The debate on whether federal economic stimulus efforts have worked is not really a debate, says Dallas Tonsager, USDA undersecretary for rural development. During the past 18 months, Tonsager has overseen the deployment of resources from the economic stimulus approved in early 2009. "The stimulus package offered huge resources for rural America for all kinds of development," Tonsager says. "One of the things we felt so good about when implementing the package is that the leadership is coming from people in communities to put together projects, deals-things that create long-lasting effects for those communities."
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