Posted on 10/31/2009 7:50:15 AM PDT by crazyhorse691
After noticing similarities between the brains of meth users and stroke victims, Portland researchers Marilyn Huckans and Jennifer Loftis theorized they could devise a more effective treatment for addicts.
All they needed was a good chunk of money to prove it. And they got it -- nearly $1 million -- courtesy of the federal stimulus act, which in its first eight months has showered $1.8 billion on Oregon, according to reports released Friday.
"This is our big opportunity," said Huckans, who works with Loftis at Oregon Health & Science University. The money will be used to hire support staff and buy lab mice and equipment for two years of intense study. "We are finally able to get going."
The two brain scientists represent just a tiny slice of the hundreds of federal contracts, loans and grants that have gone to Oregon companies and projects as part of the massive federal effort to wrench the nation out of its deep economic dive.
Oregon's share of the money is buying safer passage for salmon on the Columbia River, funding a Beaverton program that keeps children out of prostitution and helping start a new business in Sandy that makes moulds for testing concrete. It's repaving hundreds of miles of roads, clearing brush from fire-prone forests and dredging shipping lanes in the state's harbors.
Federal officials said the spending has "created or saved" the equivalent of 640,239 full-time jobs nationwide. Of those, 9,653 belong to Oregonians, according to Friday's report.
The biggest chunk of jobs saved by the spending, both nationally and in Oregon, is for teachers.
"We think it's great news for Oregon's economy," said Becca Uhberlau, spokeswoman for the Oregon Education Association, the statewide teachers union. Dollars spent on teachers not only educate the state's future workforce, but also stimulate spending on local businesses.
The money comes from the American Reinvestment and Recovery Act, a $787 billion federal spending bill pushed by President Obama and approved by Congress in February. About two thirds of the money has yet to be spent.
White House officials said the first jolt of money into the economy gave it a timely lift.
"We're no longer talking about whether we're going to slide into a depression," Vice President Joe Biden said in a morning news conference. "We're arguing and talking about the shape of the recovery."
The job numbers reported Friday are only a "subset" of what the stimulus has accomplished, Biden's chief economist Jared Bernstein said in a telephone briefing with reporters around the country. Counting indirect jobs, such as the waitress who serves a construction crew, the number of new or saved jobs rises to about 1 million, he said.
The numbers also didn't include other parts of the stimulus package, such as tax cuts, higher unemployment checks and $250 bonuses to Social Security recipients. "Those create jobs, too," Bernstein said.
Job figures were gathered from state officials, private contractors and others who reported receiving stimulus funds. They were asked to list how many people were working who wouldn't have jobs without the stimulus.
Among those reporting was Todd Construction, a Tigard firm that bids on big commercial contracts. It won a $1.9 million stimulus-funded project to replace screens in the fish passage section of Bonneville Dam. The new screens are supposed to make it easier for young salmon to get past the big hydropower dam as they migrate to the Pacific Ocean.
Company vice president Ken Dixon said he added six jobs to the overall stimulus calculation -- two carpenters who had been laid off were hired back; two who were in danger of being laid off were kept on; and two supervisors who had run out of jobs were put on the Bonneville project.
The project also helps illustrate one of the problems with the stimulus: Few people know much about it. Dixon said it was a contract bid like any other contract bid, and its status as part of Obama's stimulus program wasn't a factor.
"We didn't know or particularly care at the time, to be honest," Dixon said. "We just needed the work. It came at a good time."
The jobs and spending update -- the first of what will be regular quarterly reports on the stimulus -- came one day after news that the nation's gross domestic product had grown 3.5 percent, possibly heralding the end of what is being called the Great Recession. White House officials were quick to claim credit.
"This was an aggressive step to get money back into the economy," said Dan Pfeiffer, White House deputy communications director. He said the billions in spending "had a big role" in getting the economy back on track.
Others were a bit more skeptical about the long-term impact of the stimulus. Tim Duy, a University of Oregon economist, said there's no question that spending lots of federal money will put some people to work. The problem, he said, is the unemployment numbers are so high that they continue to threaten hopes for a solid recovery.
"The recession is like a pothole," he said, and the stimulus "threw some gravel in the bottom of the pothole. Is this good? Sure. But you're still dropping into a pothole."
-- Harry Esteve
How many jobs does a $1 million brain study produce, and for how long? Do they provide healthcare benefits?
Even better... 10,000 jobs added, but how many people have lost their jobs in Oregon in the same time?
According to recovery.org the zip code 97239, where that college is located, received/will receive 118 Grants totaling
$41,194,026 and created/saved 38.74 jobs
That’s $1,063,346.05 per job
(if that’s per year - I’m there!)
I don't think I would take Ken Dixons word on whether are not the sun was shining.
I was doing the math and here’s what I got.
The stimulus is throwing 1/3 of the gravel in the pothole.
Where is the other 2/3’s going?
"The recession is like a pothole," he said, and the stimulus "threw some gravel in the bottom of the pothole. Is this good? Sure. But you're still dropping into a pothole."
No, most of the Obama "stimulus" is more like ignoring the pothole and simply giving people money to buy a replacement Chinese tire at WalMart.
To have real economic benefit, you can't simply toss gravel into a pothole, it'll wash back out almost immediately.
Even cold patch doesn't last very long.
For any real, long term benefit, you have to actually repave the road....
And buy some tires Made In America... not that Chicom crap.
This article is written like the author has his nose up Ubama’s rear end.
That activity has got to be driving the Environwackos crazy!
So these are long term career jobs, right?
Right! These short term handouts are just vote getting by the corrupt RAT party. And in the end these poor workers, when the money runs out, will wail, out of work again. Just in time for the depression.
Yeah, all these stimulus jobs are just short term, vote getting jobs - then the reality sinks in ...
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