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Did Collins Shrug at Home Heating Aid For Her State?
Hmmm, Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME) is lucky that her tough re-election battle came last year and not in 2010. Collins had pushed for $1 billion in stimulus money for LIHEAP, the government's program to provide home heating money for low-income residents -- and a major Maine priority, given the state's chilly winters.
But LIHEAP looks zeroed out, according to the summary of the final stimulus deal that we've received (read here). Did Collins lose a battle over heating money, or just not pursue one?
Late Update: N.B. Until legislative language is formally filed on the bill today, there's always the possibility that these numbers could change. What we're bringing you are the freshest details.
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Josh
Elana
Matt
Eric
Oh Tom Allen, wherefore were you during the campaign?
February 12, 2009 12:56 PM | Reply | Permalink
If it is zeroed out, that's really unfortunate. People could take the money spent on home heating oil and spend it elsewhere.
February 12, 2009 1:08 PM | Reply | Permalink
It may be a good use of government money but it doesn't add any jobs or create a stimulus for the economy so it shouldn't be in this bill. (People who get heating aid money will have more money to spend on other things, of course, but that could be said about any government aid.)
February 12, 2009 1:24 PM | Reply | Permalink
Getting people to spend money, any money, on things beyond basic necessities will be stimulative.
February 12, 2009 1:26 PM | Reply | Permalink
But you could say the same about aid for paying for milk or your telephone bill or anything else you can dream up. Instead of targeting aid for heating oil or shoes or whatever it makes more sense to have a general refundable tax cut for low income workers. That way everyone gets it instead of just people in Maine.
February 12, 2009 2:04 PM | Reply | Permalink
I'd be fine with a tax cut to low income individuals.
But the fact that a tax cut to low income individuals would stimulate the economy doesn't negate the fact that assistance with heating costs could be stimulative as well, which was the point in contention.
February 12, 2009 3:07 PM | Reply | Permalink
The posts come too fast here now. Impossible to discuss anything. Much prefer one post with updates added, rather than opening a new post every time someone gets off the crapper.
Notice how few comments there are. I guess, if this is just supposed to be a breaking news site, fine.
February 12, 2009 1:13 PM | Reply | Permalink
people dont have extra money beyond bills.
only credit moves the economy.
expect a longggggggggggggg cold winter.
February 12, 2009 1:32 PM | Reply | Permalink
How extremely annoying of my senator to first shitcan a clause for protecting whistle blowers, and now to deny heating oil assistance to Maine citizins.
No doubt tomorrow's Portland Press Herald will praise her 'moderate' leadership.
I agree with the first poster, Tom Allen, where were you?
February 12, 2009 1:47 PM | Reply | Permalink
People not being dead of hypothermia generally stimulates the economy. So does heating-oil distributors not going belly-up and laying off their employees because customers can't pay bills.
As far a stimulus goes,. things like LIHEAP (and other aid targeted toward low-income people) tend to offer the biggest stimulative impact per dollars, because you know the recipients are going to spend it, and you know that the people they spend it with are going to spend it in turn.
One of the things that the GOP's loony-right pronouncements have done is to make a lot of people misunderstand what a stimulus is: it's about pumping money into the economy to avert the death spiral of less spending --> layoffs and shutdowns --> even less spending --> even more layoffs and so forth. It's not about providing permanent jobs, because when the private-sector economy recovers you don't want them to find that all the potential employees are already taken. It can be about building stuff that will foster future economic activity, but practically speaking that's gravy.
February 12, 2009 2:50 PM | Reply | Permalink
TPM--Whenever you have a minute, you should recheck Ms. Collins net worth. How can a poh gal from Roostik County become a millionaire on a Senator's salary?
February 12, 2009 3:30 PM | Reply | Permalink
They all seem to become millionaires. I'll bet most of them are. Harry Reid is for sure and then some
February 12, 2009 4:07 PM | Reply | Permalink