Obama Economic-Stimulus Plan Could Fight Poverty

December 26, 2008

Obama Economic-Stimulus Plan Could Fight Poverty

As President-elect Barack Obama develops his multibillion-dollar plan to stimulate the economy, nonprofit leaders should push federal, state, and local governments to use the money to pay for construction projects that help the poor, writes Angela Glover Blackwell, an anti-poverty activist.

Mr. Obama has proposed spending upwards of $300-billion to improve American roads and infrastructure; he says his proposal would create jobs and fight the country’s economic recession.

Ms. Blackwell, chief executive and founder of PolicyLink, a nonprofit group in Oakland, Calif., writes that the plan — if put together wisely — “could be one of the most successful anti-poverty programs the nation has ever seen.”

“First off, we must stop building more and wider roads out to far-flung exurbs. Instead, we need to fix the bridges, transit systems and roads we already have — especially those in low-income communities that have long been ignored in infrastructure spending,” she writes on The Huffington Post.

She also suggests that the incoming administration expand public-transit systems, build broadband communications in poor areas, and construct grocery stores in economically struggling neighborhoods.

During a meeting of large foundations this month, an expert on urban planning also encouraged philanthropies to make sure that infrastructure spending helped the needy.

What do you think? How can Mr. Obama’s stimulus package benefit poor neighborhoods? Click on the comments button to share your thoughts.

— Ian Wilhelm

Comments

Sustainable Hope and Help amid a Sea of Despair and Demands

Amid all the bad news and demands being placed on the President-elect Obama transition team this holiday season, Sustainable Land Development International (SLDI) offers a reason to hope for the future by formally submitting its offer of assistance to help boost the team’s economic recovery plan and policy agenda – and save the country billions in the process.

SLDI is a cooperatively-owned organization of entrepreneurial developers, engineers, builders, planners, architects, financiers, attorneys, and others in private and public service, who deliver practical land development solutions to some of the most important social, environmental and economic issues the country faces. In answer to the President-elect’s call to “join in the work of remaking the nation.”, in a formal proposal to the Obama team, the organization has offered a public-private partnership, its Sustainable Land Development Best Practices System and the breadth of its research and collective knowledge to combat the country’s economic woes, enhance environmental stewardship and increase social responsibility – all at the same time.

Obama’s plan calls for a massive public investment in infrastructure as a way to create more than a million new jobs and reposition the country more competitively for the future. The plan has received broad acceptance, but is now beginning to come under increased scrutiny.

“President-elect Obama is beginning to receive criticism for his plan to invest up to $1 trillion dollars to stimulate the economy and implement the kind of change the American people mandated when they voted him into office in November,” said Greg Yoko, SLDI president of industry relations. “He’s being criticized from the left, who say the recovery plan isn’t socially or environmentally friendly enough, and from the right for the unprecedented level of government intervention and deficit spending his plan currently advocates. SLDI can offer the incoming U.S. administration the comprehensive systems and technologies to enable the public sector to enhance its effectiveness and quality – and spur the kinds of public-private partnerships and holistic development processes that will reduce government intervention, save taxpayers billions, and deliver greater environmental and social stewardship at the same time.”

According to SLDI, sustainable land development best practices optimize the decisions and implementation of the plans Obama has outlined at http://www.change.gov. The new SLDI best practices system offers the metrics to help development projects, such as those included in Obama’s massive infrastructure initiative, achieve greater ecological stewardship and social equity, but do so through the simultaneous achievement of greater economic results. These holistic “triple-bottom-line” results have long been sought but rarely achieved due to the narrow focus of each of the specialized participants in the land development process. However, through an industry-developed decision model and best practices system, SLDI believes it has, for the first time in history, developed the “holy grail” blueprint for the future U.S. economy, as well as the rest of the world. This holistic triple-bottom-line approach lays a solid foundation for the long-term sustainable development of the very infrastructure of our civilization. Sustainable development starts with our national and global infrastructure. If it is unsustainable, ultimately nothing else can be.

About Sustainable Land Development International (SLDI) – Sustainable Land Development International is a developer-led and cooperatively owned organization of industry stakeholders dedicated to promoting and enabling land development worldwide that balances the needs of people, planet and profit – for today and future generations. SLDI publishes Sustainable Land Development Today and Sustainable Urban Redevelopment magazines, produces the Land Development Breakthroughs educational events, and delivers a number of sustainable development technologies and services such as green building, ecosystem restoration, clean and renewable energy systems, carbon sequestration, soil enhancement, water purification and retention, and others.

Your participation and comments are welcome.

Terry Mock
Executive Director
Sustainable Land Development International
www.SLDI.org
www.SLDTonline.com
www.SURmag.com
www.LDBreakthroughs.com

Obama Sounds the Sustainable Development Horn – http://www.sldi.org/newService/SLDIDec2008.html

Sustainable Land Development – Bridge to a New Global Culture – http://www.sldtonline.com/content/view/580/1/

— Terry Mock Dec 27, 11:07 AM #
The workforce in America’s construction industry consists of illegal immigrants. If the jobs in the stimulus plan are not limited to US citizens, then Obama would haved failed to get Americans back to work. The stimulus plan would in fact be a giant foreign aid bill, with illegal immigrants getting most of the money and sending it back to their home countries. Unemployment in Black communities is extremely high, but they are systematically not hired on publicly-funded construction projects, even those right in their neighborhoods. If the legislation does not speak to these issues, and the existing system remains in effect, the money will be gone, and Americans still won’t be working.

— effy Dec 27, 02:40 PM #
It is my hope that President-Elect Obama will create a “Stimulus Package” that will help struggling Small Businesses across all sectors of the economy and, create many new jobs.

1.And fix inner city streets, roads and repair old buildings that are vacant; and then lease space to micro-firms, and/or restart the “Business Incubators” process once again which will drive innovation and create new Jobs.

2.Communities should also once again return to creating COOP Businesses,etc where entire communities are stakeholders and owners.

— Edward A. Cottman, Sr Dec 28, 04:43 PM #
I find nothing that the new stimulus package does to aid the day to day necessary spending needed by the poor, retired fixed low income, & poverty stricken folks who are struggling to just stay alive. Everything is geared for wage earners still physically able to adjust their income where most of the poor can’t.

— Robert Jurgenson Jan 6, 08:45 AM #
Where is the promise of another stimulus check that was promised during the election. For those folks who spent decades of hard labor in the work force and have lost so much thru government blunders, are we not to ignore Obama’s speeches and let the rich get richer and the middle class maintain, and the poor just die off with nothing!!!

— Robert Jurgenson Jan 6, 08:51 AM #
I agree. I recommend you contact Larry Goldblatt owner of the National Architect. he has some dynamic plans that could further your cause.I will refer this article to him.

VL Dixon
340.277.6845

— Vewiser Dixon Jan 10, 11:43 AM #

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