100 stimulus projects that give taxpayers the blues

[zimmer]

Only 100!? Why isn't government great?

100 stimulus projects that give taxpayers the blues

When Congress passed the $862 billion American Recovery and Reinvestment Act in 2009, otherwise known as the stimulus bill, it passed with assurances that it would stem the loss of American jobs and keep the economy from floundering. As most can see, it hasn’t.

Eighteen months since the law’s passage, millions of jobs are still gone and the economy is as uncertain as ever. The only thing getting a boost is our national debt – the stimulus has helped push it 23 percent higher, to $13.2 trillion, a new record.

The dramatic increase in government spending has not shortened the nation’s unemployment lines.

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the unemployment rate in June 2010 was 9.5 percent,...

Too many stimulus projects are failing to meet that goal.
...some projects accomplish such questionable goals as putting in new windows at a vacant government building, replacing a new sidewalk with an even newer one, or
money for a park that is only accessible by boat or plane.

Other projects that appear in the report may have merit, but are being mismanaged or were poorly planned. A biomass power plant was awarded hundreds of thousands of stimulus dollars, but may close in months. The same is true for a rail line to two professional sports stadiums— yet it is hundreds of millions of dollars over budget and only “shovel ready” because it was years behind schedule when funding came available.

Worst of all, some stimulus projects are actually costing jobs...

http://coburn.senate.gov/public//in...&File_id=e1e0624e-d02a-42d4-9dbb-f5b9f21b3572

 

[Hoplite]

Im beginning to think you're trying to campaign for the Republicans rather than actually post anything of weight.

The link doesnt seem to have any real point, just some dickhead ranting about how he doesn't think that any of these projects are a good use of money.

 

[Crunch]

Im beginning to think you're trying to campaign for the Republicans rather than actually post anything of weight.

The link doesnt seem to have any real point, just some dickhead ranting about how he doesn't think that any of these projects are a good use of money.

So which of these projects do you think is a smart use of tax payer money?

1. Forest Service to Replace Windows in Visitor Center Closed in 2007 (Amboy, WA) -
$554,763 .................................................................................................................................................................... 5
2. “Dance Draw” - Interactive Dance Software Development (Charlotte, NC) - $762,372 ............ 6
3. North Shore Connector to Professional Sports Stadiums, Casino (Pittsburgh, PA) - $62
million ....................................................................................................................................................................... 7
4. FEMA Stalls Two Texas Fire Stations More Than a Year, Increases Costs (San Antonio, TX)
- $7.3 million .................................................................................................................................................... 9
5. Abandoned Train Station Converted Into Museum (Glassboro, NJ) - $1.2 million ................... 10
6. Ants Talk. Taxpayers Listen (San Francisco, CA) - $1.9 million ......................................................... 11
7. Stimulus Project Threatens Pastor’s House (Newark, OH) - $1.8 million ...................................... 12
8. Old Abandoned Iron Furnace Gets Facelift after Money Squandered on Same Project Years
Before (Fitchburg, KY) – $357,710 ................................................................................................................. 14
9. Power Plant Construction Won’t Start for at Least Two Years (Kern County, CA) - $308
million ..................................................................................................................................................................... 15
10. Town Replaces New Sidewalks With Newer Sidewalks That Lead to Ditch (Boynton, OK) -
$89,298 ...............................................................................................................................

 

[MaggieD]

So which of these projects do you think is a smart use of tax payer money?

Zimmer, this is a great post. Thank you. I've marked it as a favorite. I don't know what to say about it except that it's ludicrous. I am amazed that this information didn't get into mainstream media. Surely the projects listed (especially those Crunch copied) are nothing but pork to satisfy the Senators/Representatives from those respective states. Absolutely ridiculous.

 

[zimmer]

Im beginning to think you're trying to campaign for the Republicans rather than actually post anything of weight.

The link doesnt seem to have any real point, just some dickhead ranting about how he doesn't think that any of these projects are a good use of money.

Me thinks you aren't a centrist.

Post anything of weight?
This is our money going to waste; illustrating once again how inept government is with our money.

I do recall the president telling people to call Him about known fraud. Well, how about waste and idiocy? If he allows this, then like a puppy that laid a doo-doo, he's got to have it put before him so the idiocy stops.

Further, we have a right to know... even discuss it, even if to simply show our dissatisfaction.

... more below... enjoy...

Earlier this month an investigation that reviewed thousands of stimulus programs nationwide revealed that tens of billions of dollars will likely be lost to waste, fraud and abuse by the time all the money is spent. A lengthy report (A Second Opinion on the Stimulus) lists examples of waste that include a $3 million turtle crossing in northern Florida, the $10 million renovation of an abandoned train station that has been shut for three decades and 10,000 dead people getting Social Security stimulus checks.

More Obama Stimulus Fraud | Judicial Watch

.

 

[Hoplite]

Me thinks you aren't a centrist.

Methinks I dont care what you thinks I am.

Post anything of weight?
This is our money going to waste; illustrating once again how inept government is with our money.

No, this is about you bitching and moaning that government isnt perfect.

 

[TurtleDude]

Me thinks you aren't a centrist.

Post anything of weight?
This is our money going to waste; illustrating once again how inept government is with our money.

I do recall the president telling people to call Him about known fraud. Well, how about waste and idiocy? If he allows this, then like a puppy that laid a doo-doo, he's got to have it put before him so the idiocy stops.

Further, we have a right to know... even discuss it, even if to simply show our dissatisfaction.

... more below... enjoy...



.

He admitted to being a socialist before-centered between communism and welfare-socialism as I recall. His avatar makes that rather clear. He would be a centrist in the Fourth Internationale

The government is a cesspool of waste and the libs solution is to tax the wealthy to buy the votes of the people who keep electing the wasters of our wealth

 

[digsbe]

I laugh, because Democrats were railing on Republicans and spreading all kinds of putrid lies. They said Republicans didn't want to create jobs, that they wanted to hurt poor people, that they screwed up the economy and they wouldn't let the Democrats "fix it." Well, the Democrats didn't live up to their utopia and promises that were supposed to be in the bill. Unemployment rise far higher then what they promised, the debt has risen tremendously, and we have proof of pork and wast within the bill. Yet they have the gall to label Republicans as the "party of no" for not supporting their bills.

 

[Goof Noodle]

Im beginning to think you're trying to campaign for the Republicans rather than actually post anything of weight.

The link doesnt seem to have any real point, just some dickhead ranting about how he doesn't think that any of these projects are a good use of money.

I agree. What we needed in this economy was money spent on cocaine for monkeys. It would really turn things around fast if we could get the monkeys to freebase on their own.

 

[d0gbreath]

Has anyone totaled them up to see if it's more than the 8.7 billion that was misplaced in Iraq?