Details of the stimulus package

[DHC6twinotter]

Hey folks,

I thought I would post up a fairly detailed list of where the funds from the proposed stimulus package are going. I know points of it are currently being debated, but here is list from a few days ago. Sorry for the lenght.

EDIT: here is a spreadsheet from the latest revision: http://bennelson.senate.gov/documents/Nelson-Collins%20Stimulus%20Final.xls


Link: http://www.afa.net/pdfs/porkandpayoffs.pdf


[size=11pt]

Speaker Pelosi’s Payoffs and Pork Bill

H.R. 1, “The American Recovery & Reinvestment Act of 2009”
The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) recently found that the cost of the Pelosi-Reid stimulus package now exceeds $1.1 trillion. CBO also estimated that only 7 percent of infrastructure money would make its way into the economy by the end of the year and only 38 percent would be spent by the end of the 2010 fiscal year. Senator Jeff Session’s (R-Ala.) office estimates the actual number going to tangible road and bridge construction is just a little more than 3 percent. Where is this money going to? A not exhaustive look at the 1,588 page legislation, H.R. 1, “The American Recovery & Reinvestment Act of 2009” shows the bill is more payoffs and pork then stimulus. Many thanks to the website readthestimulus.org and its participating organizations.

PAYOFFS

To the “Green” Lobby

--$600 Million To Buy New Cars For Government Workers (Page 89)
These cars would be “green” friendly cars – however very few gas pumps have the right gas to run these cars. The Federal government already spends $3.5 billion a year.
--$10M for bike and walking trails (Page 65)
--$200M for plug-in car stations (Page 31)
--$400 million for NASA scientists to conduct climate change research (Page 22)
--$800 million to clean up Superfund sites (Page 122)
--$600 million for grants for diesel emission reduction (Page 119)
--$650 million for “alternative energy technologies, energy efficiency enhancements and deferred
maintenance at Federal facilities” (Page 119)
--$1.5 billion for construction of “Green Schools” (Page 176)

To the Unions

--$1 billion to the controversial COMMUNITY ORIENTED POLICING SERVICES COPS Hiring Program
--“$150 billion in new federal spending, a vast two-year investment that would more than double the
Department of Education’s current budget. The proposed emergency expenditures on nearly every realm of
education, including school renovation, special education, Head Start and grants to needy college students” Sam Dillon, “Stimulus Plan Would Provide Flood of Aid to Education,” New York Times. January 27, 2009.

NOTE: Private and religious schools are excluded.

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/28/education/28educ.html?_r=1

To the Abortion Industry

Representative Henry Waxman (D-Calif.) inserted in the original bill billions of dollars for family
planning groups, including the abortion giant, Planned Parenthood. Pressure and public exposure from
Congressional Republicans forced the Democrats to remove such funding from this bill. However the
bill still provides billions in reforming the health care system and working towards nationalized health care – with little to no debate.

--$2.7B in NIH grants which would be targeted to among other things embryonic stem cell
experimentation. (Page 56)

Other Special Interests

--$3 Billion for Prevention & Wellness Programs, Including $335 million for STD Education and
Prevention

Recent government expenditures in this area include a transgender beauty pageant in San
Francisco that advertised available HIV testing and an event called “Got Love? – Flirt/Date/Score” that taught participants how “to flirt with greater finesse.”

--$83 billion for the earned income credit for people who don't pay income tax.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB123310466514522309.html
--$246 million for Hollywood http://www.nationaljournal.com/congressdaily/cda_20090127_9337.php
--$50 million for the National Endowment for the Arts (Page 122)
--$75 million for smoking cessation (Page 148). This contradicts the latest version of SCHIP that is funded largely by new taxes on cigarettes.
--$4.19 billion open to ACORN. The Pelosi-Reid bill makes groups like ACORN eligible for a $4.19 billion pot of money for “neighborhood stabilization activities.”

