Stimulus has saved thousands of Nevada jobs

To the editor:

Once again, the truth appears to be a moving target for the editorial board of the Review-Journal. Just about every time I read your editorial page the facts are either misleading, twisted or absent. The latter was the case in Wednesday's editorial about Nevada unemployment and the economic recovery package.

I am very familiar with the challenging times our state is facing. I talk to Nevadans every day who are struggling as a result of years of failed economic policies. While the previous president and his allies in Congress were content to let the problems facing Nevada and the nation just play themselves out, President Obama and Congress knew that we had to take action to stop a worldwide depression.

That's why Republicans and Democrats worked together to pass the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, often referred to as the stimulus bill. This bill will bring nearly $2 billion to Nevada, has already created more than 6,000 jobs and saved tens of thousands of others.

We've saved more than 4,100 education jobs, including more than 2,000 in higher education. We created 300 new jobs in Clark County schools, created more than 600 jobs at the Nevada Department of Transportation, more than 400 jobs for the Nevada Department of Employment and Training, and more than 200 jobs to help address Nevada's housing crisis. These are just some of the jobs that have been created. The list goes on and on; and it will only continue to grow.

There was also a debt cancellation provision in this bill that I personally inserted to protect Nevada. This provision is credited with saving more than 31,000 Nevada jobs at Harrah's alone. Hilton Hotels, which also has properties here in Nevada, has stated it saved 35,000 jobs throughout its company. The number of jobs saved from this provision is significant, yet ignored in your editorial.

Earlier last week, we saw more evidence that our work is slowly starting to pay off, when the U.S. Department of Labor announced that Nevada was one of only seven states to create jobs last month, and was actually among the top three.

Housing sales and prices are also gradually starting to improve.

Are things bad right now? Yes. Could things have been even worse had we done nothing? Absolutely. And I am confident that the hard work that we've already done, and will continue to do, will ultimately lead to Nevada's economic recovery. I will never stop fighting to ensure that our state has the tools we need to do so.

Sen. Harry Reid

WASHINGTON, D.C.

THE WRITER, A NEVADA DEMOCRAT, IS MAJORITY LEADER OF THE U.S. SENATE.