Lynn R. Mitchell at the Washington Examiner picks just 8 projects to prove her point:
- The sidewalk to nowhere - $89,298: A small town in Oklahoma received stimulus money to replace a quarter-mile stretch of sidewalk that was replaced only five years ago. The sidewalk reportedly "led to a ditch."
- Studying and photographing ants - $1.9 million: Yes, that's right ... $1.9 million was given by the federal government to the California Academy of Sciences so they could send researchers to the Southwest Indian Ocean Islands and east Africa to "capture, photograph and analyze thousands of exotic ants." The information is to be used to catalog the thousands of ant species throughout the world. Helpful? For some people, yes, but should it qualify for tax money?
- Forest Service to replace windows in closed visitor center - $554,763: The visitor center at Mount St. Helens in Washington state was closed in 2007 and has no plans to reopen. However, the government designated half-a-million dollars of stimulus money to replace the windows, a prime example of misdirected funds. I know ... it's mind-boggling.
- Snowmaking and chairlifts for Mt. Snow, VT - $25 million: How does a ski resort qualify for federal help? Mt. Snow, the "gateway to Vermont," will use stimulus money to replace chairlifts, construct a 120-million-gallon storage pond for snowmaking, and install additional snowmaking guns. I have nothing against Vermont but we have ski resorts in Virginia that would probably like to have $25 million handed over for improvements.
- "Greening" of Poff Federal Building in Roanoke, Va - $50.9 million: This is a building that cost several million dollars to build in the 1970s. The stimulus money will be used to replace windows and the heating/cooling system. No money, however, will be used on needs of individual tenants, and the building's largest tenant is not planning to return to the building after the green renovation.
- Scientist attempts to create joke machine - $712,883: Northwestern University researchers want to develop "machine-generated humor" with almost three-quarter of a million dollars of your tax money. That certainly is not funny to fiscally conservative taxpayers.
- Turtle tunnel - $3.4 million: Florida plans to build a 13-foot long tunnel under U.S. Highway 27 to provide safe passage for turtles and other animals to avoid squashed creatures in the roadway. By my estimate that's a cost of approximately $262,000 per foot of tunnel. Want to make bets on how many turtles miss the tunnel and still end up becoming speed bumps on the road?
- Smokers and smartphones - $497,893: Smokers in DC who want to quit may receive a smartphone so they can contact their “stop smoking” support group to prevent relapses, thanks to stimulus funds going to the American Legacy Foundation. That's half-a-million dollars from taxpayers to provide smartphones. I don't know about you but my old cell phone is just that ... old, battered, and still being used. It is a bit like a kick to head to know that my hard-earned tax dollars are being used for others to own smartphones.
2 comments:
All of the so-called "turtle tunnel" facts given are wrong. The tunnel didn't cost $3.4 million - it came in under $1 million under the proposed budget. It is not 13 feet long. In fact, there are 3 tunnels, each of which is 152 feet long. But the tunnel part of the project only comprises <17% of the overall project costs. The 2-miles of barrier walls, designed to keep wildlife off of the roadway and motorists safe, forms the bulk of the project. The per foot cost is <$200. There are no bets needed on how many turtles miss the tunnel - the barrier walls block the road. A turtle or alligator comes out of the water and heads towards the road. Once it hits the wall, it can either go left or right. Either way, it runs into a tunnel. It's not rocket science. The point of the project is to keep motorists safe. For some reason, right wing pundits have tried to portray this as a "save the turtle - feel good" project, which it is not. I'm against wasteful stimulus projects but this ain't one of them. Keeping motorists safe on US highways is a good thing. The fact that it also helps wildlife is an extra bonus.
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