Word: stimulus
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...everything from philanthropy to stripping to the solvency of Nevada. Because Nevada has no income tax and relies almost entirely on taxing casino owners, the state is nearly bust. Governor Jim Gibbons, a Republican, whom only 11% of voters say they would re-elect, tried to turn down federal stimulus money, was accused of cheating on his wife and lost control of the legislature, having his vetoes overridden more times than any other Nevada governor. Budget cuts have closed the only hospital cancer wing for uninsured patients. "We're on the bottom of every bad list," says Steven Horsford, majority...
...France and Germany's Q2 economic growth was also fueled by increased business investment financed in large part by governmental stimulus plans introduced late last year: $37 billion for France and $67 billion for Germany. But the economic engines revved up by those funds could still stall anew if organic activity doesn't pick up the slack. And that's not guaranteed to happen. Consumer spending also contributed to growth in France and Germany, thanks to falling prices. Those prices, though, will soon stabilize and start rising, which may act as a brake on growth in the near future...
...billionaire George Soros announced a $35 million donation to the state of New York for a "Back to School" program that - coupled with $140 million of federal stimulus funds - would give each child on public assistance and food stamps $200 to start the school year. More than 850,000 families woke up the next day to find an extra $200 automatically added to their public-assistance debit account. Not a huge windfall, but enough for impoverished students to buy pencils, notebooks, protractors, a backpack and maybe some new school clothes. (Read an interview with George Soros...
Soros was aiming his donation at a part of President Barack Obama's stimulus package that hasn't garnered much attention until now: a 4-to-1 federal matching program designed to help states assist poor families. This $5 billion pot of cash was set aside as an emergency fund to supplement the 12-year-old Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) program, i.e., the one that Bill Clinton boasted in 1996 would end "welfare as we know...
TANF typically provides cash assistance to families with no jobs. But as the recession has worsened, several states have seen a rise in the number of people needing welfare and food stamps. The stimulus fund allows states to do several things with their share of the $5 billion pool as long as they - or private groups like Soros' - pony up 20% of the overall cost; the feds cover the remainder. States can 1) provide more cash payments to families, 2) subsidize additional jobs or 3) set up onetime, nonrepeating benefit programs. New York's Back to School initiative, which used...