MISCELLANEOUS PORK

Some of the biggest winners in the package are federal agencies:

--$54 billion will go to federal programs that the Office of Management and Budget or the Government
Accountability Office have already criticized as "ineffective" or unable to pass basic financial audits. http://online.wsj.com/article/SB123310466514522309.html
--$462 Million for Equipment, Construction, and Renovation of Facilities at the Centers for Disease
Control (CDC) (Page 137)
--$150 Million for Repairs to Smithsonian Institution Facilities (Page 128)
--$44 million to the Agricultural Research Service (Page 135)
--$227 million for oversight of the pork barrel spending in the stimulus (Page 11)
--$1 Billion for The Follow-Up To The 2010 Census (Page 49)

Discretion is given to governors and Mayors for how to spend a large chunk of the money. The U.S.
Conference of Mayors recently sent Congress a $96.6 billion wish list of "shovel-ready" projects which now could be funded by the stimulus. These projects include: “$1 million for annual sewer rehabilitation in Casper, WY; $6.1 million for corporate hangars, parking lots, and a business apron at the Fayetteville, AR airport; 28 projects with the term "stadium" in them; and 117 projects mentioning landscaping and/or beautification efforts. The taxpayers should be most teed off at the 20 golf courses included in the list.” http://www.ntu.org/main/press.php?PressID=1083&org_name=NTU



If this package is supposed to stimulate the economy, I fail to see how a lot of these expenditures will help. Sure, some of these items may really need funding to be more effective, but I don't see why these items should be included within an economic stimulus package.

Just my $.02. :D

[slosurfer]

I find this part rediculous considering Obama said there would be no pork in the stimulus package.

--$227 million for oversight of the pork barrel spending in the stimulus (Page 11)

I can see how some funding of certain public works projects can be in a stimulus package, but most of that is rediculous.

[DHC6twinotter]

I find this part rediculous considering Obama said there would be no pork in the stimulus package.


Yep, and on CNN, Nancy Pelosi claimed there wouldn't be any pork as well. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AaDtkG6afBc

[Scuba]

That's just pure rediculousness

[CJM]

Damn democrats and idiots..

[wifesaysimadumbass]

DOUCHEBAGS!!!

[DHC6twinotter]

Below is a detailed list of the revised package:

http://bennelson.senate.gov/documents/Nelson-Collins%20Stimulus%20Final.xls

Keep in mind the amounts are in thousands of dollars.

I'll try to post up an easier version to read once it gets released. :D

[Henrythewound]

Source is not from an unbiased source. I just watched a show on how the 1st 1/2 of the first bailout is basically unaccounted for. Any programs/stimulus that creates jobs is good regardless whether tey fall under the "green" category. It wouldn't be a bad change if a portion of the American workforce had the opportunity to make a living working in alternative energy industries or something else which might prove beneficial to us in the future.

[DHC6twinotter]

Source is not from an unbiased source.

Perhaps. I tried to find a list that just showed the data, but this effort yielded no results at the time. I did however, find a detailed list that was released after this thread was created. That list is in post #6. If you would like to find a more unbiased or more liberally biased source to balance this, please do so. It would be interesting. :thumbup:


I just watched a show on how the 1st 1/2 of the first bailout is basically unaccounted for.

If the show you watched is correct, that is scary. The link to the spreadsheet in post 6 seems to show everything accounted for now, but maybe that spreadsheet was released after the show was aired. :D



Any programs/stimulus that creates jobs is good regardless whether they fall under the "green" category. It wouldn't be a bad change if a portion of the American workforce had the opportunity to make a living working in alternative energy industries or something else which might prove beneficial to us in the future.


I agree. I think one of the many options to stimulate the economy is to provide work for those unemployed. I’d like to see high-speed rail, and some of the other infrastructure projects implemented. If building energy resources such as wind turbines, solar, hydroelectric, geothermal, nuclear, drilling for oil in AK, or whatever else will create more jobs, than I'm all for it. It would also make us less dependant on foreign countries for our energy solutions.

I'm also not opposed to things like biofuel, hydrogen or plug-in vehicle research. All may contribute to making us less dependant on foreign fuels as well. However, while I think this is important for the future of our country, I fail to see how this would stimulate our economy in the near term. My assumption was that this bill was aimed at stimulating our economy as soon as possible, not pay for research that may take years to conduct. That should be in a separate bill for the house and senate to debate over. I dunno…maybe I’m wrong.

My beef is with stuff like "embryonic stem cell research", a few of the things listed under "misc pork", and most of the things listed under "other special interests". Again, for the same reason listed above. :hillbill:

But again, this whole thread was just to post up some details of where the tax payer’s money is going. If others would like to contribute and add their own findings, please do so. :thumbup:

[oly884]

Any programs/stimulus that creates jobs is good regardless whether tey fall under the "green" category. It wouldn't be a bad change if a portion of the American workforce had the opportunity to make a living working in alternative energy industries or something else which might prove beneficial to us in the future.


