Hi Fellow Geniuses,You may have seen the significant pick-up of an AP article written Monday in which Vice President Biden was quoted as saying “no swimming pools in this money” when hinting of the administrations’ stipulations on the federal stimulus package now going out to states and municipalities.It was one thing when swimming pools were specifically named in the Troubled Assets Relief Program, prohibiting banks from using taxpayer funds to pay for country club memberships and swimming pools. This was understandable, as those funds were to be used to correct the crippled financial system and get credit flowing to the small businesses that needed it.However, it is hard to understand why federal stimulus money can’t be used by states and local communities to maintain valuable assets related to swimming -- especially at a time when these communities are struggling to comply with the provisions of the VGB Act. And, at a time when struggling, working class families are most likely to be staying close to home this summer with hopes of enjoying their neighborhood pool. In fact, there is historic precedent for municipalities to build new pools both as public works and as a needed recreational outlet for their citizens. During the Great Depression, the Works Progress Administration (WPA) built pools around the country to put people to work and to give the public a place to take their kids for fun and to learn to swim. A number of these pools are still in existence today.We don’t think it is fair that swimming pools are being labeled by Biden and others as excess in these desperate economic times.Please search the web for the releases Stop Picking on Pools. Joe!. Please pass it on to your customers and others in your company and urge all to use the key messages to reach out to local media and government officials to be supportive of our industry as stimulus money is earmarked. Send the release to as many outlets as possible, in as many ways as available – snail mail, email, fax, blogs, chat rooms, tweets, etc.
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