Does this sort of spending make sense to you?
Sold as a way to create jobs while building infrastructure and an environmentally sensitive economy, the stimulus plan was drafted in haste by Democrats in Congress and then signed by Mr. Obama on Feb. 17, 2009. The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act was priced at $787 billion when enacted; the official estimate is now more than $800 billion.
The failed solar-panel maker Solyndra has attracted a federal investigation, but there are other worthy competitors for the title. Mr. Grabell reminds us of the $783,000 grant to study why young people consume malt liquor and marijuana, and the $219,000 to study the "hookups" of college students. (Perhaps these research efforts could have been combined.) Then there is the $92,000 spent by the Army Corps of Engineers "on costumes for mascots like Bobber the Water Safety Dog."
If the aim was to create jobs, why were the funds not specifically directed to areas with the highest unemployment? If the aim was to underwrite vital construction projects, why did an Alaskan village called Ouzinkie, population 167, receive a $15 million airport? "By contrast," Mr. Grabell notes, "major hubs such as Newark and Las Vegas didn't get any stimulus money. Atlanta, the busiest airport in the world, received nothing in the first round of grants."
With money carved out of the stimulus for Democratic constituencies such as government workers and for various anti-poverty programs, only about 10% of the spending, or $80 billion, was devoted to infrastructure—and very little of that total went to critical work. The political necessity to fund the "shovel-ready" projects promised by the president meant that money didn't go to the bridges most in need of repair but to jobs that could quickly clear the thicket of regulatory permitting. Repaving roads was a typical activity; less than 12% of the infrastructure spending went for work on bridges.
If this is your idea of improving the nation - then vote for President Obama again in November!
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