I disagree, and not because it's "green"

'Creating' new jobs based on the green movement will only work when there is a demand for it. Ask yourself, if these jobs really are NEEDED, then why should the government have to spend money to create these jobs? If there's money to be had in these areas, then the free market would have or, at some point, will create these jobs. If there is no demand for these jobs, then what happens when the government stops funding these?

I can see what you are saying and yes it WILL create jobs, till the money dries up. Let the free market create these jobs. Worse yet, don't you think think there's a bit of a conflict of interest in the fact that the administration is now going to continually push for more and more regulations, and also 'creating' these green jobs? What this bill does is spend our money for political reasons, if the government really wanted to stimulate the economy, they'd SLASH the budget, cut taxes (for EVERYONE) and GTFO of businesses.

The idea that we can spend our way out of this problem is no different than a fresh college graduate saying "I'll spend my way out of my student loan debt"

It doesn't work unless you are incredibly luck and you INVEST in something that will offer a massive payback. However, more often then not, you F up, and spend and spend and spend until you are so far in debt, you'll never get out.

The way to get out of this problem is to pay off debts, this includes you, me, and the government. Yes, it's going to be really tough, and there may be some companies and people that fail because they went too far into debt, but failing is just part of life, and we learn from failing.

Anyone seriously know of other countries in this world that are not going down the path of socialism/communism? I want to raise a family, and I'm becoming more and more scared that it's just not going to happen here.

[DHC6twinotter]

A cool diagram from the Washington Post (sorry, if I knew how to do the click to enlarge deal, I would. Click on the link below for a larger image. :hillbill: )

http://media3.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/graphic/2009/02/01/GR2009020100154.gif

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/graphic/2009/02/01/GR2009020100154.html

[fustercluck]

Proof that change is not always good.

[Henrythewound]

One thing is for certain, the general working class is who is getting screwed. Bonuses continue to be awarded on Wall Street w/o penalties for when they screw up. There SHOULD be demand for "green" jobs such as more efficient autos, alt fuel sources but it seems the only thing that really motivates people is $$. When gas got slightly expensive ($4+/gallon) people started selling or not driving fuel inefficient vehicles, taking the bus or even riding a bike. there's nothing wrong with seeing a problem and acting on it before it gets dire.

If you knew your house had termites would you wait until it got really bad before you treated the problem? I an not an economist, I am a sort of pessimist in that based on the way money has been handed out I have low expectations for this stimulus. People are still greedy, others have not learned their lesson from their foreclosures, and the responsible few are paying for it. I am still in a job I enjoy and can afford to pay my mortgage, but this is partly based on decisions I made earlier in life which set me up in a stable position. The value of my home has dropped considerably in the past 2 years as a direct result of others greediness

[oly884]

One thing is for certain, the general working class is who is getting screwed. Bonuses continue to be awarded on Wall Street w/o penalties for when they screw up. There SHOULD be demand for "green" jobs such as more efficient autos, alt fuel sources but it seems the only thing that really motivates people is $$. When gas got slightly expensive ($4+/gallon) people started selling or not driving fuel inefficient vehicles, taking the bus or even riding a bike. there's nothing wrong with seeing a problem and acting on it before it gets dire.

If you knew your house had termites would you wait until it got really bad before you treated the problem? I an not an economist, I am a sort of pessimist in that based on the way money has been handed out I have low expectations for this stimulus. People are still greedy, others have not learned their lesson from their foreclosures, and the responsible few are paying for it. I am still in a job I enjoy and can afford to pay my mortgage, but this is partly based on decisions I made earlier in life which set me up in a stable position. The value of my home has dropped considerably in the past 2 years as a direct result of others greediness



Yes, there should be a demand for green technology, but there isn’t, and you are right, it is about money. Like it or not, that’s how the world runs. I’m not trying to justify it and say it is correct, but let’s look at a few things…

The way in which the ‘green’ movement has been pushed is by simple fear. No one I know of willingly wants to destroy the earth, rape the resources, and live in a barren desert for the rest of their lives, not one person. However, I know of many people that do WANT a better environment, but are frustrated with the paths that they are told they need to take (eg. Spend lots of money, buy this car, don’t eat this, etc, etc) it becomes less and less about the science behind it and more and more about the ‘green’ corporations and political activists that push ‘their’ agenda. The green corporations are no different than the oil companies, they will and have used bogus information for their financial gain. Let’s not ignore the fact that there’s a lot of information that keeps coming out saying that some of these once thought ‘green’ ideas are worse for the environment. Just look up ethanol as a biofuel.

