Democrats would like us to believe the $825 billion dollar stimulus package is required to recover from the recession. In fact, this bill is nothing but a conglomeration of the spending packages they have dreamed about for the past few decades. The main stream media also seems to have forgotten to tell us that with interest this bill comes to over $1.1 trillion dollars. This debt amounts to over $9,000 per family in taxes.
According to the Wall Street Journal only 12% of the package could conceivably be regarded as stimulating the economy. Even if we accept Obama’s claim that this bill would save or create 3.7 million jobs, that would amount to a cost of $200,000 per job.
Alan Reynolds at the Wall Street Journal also tells us the stimulus package doesn’t even target the groups hardest hit by unemployment.
The December unemployment rate was only 2.3% for government workers and 3.8% in education and health. Unemployment rates in manufacturing and construction, by contrast, were 8.3% and 15.2% respectively. Yet 39% of the $550 billion in the bill would go to state and local governments. Another 17.3% would go to health and education -- sectors where relatively secure government jobs are also prevalent. If the intent of the plan is to alleviate unemployment, why spend over half of the money on sectors where unemployment is lowest?
Although many of the expenditures are admirable, they certainly can’t be considered a stimulus by any stretch of the imagination. Below is a partial list of the earmarks contained in this monstrosity.
This bill would add from 244,000 to 330,000 new government jobs. These are jobs that will not add to the growth of our economy and would tend to kill many private sector jobs as dollars for these jobs are no longer available to companies.
Global Warming
$2.4 billion for carbon-capture demonstration projects Link
$276 million to the State Department to upgrade and modernize its information technology Link
$150 million for maintenance work at the Smithsonian Institution Link
$209 million for maintenance work for the Federal Agricultural Research Service Link
$44 million for repairs and improvements at the Washington, D.C. headquarters of the Department of Agriculture Link
$245 million to upgrade the information technology of the Farm Service Agency Link
The Coast Guard wants more than $572 million for "Acquisition, Construction, & Improvements" They claim these funds will create 1,235 new jobs. Crunch the numbers and this brings the cost of "creating" each job to a staggering $460,000+ Link
$200 million for Dep. of Defense to acquire alternative energy vehicles. Link
$600 million for new cars for the federal government Link
$13 billion in IDEA, Part B State grants to help pay for "the excess costs of providing special education and related services to children with disabilities. Link
$13 billion in Title I grants "to provide extra academic support to help raise the achievement of students at risk of educational failure or to help all students in high-poverty schools meet challenging State academic standards Link
$3 billion for health care prevention and wellness programs, such as childhood immunizations and other state and local public health programs Link
$2 billion is to be spent on Child Care Development Block Grants, which provide day care. Link
$1.7 billion is to be spent to help the homeless Link
$1.1 billion for so-called federal comparative effectiveness research in regard to health-care services Link
$1 billion goes for the Low Income Home Energy Assistance program, to help low income families pay their heating bills Link
$500 million to speed the processing of applications for Social Security disability claims. Link
$200 million goes for senior nutrition programs, such as Meals on Wheels Link
$200 million for AmeriCorps, to help satisfy "increased demand for services for vulnerable populations to meet critical needs in communities across the U.S. Link
$120 million to finance part-time work for seniors in community service agencies. Link
$100 million to reduce lead-based paint hazards for children in low income housing Link
$79 billion is to go the states to maintain their runaway government spending, particularly for such spendthrift jurisdictions as California, New York, New Jersey, and Massachusetts Link
$5.2 billion for ACORN, the left-leaning nonprofit group under federal investigation for massive voter fraud. Link "Community organizers," such as the left-wing lobbying group ACORN, would get their own new slush fund of up to $750-million. Link
$4.2 billion provided to the Neighborhood Stabilization Fund, which provides the funds to local governments to purchase and rehab vacant housing due to foreclosure Link
Roger King is a 55-year-old computer programmer with a master’s degree from Clemson University, Born on a farm in Ohio, he now lives in the suburbs of Raleigh, N.C. King is a collector of politically incorrect facts which can be found on politicallyincorrectfacts.com.
