The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act

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The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act was signed into law by President Obama on February 21, 2009. The law had three major goals which were all aimed at stimulating a sluggish US economy. The first goal was to create new jobs and save existing ones by tax credits for hiring new employees. The second goal was to spur economic activity and investment in long term growth by increasing the amount of business asset that could be acquired by companies while allowing for immediate deductions for the cost of the assets as well as numerous tax credits for individuals and businesses. The third goal was to foster unprecedented levels of accountability and transparency in government spending by requiring recipients of recovery act funds to post acknowledgements on the Recovery.gov website.

The total cost of the Recovery act to US taxpayers was $787 billion dollars. The bill itself was created with the belief that increases in spending on the federal level would create and save jobs during recessions. More specifically, the purpose of the bill was to create jobs, drop the unemployment rate, stimulate the economy, have better quality of schools, and have better quality and efficiency of everyday life. The allocations of funds designated by the law are as follows: $81 Billion for protecting the vulnerable, $43 billion for energy, $59 billion for healthcare, $144 billion for state budget relief, $8 billion for other needs, $111 Billion for infrastructure and science, $53 Billion in education and jobs training, and the largest portion $288 Billion in the form of tax relief through the use of tax credits and increase business deductions.

The largest component of the bill was the $288 billion allocated to tax cuts. Businesses as w...

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Internal Revenue Service, (2011). Arra and the earned income tax credit Retrieved from http://www.irs.gov/newsroom/article/0,,id=205666,00.html

Internal Revenue Service, (2011). Energy incentives for individuals in the american recovery and reinvestment act Retrieved from http://www.irs.gov/newsroom/article/0,,id=206875,00.html

Internal Revenue Service, (2011). First-time homebuyer credit Retrieved from http://www.irs.gov/newsroom/article/0,,id=204671,00.html

The making work pay tax credit. (2011, June 17). Retrieved from http://www.irs.gov/newsroom/article/0,,id=204447,00.html

Recovery.gov track the money. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.recovery.gov/FAQ/Pages/ForCitizens.aspx

Recipient reported awards map. (2011, June 22). Retrieved from http://www.recovery.gov/Transparency/RecipientReportedData/Pages/RecipientReportedDataMap.aspx

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