As an engineer, I have modeled and worked on several ‘green’ buildings, but when it comes time to discuss the performance, the owner and architect are wondering why it’s not saving TONS of money, well, it’s simple, they were marketed to by a company selling the ‘green’ idea. Nothing more. They’ll spend $100,000 more on a project to save $1,000 a year in energy bills, doesn’t make much sense even if energy costs quadrupled. Like I said, the green movement has become more about making money though fear tactics and ‘feel good’ talk, most has little to do with what will not only make sense, but what will ACTUALLY WORK. This is not to say that there is not technology out there that is truly green and will really make a difference in the world, there is, but a bit of research and scientific understanding goes a LONG way towards helping the environment instead of listening to and believing someone who sells carbon credits talk about how bad global warming will become….

As far as the termite analogy, that is trying to match a simple problem with a problem a billion times more complicated. You can kill termites pretty easily, solving ‘climate change’ has yet to have an ‘easy button.’ We could go back and forth on the validity of the climate change problem and how much of it is man made, how much is simply part of how the world works…. At this point, it doesn’t matter much. If the climate is changing, then why not spend the time figuring out how to ADAPT to the change, as opposed to trying to stop the world from warming. After all, no scientist I’ve heard of will say that the earth has never changed temperatures, right? Even if we were not emitting CO2, etc, the earth would still warm, correct? If that’s the case, then why are we worrying about it warming if we already know it’s going to warm REGARDLESS of what we do? Why not take the time to prepare and adapt for these ‘changes’ that are coming? Whether we are making it warm faster or not does not make a difference, it’s changing, it will change, and there’s nothing we can do to stop it, so let’s get ready for it and not waste our energy and time on trying to stop it.

Ok, off my little ‘green’ soap box 

On to the financial issue:

You are 100% correct, people are greedy, and that greed has caught up with us, however, while capitalism can create greed, it can also destroy it. Jumping on the socialism bandwagon is only going to make things worse. Unfortunately, it looks like that’s exactly what Obama and the gang wants to do. I have yet to hear a logical argument about how spending money (as opposed to cutting taxes) is going to fix this problem. Cut taxes and people take home more money, when people have more money, they can pay off debts faster and start buying again. Spending money to create all these jobs will do two things:

1. It will definitely create jobs and at the same time, spend all the money we are ‘loaning’ to them :roll:
2. When that money is gone, all these jobs that were created will need to have money to pay the workers, well where does the government get more money? Oh, right, raise taxes. At that point it will be needed and they will justify it by saying, “if we don’t raise taxes, we will have to lay off tons of people and that will cause the economy to get worse” So, we then get to welcome higher taxes.

So, this spending bill that is being proposed/passed is going to make things worse, take a look at the polls to see what people think about it, then look at what congress/the pres is going to do. They will pass it, and not listen to you and me, from the sounds of it, I’d consider that a government that is starting to go out of control and not listen to the citizens it is supposedly supposed to represent….

[DHC6twinotter]

Anyone seriously know of other countries in this world that are not going down the path of socialism/communism? I want to raise a family, and I'm becoming more and more scared that it's just not going to happen here.


I lived in the Philippines for 8 years, and really enjoyed it. My parents were there for 14, and they go back for almost 2 months out of the year. It has a Democratic type government with a president elected every 6 years and a congress comprising of a Senate and House of Representatives. The Philippines is a developing country and there is corruption in the government (so do we though), but it seems far from a socialistic country at this point. Folks do get shot over elections there, and unfortunately, it's kinda a way of life. Other than the thieves, people are super cool there. The are very friendly, generous, and kind hearted. Lots of good food, nice beaches, hot weather, and typhoons.

Abduction may be a concern for Americans in the southern part of the Philippines, but where we lived in Cebu City on the island of Cebu, things were pretty safe. My parents raised myself and my two siblings there, and I have friends that raised there kids up in Manila. I miss it bad. :(

Anyways, Philippines gets my vote. It's not perfect, but it isn't socialistic either. :D