On the recordMarch 3, 2010
yesterday, one of my colleagues criticized me for trying to redirect unspent stimulus funding to pay for tax relief for small businesses by citing all the jobs the stimulus bill supposedly created. I, as many people do, have my doubts about some of these estimates, but I can guarantee this much: none of these jobs have been created or saved by the unspent funds. There is a lot of money in the stimulus bill that has yet to be spent, according to recovery.org, which is the administration's Web site. About 38 percent of the stimulus money approved last year out of that $1 trillion amount--round numbers--has been spent. So there is a lot of unspent and unobligated money. Frankly, many of us, at the time it passed last year, suggested it would be a much wiser use of those funds if we directed those toward small businesses. Small businesses are the creators of jobs in our economy. They create two-thirds of the jobs. They are the economic engine that drives the economy in this country. Ironically, less than 1 percent of that $1 trillion that was approved last year in stimulus funding was directed at incentives for small businesses to create jobs.
