Stimulus benefits hardly a waste

Columnist Mona Charen (Oct. 5) couldn’t be more wrong about President Obama’s efforts to revive our nation from the disastrous economic failures of the Bush administration.

The stimulus bill, which she labels as “wasteful” spending, is seen by most economists as saving thousands of jobs and steering us on the path to recovery. And while she derides the extension of unemployment benefits, “these benefits and tax cuts have put cash into Americans’ pockets that they have largely spent, supporting sales and unemployment,” according to Mark Zandi, chief economist for Moody’s Analytics. “And without help from the federal government, state and local governments would have slashed payrolls and raised taxes at just the wrong time,” he adds.

In Idaho, stimulus money prevented massive cuts in the education budget in 2009. On the local level, a deteriorating bridge on Highway 2 near Dover is being replaced. Gov. Otter and Republicans first took credit for the project but then backed off when they discovered it was being funded by stimulus money.

The only thing Charen got right is that Nancy Pelosi is assured of winning re-election in her district this November.

James W. Ramsey

Kootenai, Idaho