Didn’t Obama say he didn’t want any earmarks in this stimulus package?
So much for that idea, this so-called stimulus package is full of garbage:
Here are some numbers/items (remember, all in the name of “saving jobs, and saving America’s economy”):
Page 41: 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+
Page 23: $200 million for Dep. of Defense to acquire alternative energy vehicles.
Page 32: $1.5 billion (with a “B”) for a “carbon-capturing contest”
Page 64: $3.5 billion for higher education facilities. This is ridiculous as I know in Georgia the Board of Regents has imposed a “temporary” (yea right!) $75 fee per student during this economic crisis. The funds from this per-student fee stays at the school and is used to offset current budget shortfalls.
We at AASU are starting construction on our new student center, all paid for by student fees. No tax money has been used during any process of this planning. How about asking other higher education institutions to do the same, or hold off on any renovations, additions, etc.?
What is especially funny though is that during today’s press conference before the vote, Robert Gibbs was asked repeatedly about all these little pork projects. Over and over again he kept saying that we shouldn’t worry about those things and focus on the bigger picture.
The $75 million for smoking cessation was brought up several times by reporters and one even asked why that money couldn’t be better used for helping people out instead of this pork. Same response: don’t worry about it.
Well, given that the GOP all voted against the bill in the house, they are definitely making a statement that this is solely on the democrats lap and they will fall with it. Unfortunately we still have to pick up the tab.
