You know, I posted this on another thread. But looking at the actual bill, I'm beginning to think the Republican party is just set to permament WHINE mode.
So let's list them
1) . The National Endowment for the Arts, for example, is in line for $50 million, increasing its total budget by a third. The unemployed can fill their days attending abstract-film festivals and sitar concerts.
Rating: Whine: You're seriously nitpicking over someone trying to increase money to an artists fund. Oh dear god. It's about 5e7/8.9e10. Do the math.
2)The bill provides $380 million to set up a rainy-day fund for a nutrition program that serves low-income women and children, and $300 million for grants to combat violence against women. Laudable goals, perhaps, but where’s the economic stimulus? And the bill would double the amount spent on federal child-care subsidies.
Hm. I wonder if they have to hire people for that..
Rating: Not outrageous. This is just like.. you're complaining they're trying to maintain the safety net while unemployment soars? HELLO, EARTH TO NRO.. COME IN NRO..
Perhaps spending $6 billion on university building projects will put some unemployed construction workers to work, but how does a $15 billion expansion of the Pell Grant program meet the standard of “temporary, timely, and targeted”?
Well, yes. And I'm reasonably confident the more people go to college, the better jobs they get... (of course, I'm not sure how this is temporary myself, but I can see how it's related)
Another provision would allocate an extra $1.2 billion to a “youth” summer-jobs program—and increase the age-eligibility limit from 21 to 24. Federal job-training programs—despite a long track record of failure—come in for $4 billion total in additional funding through the stimulus.
I'd like to see the long track record of failure. Really. However, both are definitly are useful. The second is less so had they cited the record...
Of course, it wouldn’t be a liberal wish list if it didn’t include something for ACORN, and sure enough, there is $5.2 billion for community-development block grants and “neighborhood stabilization activities,” which ACORN is eligible to apply for. Finally, the bill allocates $650 million for activities related to the switch from analog to digital TV, including $90 million to educate “vulnerable populations” that they need to go out and get their converter boxes or lose their TV signals. Obviously, this is stimulative stuff: Any economist will tell you that you can’t get higher productivity and economic growth without access to reruns of Family Feud.
But they needto apply first. Let's poison the well, shall we? (Also, I think I read somewhere that Digital signals save money somewhere... I should find a cite for that)
The next bit is trickle down nonsense, avoiding it.
Summary:
$15 billion for business-loss carry-backs
$145 billion for “Making Work Pay” tax credits
$83 billion for the earned income credit
Uh... I am at a loss to understand how people getting more tax money is bad, Republicans. Since you're the one who wants that SO BADLY.
ngress has already removed $200 million to fix up the National Mall after word of that provision leaked out and attracted scorn. But one fixture of the mall—the Smithsonian—dodged the ax: It’s slated to receive $150 million for renovations.
... you have a thing against museums? Oh, wait, it's that entire culture thing... (Actually, I thought they made their own oney.. weird)
The stimulus package is packed with approximately $7 billion worth of federal building projects, including $34 million to fix up the Commerce Department, $500 million for improvements to National Institutes of Health facilities, and $44 million for repairs at the Department of Agriculture. The Agriculture Department would also get $350 million for new computers—the better to calculate all the new farm subsidies in the bill (see “Pure pork” below).
Hm. Well. I can see uh.. the first maybe not being neccesary, the second might be, repairs are always ueful and new computer..
.. Okay, now you're just objecting for the sake of objecting. Look. Computers that go faster can do what...?
. For instance, the bill grants NASA $450 million, but it states that the agency must spend at least $200 million on “climate-research missions,” which raises the question: Is there global warming in space?
Er.. satelites.. observe.. earth.. brain.. draining...
$150 million for the Smithsonian
$34 million to renovate the Department of Commerce headquarters
$500 million for improvement projects for National Institutes of Health facilities
$44 million for repairs to Department of Agriculture headquarters
$350 million for Agriculture Department computers
$88 million to help move the Public Health Service into a new building
$448 million for constructing a new Homeland Security Department headquarters
$600 million to convert the federal auto fleet to hybrids
$450 million for NASA (carve-out for “climate-research missions”)
$600 million for NOAA (carve-out for “climate modeling”)
$1 billion for the Census Bureau
Hm. 1) do they have an old one and 2) okay, hybrids? Why not go fuel efficient... 3) ... dont' tell me, you think climate change is nonsense. Go away now.
$89 billion for Medicaid
$30 billion for COBRA insurance extension
$36 billion for expanded unemployment benefits
$20 billion for food stamps
Not like unemployment is hitting double digits... (it is)
Summary:
$4.5 billion for U.S. Army Corps of Engineers
$850 million for Amtrak
$87 million for a polar icebreaking ship
$1.7 billion for the National Park System
$55 million for Historic Preservation Fund
$7.6 billion for “rural community advancement programs”
$150 million for agricultural-commodity purchases
$150 million for “producers of livestock, honeybees, and farm-raised fish”
Okay. So you're against history too!!!! ... idiots. Look, when tourism down who loses revenue? ....
Also, good going quoting a Conserative think tank. No groupthink there.
The next bit is just for refrence, as I am going to probably time out: Look, we know you don't like this and you think Obama's doing an endrun. We know. Mind backing it up?
Summary:
$2 billion for renewable-energy research ($400 million for global-warming research)
$2 billion for a “clean coal” power plant in Illinois
$6.2 billion for the Weatherization Assistance Program
$3.5 billion for energy-efficiency and conservation block grants
$3.4 billion for the State Energy Program
$200 million for state and local electric-transport projects
$300 million for energy-efficient-appliance rebate programs
$400 million for hybrid cars for state and local governments
$1 billion for the manufacturing of advanced batteries
$1.5 billion for green-technology loan guarantees
$8 billion for innovative-technology loan-guarantee program
$2.4 billion for carbon-capture demonstration projects
$4.5 billion for electricity grid
(They do say some people estimate it'll take 165 billion for the grid. That's kinda useful, but I doubt Republicans would ahve been happy at that much.)
In sum, this is an $80 billion boondoggle that is going to reward the irresponsible and help state governments evade a needed reordering of their financial priorities. And the money has to come from somewhere: At best, we’re just shifting money around from jurisdiction to jurisdiction, robbing a relatively prudent Cheyenne to pay an incontinent Albany. If we want more ants and fewer grasshoppers, let the prodigal governors get a little hungry.
Or you know, lower the federal debt so they don't have to assume it? AND WHO RAN IT UP?...
ETA: Personally, I could maybe squeeze a billion out of that, but at the same rate, that's simply because I wouldn't have wasted time with some of the energy sources and pushed nuclear ... still, considering the patchwork of opinions, it's resonably fair. I don't 100% agree with it, but I can see the justification.
