Work is underway in Washington to rev up the economy. I recently heard someone ask, if lawmakers just gave all the stimulus and bailout money to taxpayers, just how much would the check be? I pulled out the calculator and a friend to double-check the numbers.
If you take the $700 billion in the
bank bailout and then add the stimulus the House of Representatives
approved the total is $1.519 trillion dollars! If you divide
the $1.519 trillion dollars by the number of taxpayers, about 156.3
million who filed last year; it equals a bailout check of $9,
718.49 per each taxpayer.
But government leaders want to do
more than pass out money. Goals for the economic stimulus
plan include restoring the nation’s economic competitiveness,
creating jobs and developing green technologies.
Those green technologies are already creating jobs
for some businesses.
Cardinal
Fastener is an Ohio company expecting to get a boost from the
proposed multibillion-dollar economic recovery plan. The
small manufacturer makes hot forged, large-diameter, high-strength
fasteners for construction, heavy machinery, bridges, oil
exploration and energy generation. President Obama has made modernizing the nation's vast
power network a key piece of his $819 billion economic stimulus
plan, approved by the House of Representatives.
Cardinal’s products are also in demand in the alternative energy industry. The Ohio firm began building bolts and other wind turbine parts just two years ago and is on the way to make half its earnings that way. Founder John Grabner expects green energy to account for 90% of growth in the future.
Another Ohio firm is poised to expand with the
stimulus plan. The Cleveland Group
of Companies as the name implies, is a diverse small business
with divisions including construction, consulting, construction
supply and real estate services. The firm plans to compete
for a wide variety of public and private projects in
2009. Founder Eddy Zai, believes his company is ready
for the new economic climate; “Americans have done
business a certain way for the last 20 years, and it’s time to
figure out how to do business for the next 20 years, and adapt to
the new world economy.”
What form of economic stimulus do you prefer? How big would your bailout be? Let me know what you think!
