Positive Effects of the Stimulus Project in Tyler, by JD Meyer | Business

While reading an article about the Home for Heroes, I noticed that Kay Bailey Hutchinson found the money for its building through the stimulus project. A civic leader asked me to do further research into the matter. Have you noticed the orange sign near the Tyler Transit Transfer/Train Museum with “American Recovery & Reinvestment Act (ARRA)?” That’s the official name for the stimulus project.

I found most of my information through http://projects.propublica.org/recovery/locale/texas/smith, as well as through a local paper. As of May 2012, the big winners in Smith County are as follows: (1) Education ($51.8 million), (2) Dept. of Transportation ($45.8 million), (3) Small Business Administration (SBA) ($25.7 million), (4) Dept. of Veterans Affairs ($11.5 million), and (5) Social Security ($9.5 million). The Stimulus Project’s positive effects appear to have been grossly overlooked if Tyler is any indication.

 Have stimulus projects ever occurred in US history previously? Yes. Are stimulus projects normally a symptom of the Democrat Party’s love of big government? No, four out of five of the most successful stimulus projects, or public works projects, were done by Republicans, including two by Calvin Coolidge http://everythingishistory.com/5-government-stimulus-projects-that-fill-you. (1)
 Panama Canal, (2) Mount Rushmore, (3) Hoover Dam, (4) Interstate Highway System, and (5) Blue Ridge Parkway (Appalachians).

The five biggest stimulus projects in Smith County are (1) Loop 49, (2) The Home for Heroes, (3) The Armed Forces Reserve Center, (4) The Tyler Transit Central Transfer moving downtown, five new busses, and (5) energy-efficient signal lights downtown. Someone reminded me that the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) Airport Improvement Program awarded a grant to the City of Tyler to rehabilitate the 17/35 runway at Pounds Field ($4.9 million). Tracking down education grants is tougher because there are six different kinds of grants and five departments that get grants—truly a multi-headed hydra! The surprise winner was the Governor’s Office who received $3.25 billion to divide among countless districts in the state http://projects.propublica.org/recovery/item/20120201/36193

                Hopefully, I’ve been able to show that the stimulus project is neither a mysterious failure with little discoverable goodness nor some left-wing plot. I bet Calvin Coolidge would be proud of our current president, Barack Obama, for his public works projects. For a technical version of this article, go to my hubpage http://bohemiotx.hubpages.com/hub/Stimulus-Project-ARRA-Benefits-in-Tyler-TX