news
OPINION: Recovery Act creates jobs in the region
8 months ago | 380 views | 15 
| 3 
| 
| 
| 3 | |
On an almost daily basis, Recovery Act funds are being used by infrastructure projects, school districts, and businesses in north Mississippi to help stimulate local economies and put people back to work.
As you may recall, the Recovery Act consists of three parts: tax cuts, aid to help stabilize budgets for states and cities, and infrastructure investment. The legislation is estimated to directly impact 30,000 jobs statewide, including nearly 9,000 jobs in the 1st District. The Recovery Act also enacted the largest middle-class tax cuts in American history, benefiting 95 percent of Americans and an estimated one million Mississippi taxpayers. In addition, it provided hundreds of millions of dollars in funding for education in Mississippi, including $350 million for the State Fiscal Stabilization Fund, which prevented massive layoffs of teachers and other cutbacks in education over the past year.
Examples of Recovery Act infrastructure projects already underway include the overlaying of U.S. Highway 78 from Lee County to the Alabama state line, the overlaying of U.S. Highway 45 between Lee County and West Point, upgrades to the Highway 78-Highway 45 intersection at McCullough Boulevard, and improvements to Eason Boulevard, part of Tupelo's major thoroughfare program.
So where are the jobs? According to recent announcements - like last week's of more than $130 million in Recovery Act funding to create an estimated 500 new jobs in Pontotoc and Itawamba Counties - many Recovery Act jobs are right here, in North Mississippi.
Last week, the U.S. Department of Energy announced significant Recovery Act funding for two companies to construct ethanol-producing facilities. Bluefire LLC has been awarded more than $81 million to construct a facility in Fulton that will produce ethanol fuel from woody biomass, mill residue, and sorted municipal solid waste. Enerkem Corporation will receive $50 million in funding for the construction and operation of its waste-to-biofuels facility to be located in Pontotoc. Together, this funding represents more than 20 percent of the total amount awarded nationwide for biorefinery projects.
Bluefire's Fulton plant will have the capacity to produce 19 million gallons of ethanol per year, and will directly employ an estimated 70 people in high-paying jobs. The new facility will also create and support an estimated 300 jobs in the forestry industry, which has suffered greatly from the economic downturn.
Enerkem's 300 ton-per-day biorefinery in Pontotoc will produce 10 million gallons of ethanol annually, as well as green chemicals, from sorted municipal solid waste and wood residues and will reduce overcrowding in our landfills. The project is expected to create 130 jobs.
Since the announcement of both projects earlier this year, the companies have made substantial progress in the permitting process.
These two new facilities will promote the use of alternative energy sources, help reduce America's dependence on foreign oil, and - most importantly - help put North Mississippians back to work. The projects are yet another example of how the Recovery Act is working to get our local and national economies back on track. On top of enacting one of the largest middle-class tax cuts in American history, the legislation has created and saved jobs, eased state and local budget shortfalls, and stimulated economic development. Most importantly, it helped slow down what has been the worst economic freefall since the Great Depression. We're still not out of the woods, but things are getting better, and they're certainly not as bad as they could have been.
Jobs continue to be the number one issue facing North Mississippi. I have not lost sight of that fact, and I will continue to do everything I can as Congressman to support policies and encourage investments in our region that will promote job creation for the hard-working people of North Mississippi.
Please continue to keep me informed about your opinions and concerns by phone at (202) 225-4306 or by visiting my website at www.childers.house.gov.
Travis W. Childers, a Democrat from Booneville, represents the 1st Congressional District. his Contact him at 337A East Main Street, Tupelo, MS 38804, or call p. (662) 841-8808.
I do go on all the gov. web sights.
My question, did you make a contribution for Obamacare? Please lisen to me and pay my part, because I am not going to pay taxes for Obamacare.
I jut like being myself and I will dacide what i will do. I do not care who is in offace TOO!
I've hulded pupwood too, it has to be hulded before it can be turned in puper.
I have paid taxes for years i doubt you have paid more than i have it goes to show you don't know what your talking abouth.
I don't walk shoulder to shoulder with the white house or the congress i just want whats best for my country and the american people they work for us not the other way around i think for my self.
My dad was logger and worked at a sawmillor hulded pupwood all his life and he taught me to lisen with an open mind no matter who was in offace,and thats what i try todo and i can try my best to do the right thing instead of what other people tell me what to do. you should try it some time you might jut like it.
I do go on all the gov. web sights,thank you very much,i just refuse to let some person that get paid big bucks on t.v tell me what i should think and do,i dacide that my self.
Go to Obama's gov web site and write a check if you are serious about helping with healthcare.
After you pay as much as I pay in taxes for obamacare, then lecture me.
the taxs you get from the car companys are from the worker not the companys they are tax exemt from the state their profits go back to their countrys.
