Besides being interesting in it's own right, this article shows the problem with the kind of "stimulus" the Republicans want. They oppose direct help to workers. The only kind of "stimulus" they support are tax cuts, and bailouts of big business. But while business owners are, of course, for tax cuts and credits for themselves, they admit they won't hire if they can't sell their products. And they can't sell their products to people who can't afford them because they are out of work, or make to little to afford to buy.
This Republican ideology was one of the factors that led to this lousy recession/depression in the first place. The only reason the economy didn't crash long ago was because of easy credit, and the housing price bubble. The income of workers has been going down, allowing for inflation, for years. The only reason middle-class family incomes have kept pace with inflation is that more women are working. It takes two incomes to be as well off as one income used to provide.
Another factor was deregulation of the financial industry, another thing the Republicans favor.
So now that their ideology has crashed our economy, the only remedies they want is - more of the same! In addition to the true believers, there is the fact that they are trying to keep the Democrats from being effective, hoping people will blame the Democrats for not solving the problem, and lead to the Republicans regaining power. Since most people are unaware of what's going on, the Republican strategy might very well work.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/mcclatchy/20100204/pl_mcclatchy/3418814;_ylt=Ap8msgGnOTTDcbInyRZvlHWs0NUE;_ylu=X3oDMTFlZThjY2xmBHBvcwM4NgRzZWMDYWNjb3JkaW9uX3BvbGl0aWNzBHNsawNkZXNwaXRlbWlsbGk-
By Renee Schoof, McClatchy Newspapers Renee Schoof, Mcclatchy Newspapers – Thu Feb 4, 5:53 pm ET
WASHINGTON — Despite the Obama administration's efforts to create jobs making wind turbines in America, some companies say that sluggish demand for wind energy is holding them back.
The U.S. installed more wind power last year — 9,900 megawatts, or enough to power 2.4 million homes — than in any other year.
The growth in wind farm installations in the U.S. was a product of federal stimulus spending. Nonetheless, wind equipment manufacturers cut as many as 2,000 jobs last year. According to the American Wind Energy Association , a trade group, the drop in U.S. jobs is due, in part, to the lack of a long-term national policy that would require a certain percentage of American electricity to come from renewable sources.
About half the wind turbines installed in the U.S. were made overseas.
A check with some of the companies that want to get into the wind manufacturing business found that even some that qualified for clean-energy manufacturing tax credits aren't able to create jobs quickly because they don't see enough demand for wind energy.
Basset Mechanical of Kaukauna, Wis. , qualified for a $868,500 tax credit to manufacture wind turbine towers and foundation parts. Chris Linn , the vice president for marketing and business development, said the company won't purchase the new equipment needed to receive the tax credit until it has enough sales volume to justify it.
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Hexcel Corp. , which makes material for wind turbine blades for the Danish maker Vestas, used $3 million in tax credits for work on a plant in Windsor, Colo. The facility is open, but it's operating at relatively low capacity because of the sparse demand, Hexcel spokesman Michael Bacal said.
Hexcel qualified for $8.1 million in tax credits, but it's unlikely that it will complete more of its facility or take the rest of the credits this year. It might use them in 2011 or 2012, however, depending on demand, Bacal said. When fully operational, the plant will hire about 80 to 90 people.
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