![Stimulus Report Card]()
by Fersboo
Nine months ago, Congress passed and President Obama signed an economic stimulus package totalling $1.8 trillion. Hastily designed and implemented, the legislation was highly criticized because it was virtually impossible for anyone to have actually read the bill (much less understand it) prior to implementation. The President himself told us that it was imperative we pass these bills in order to restore economic stability. Conservatives, especially fiscal conservatives, howled, claiming the bill was inappropriately designed, that the money being spent could not possibly generate economic growth because it would take too long to move through the system, with the added concern of driving up an already astronomical deficit. The Administration insisted that the spending was necessary to keep unemployment from exceeding 10%. We were being deceived, and we knew it.
It generally takes about six months for changes in fiscal or monetary policy to be felt throughout the broader economy, so after nine months we should be seeing some signs of economic improvement. That is, the weekly economic statistics [...]
by Art Smith
Today will be the third (and final) week sitting in for Tim Albrecht at The Bean Walker Live on Des Moines Local Live/Mac's World Live. I have a number of interesting topics to share today, including the news about the possible Democratic opponent to Chuck Grassley, the Iowa Attorney General's plans for staff cuts, oddities, and of course we'll talk about Health Care Reform.
I'm hoping to have a local heart surgeon join us to discuss some of the costs embedded in the current system, and talk about ways we can address those costs.
by Art Smith
This week, once again, I will be hosting the internet rafio show The Bean Walker Live at Des Moines Local Live! The show airs Tuesday from 3:00 PM to 5:00 PM. During the first hour we will be talking about the Iowa Gubernatorial Candidate Forum this past weekend, the situation with the Iowa state budget, and Friday's CBO report on the benefits of Tort Reform. During the second hour, we will have Pastors Quintin Stieff and Dan Wentworth from Valley Church in West Des Moines to talk about a new program at Valley Church called "Love You Des Moines!".
Join us!
by Art Smith
Update! Link to podcast of today's show!
Last Tuesday (September 29), I hosted the second half of Tim Albrecht's program "The Bean Walker Live!" on Des Moines Local Live, and today begins 3 weeks of hosting the program in full while Tim concentrates on getting married!
On today's show, during the first hour I will have Shane Vander Hart from Serve Our Youth Network to share about the volunteer opportunities they have and how they cooperate with local government to impact the lives of high-risk kids in the Des Moines Metro area.
During the second hour [...]