Did you forget we had two wars going in 2006 costing us over a trillon dollars ayear and a big taxs cut for the upper 1% ,bush wanted homes for ever one and the mortgage co. going crazy,
the republicans in the senate and house still had enought people to fillerbuster and what they did get past bush vetoed so no we we stopped for three years and had to watch the republicans have thier way for a long time now its the people of this countrys time to pull this country back from the cliff that we were headed for, the tarp money is being paid back and jobs are begaining to happen we still have a long way to go but we will get there.
All i have to say to the both of you if you can't help get out of our way because the american people have work todo, you dems get busy do what we do best tell the truth and get out the facts and fight for our country like our troops are doing in two wars that bush started.
Since you are glade to pay more, please contribute before you demand that I pay.
Until this year we were the ritches country in the world.
You are right abouth all the companies closing their doors or cutting back on the number of workers they hire when they are no longer making a profit.
No body is required to work for a greedy company, however, the taxes generated by these greedy companies were paying to run the gubmit until Obama destroyed the free enterprise system.
Unless companies make a profit they will no longer exist.
We can solve much of the welfare problems if we require a pee test before getting you gubmit check.
This year we have gone from the ritches country in the world to the worlds greatest debtor nation.
By the way, our country was in great shape until the dems took control of congress in 2006.
Iwill gladely pay more if the american people can get the insurance coverage they need i hope through the work of this president we wont have so many poor in the ritches country in the world.
we are still fighting back from eightyears of bush and the republican had the house and senate for nine years and they brought our country to our knees,now its up to the dems.to pull us back just like clinton did.
the congress has a hard job ahead of them but i'm sure we will stand strong and tall again .
Rember the congress was the do nothing congress for a lot of years except to take us to war.
On the other hand, I believe that many doctors and patients both have milked the Medicare and Medicaid programs for a long time now.
As much money as Toyota has invested in North Mississippi,I don't think that they will just quietly walk away.
We cannot continue to survive with an economy dependent upon health care. Like any business hospitals must market their product and entice their potential client. In this case people that are nominally ill are often over diagnosed in order to not only fill hospital beds but more important pay for ultra high tech equipment.
The over diagnose and treatment of otherwise viable members of the community takes away from the potential work force, otherwise working slightly ill are on in line for the latest MRI to see why they "just don't feel good".
to sum up, the increased number of hospitals we have in this area are making us SICK. We must break our addiction to health care and health care jobs. The number of hospitals and hospital beds in such a small geographical area is a red flag to potential industry----why do so few people need so many hospitals ? Maybe Toyota a japanese company that prides itself on a healthy work force realized this and have decided to quietly leave the area.
This is no slur to any particular hospital but to the numerous hospitals and their beds in such a small geographical area.
So we need to break our health care addiction and send a message to jackson that we have enough hospital beds and equipment. Tape up that sore knee and go to work not have a $2,000 test on something that will heal itself before the test results are back.
One can tell a lot about those guvmit dependents by just reading what they post.
It is hard to keep thing straight..YES!
Some of us do have jobs, have paid taxes, and still find a way to think for ourselves, and occasionally have compassion for our fellow men. Just sayin'. Republicans have given large corporations tax breaks for years. Where did the money go? To create new jobs? Not really. It went to pay the CEOs another million or two in bonuses. Now as far as small businesses, tax breaks might help, but they've gotten the big business model in their heads too that if you run your business on a low paid skeleton crew and keep the profits, you end up a rich man. Your employees...well, your employees can still work 40 hours a week and depend on food stamps to feed them and their families. Wal Mart's a prime example of a big employer who pays most of their full time workers so little that they qualify for food stamps and medicaid. So they're working, but they still need the programs. If they weren't there, do you think business would pick up the slack and start paying more? NO. They'd just be hungrier, sicker workers with hungrier, sicker families. This is where the system fails on all fronts.
Yes, the American people will win because we are going to dump the mafia run guvmit.
We will make changes without screaming and ranting.
The american people will win despite what you peole say we are not afrade of the future like we were with your people in charge.
I try to buy my gasoline from vendors that sell ethanol free gas, because the lower MPG cost me too much.
This seems like a good campaign essay, except it looks pretty bad when you analyze the negative effects.
We need tax breaks for businesses that create new jobs. Instead we got stmilus that took the unemployment rate from 7.5% to over 10%.
I think we should wait until we file our 2009 taxes before we start talking about tax breaks. We got a reduction in the amount withhelt from our checks..We will pay in more in April or will get less refund.
When the government spends 800 billion dollars we do not have, it inflates our money and in the end we WILL have to pay more taxes.
In fact any taxes saved by Mississippi workers from federal dollars will have to be repaid with Mississippi tax dollar increases in order for Mississippi to cover the unfunded mandates by the federal government under the Childers stimilus money boondoggle.
In fact the SCHIPS bill so highly tauted by Childers is being paid with a 90 million dollar tax increase on folks in Mississippi.
We cannot afford you..Mr Childers.