exactly that. Section 1202 of the stimulus legislation raised the limit to $250,000. A May 2009 memo from the Internal Revenue Service confirms the change.[Reference]
 

WTF-16

U.S. Economy: Manufacturing grew by most since 2004.

In early 2011, The Institute for Supply Management’s factory index rose to 60.8, exceeding the most optimistic forecast in a Bloomberg News survey of economists and the highest level since May 2004, figures from the Tempe, Arizona-based group showed today. Readings greater than 50 signal growth. 

Stocks rose, extending a global rally, as factory reports from China to Europe bolstered the outlook for American companies like Caterpillar Inc. The ISM’s employment gauge climbed to the highest level since 1973, indicating manufacturers may be more willing to hire as sales pick up. 

“Businesses have figured out the economic recovery has legs so they’re growing more confident about expanding production and new orders and increasing hiring,” said John Silvia, chief economist at Wells Fargo Securities LLC in Charlotte, North Carolina. “Manufacturing is making a very decent contribution to growth.”[Reference]

As promised, I will come back to the Economy in another issue.  Please make sure to read Issue No. 007 tomorrow as I continue with WTF-17
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