Larsen on the hot seat in Marysville
Published on Thu, Apr 9, 2009 by Beckye RandallRead More Local News
In a two-hour session held at the Ken Baxter Senior/Community Center on March 28, local residents took U.S. Rep. Rick Larsen (D) and his colleagues to task over the economic meltdown and other issues causing concern in Snohomish County.
He prefaced the dialogue by noting that he expected frustration, anger and a lot of questions. "I want to give you the information to be effectively angry," said Larsen.
The congressman outlined some of the funding included in the economic Recovery Act for Washington state, including $17 million for transportation and infrastructure projects. The Granite Falls bypass route, funded at $3.5 million, is among the major projects intended for Snohomish County.
"My father lived in Granite Falls in 1959, and he said a bypass was needed then," Larsen said. "So it's only taken us 50 years, but it will finally be completed."
Marysville is on the list with $500,000 for a street overlay project, Arlington will get $122,000 for a pedestrian trail, and a fish culvert project on 116th St. and 34th Ave. NE, managed by a partnership of the Tulalip Tribes and Snohomish County, will receive $2 million in funding. The package also includes $2.5 million for traffic cameras along I-5 in Marysville and $4.6 million for repaving U.S. 2 between Monroe and Sultan.
An additional $44 million is dedicated to educational spending in the district, and local law enforcement agencies will also see increased federal monies.
"Little by little, these dollars are getting out into the communities," Larsen asserted, citing homebuyer credits, Pell Grant increases and unemployment extensions as benefits of the funding package.
Residents expressed anger over the TARP package-otherwise known as the bailout-but Larsen defended his support of the measure as the "best worst option."
"The goal was to stabilize the financial markets," he said, "and the $700 billion will actually only cost us about $189 billion because of the way it's structured and the repayment provisions."
When asked about the AIG executive bonuses, he replied, "I may be more frustrated and angry than you are" over the millions paid out from AIG bailout money.
A chorus of voices demanded, "Why? You voted for it."
The congressman agreed that "Congress missed it" in the 1,100-page bill.
"None of us has gone through the kind of economic recession we've seen over the last few months," Larsen said. "The last time this happened was 70 years ago. But I think we're getting more right than wrong."
"The debate," he continued, "is not doing something versus doing nothing. It's about what we're going to do, not if we're going to do it."
Participants in the Town Talk were mostly outraged by the level of greed and corruption that brought about the economic devastation. One man vowed, "You won't get another penny of my tax dollars until these criminals are put in jail."
Others voiced concerns about affordable and effective health care, the role of labor unions, defense contract spending, military action in Iraq and Afghanistan, the air tanker contract, cap and trade and other energy issues, and foreign aid.
The congressman's message to locals was that "we're all connected in this economy. A dollar on State Street is the same as a dollar on Wall Street."
However, in talking about the government's current role of trying to regulate the market, he confessed, "I want out of that business as soon as possible."
Larsen represents Washington's 2nd Congressional District in the U.S. House of Representatives, which includes Snohomish, Skagit and Whatcom counties, as well as the northeast portion of King County. He serves on the Armed Services and Transportation and Infrastructure committees.
He prefaced the dialogue by noting that he expected frustration, anger and a lot of questions. "I want to give you the information to be effectively angry," said Larsen.
The congressman outlined some of the funding included in the economic Recovery Act for Washington state, including $17 million for transportation and infrastructure projects. The Granite Falls bypass route, funded at $3.5 million, is among the major projects intended for Snohomish County.
"My father lived in Granite Falls in 1959, and he said a bypass was needed then," Larsen said. "So it's only taken us 50 years, but it will finally be completed."
Marysville is on the list with $500,000 for a street overlay project, Arlington will get $122,000 for a pedestrian trail, and a fish culvert project on 116th St. and 34th Ave. NE, managed by a partnership of the Tulalip Tribes and Snohomish County, will receive $2 million in funding. The package also includes $2.5 million for traffic cameras along I-5 in Marysville and $4.6 million for repaving U.S. 2 between Monroe and Sultan.
An additional $44 million is dedicated to educational spending in the district, and local law enforcement agencies will also see increased federal monies.
"Little by little, these dollars are getting out into the communities," Larsen asserted, citing homebuyer credits, Pell Grant increases and unemployment extensions as benefits of the funding package.
Residents expressed anger over the TARP package-otherwise known as the bailout-but Larsen defended his support of the measure as the "best worst option."
"The goal was to stabilize the financial markets," he said, "and the $700 billion will actually only cost us about $189 billion because of the way it's structured and the repayment provisions."
When asked about the AIG executive bonuses, he replied, "I may be more frustrated and angry than you are" over the millions paid out from AIG bailout money.
A chorus of voices demanded, "Why? You voted for it."
The congressman agreed that "Congress missed it" in the 1,100-page bill.
"None of us has gone through the kind of economic recession we've seen over the last few months," Larsen said. "The last time this happened was 70 years ago. But I think we're getting more right than wrong."
"The debate," he continued, "is not doing something versus doing nothing. It's about what we're going to do, not if we're going to do it."
Participants in the Town Talk were mostly outraged by the level of greed and corruption that brought about the economic devastation. One man vowed, "You won't get another penny of my tax dollars until these criminals are put in jail."
Others voiced concerns about affordable and effective health care, the role of labor unions, defense contract spending, military action in Iraq and Afghanistan, the air tanker contract, cap and trade and other energy issues, and foreign aid.
The congressman's message to locals was that "we're all connected in this economy. A dollar on State Street is the same as a dollar on Wall Street."
However, in talking about the government's current role of trying to regulate the market, he confessed, "I want out of that business as soon as possible."
Larsen represents Washington's 2nd Congressional District in the U.S. House of Representatives, which includes Snohomish, Skagit and Whatcom counties, as well as the northeast portion of King County. He serves on the Armed Services and Transportation and Infrastructure committees.
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