wow
I spent much of the day immersed in the details of the recovery legislation that's being introduced in the House. And all I can say is, wow, we're really in a whole new world.
I know, there's still a long way to go between this preliminary bill being introduced and something being signed into law. (I watched my schoolhouse rock, you know.) But, for someone who has spent much of my life fighting for incredibly modest incremental improvements, it's just mindboggling to read a bill that in one stroke would do so much.
Just to give one example: you might remember that last fall, I was excited that the Senate tax bill would lower the threshold at which families begin to qualify for the child tax credit to $8,500. Well, this bill would lower the threshold all the way to $0. If a family with a child earns $1, they would get a $0.15 tax credit.
This is just totally outside of my zone of experience. The only time in my life when Democrats have controlled both the Presidency and both houses of Congress was 1993-1994. And Clinton was so convinced that he needed to bring the budget deficit under control that he famously complained that they had become "Eisenhower Republicans."
So, wow.
January 16th, 2009 at 12:17 pm
I know!
Last night my husband got the list from a science colleague and we were blown away by all the new climate change funding! And ed tech! And NSF-education! Woo-hoo!
Not a christmas tree — just lots of really good things that need funding.