An Eye on the Recovery Stimulus Plan

Stimulus: Tarrant County to get $4 million for 700 jobs for low-income youths

Tuesday, March 24, 2009

While the nation is suffering, economically, AIG executives have come to symbolize greed in tuxedoes, the very reason why we must have transparency and vigilance in the disbursement and management of these stimulus funds.

Although I know very little about Capitalist economics, I do know that President Barack Obama’s Stimulus Plan is designed to float all the boats on the pond, not just float the yachts out in the open seas. But wherever there is money, there is greed.

For every Stimulus dollar that comes into Texas, we are watchful, vigilant, and vocal. That people are interested and talking is a good thing. But there has been one thorn in my flesh. Will the Stimulus funds be distributed in such a way that it perpetuates age-old financial disparities, such as discrimination in employment? Will blacks be the last hired and the first fired? Or, will be hired, at all, or at a comparable pace?

I am focused on an interesting watch over $4 million coming to Fort Worth for summer youth employment, targeting “low-income” youth.

Question: How many of our poorest of the poor will land a real and meaningful job? The agency of distribution is the Texas Workforce Solution.

What makes this situation interesting is the possibility of creating a “shell population” of so-called low-income. The Stimulus money could wound up going out into the suburbs of a newly created category “low income” population. For example, those earning less than $1 million could become the new low income in Texas, just to siphon off the poorest of the poor rightful share. Although this is an exaggerated hypothesis, it is a daily scenario.

Texas is well noted for its buddy-buddy system of employment. The truly low-income people are excluded out of the loop of communications. Therefore, they know not how to access these grants and opportunities.

The American Recovery Act is wisely designed, but money brings out the “ugly”. We, therefore, need to keep our heads about us, while others are going insane and blaming it on the President. Watch the bouncing ball, not the dribbler named Magic. Each dollar is going somewhere, and not into some Ponzi hole in space where money simply disappear. Madoff created a $50 billion void that has yet to be filled..

I’m watching this $4 million, because I know whose paws are the stickiest.