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The day after the news of the stimulus package getting through Congress and committee hit the streets, the World Wide Web was aflame with bloggers and posters sharing their views of what the legislation means to the country. It's obviously too early to know, but bloggers seemed to be leaning toward the negative side in the early going. In the industries we serve -- commercial and residential construction -- there don't seem to be a lot of long-term incentives. True, there will be some "infrastructure" projects coming down the pike -- maybe in a couple of years -- to shore up bridges, smooth out roads and add more parking ramps at airports and train stations, perhaps. Maybe a few schools will be built or remodeled, but that's not where the bulk of the construction dollars have been going to in recent years. Just coming back from World of Concrete, the number of cranes sitting idle and rusting in the Las Vegas sunshine is still a fresh image. Going from the hotel to the convention center we regularly passed seven or eight major jobsites and only one or two had anything going on. Most were locked up tight 'cause funding ran out (was withdrawn, etc.).Will this new legislation "stimulate" any of those? Doubt it.
Acquaintances in the home building business have been beside themselves, thinking home building has been "thrown under the bus" -- or at least a government-subsidized SUV from Detroit! The automakers got some major funding while homebuilders got very little.
And, the bankers who can be considered at the root of this evil, are getting more, too. Have they made it easier for contractors to get credit for new projects or to move existing ones along? Sure doesn't sound like it.
We all have to hope that this massive flushing of money into the system will work. The other options are too stressful. About all we can do is wait and see... in the meantime, maybe there's some bailout money for publishers? (No I didn't say bail money... that's another story!)
To share your thoughts, see EDITOR'S BLOG at www.constructiondistribution.com.
