Tennessee’s Stimulus Share Stimulates Government, not Economy -By Warner Todd Huston My good friend, Ken Marrero over at Blue Collar Muse, did some interesting research into where the money from Tennessee’s share of the so-called stimulus payoff ends up going. Ken notes that there is a lot of money floating around but little of it goes to stimulate the economy. In fact, it seems that the lion’s share goes to government and its grasping needs as opposed to the economy. According to Marrero, The Volunteer State stands to have a windfall of $3,779,708,000 thanks to the pork-laden bill passed by Congress and President Obama. The list of payouts is impressive, but it really does show that only a small amount of the total could be considered an economic stimulant. The list of recipients is instructive: $771,610,000 on Education $171,678,000 on “General Purpose” $1,100,000,000 for Medicaid $10,200,000 for the Foster Care system $71,988,000 to mass transit capital grants $20,394,000 to “clean water” programs $57,814,000 to drinking water programs $97,467,000 to something called “weatherization” $59,065,000 to the state energy program $7,199,000 for immunization $2,614,000 for elderly nutrition $41,932,000 to child care $19,699,000 to the shadowy idea of “community services” $2,069,000 to the “temporary emergency food assistance program” $2,064,000 for emergency food and shelter $11,500,000 for vocational rehabilitation $174,210,000 for K thru 12 education $50,386,000 for school improvement $236,163,000 goes to the individuals with disabilities act … well, this is just a tiny slice of the list that Marrero gives us — he also goes into detail about the items above. What his work does show is that few of these projects are economic projects. Instead what they are is grist for the mill of big government. Little of this money seems to be going to the economy in the form of helping business, assisting people with loans, or creating solid, long-term jobs. In summation, Marrero says: Our totals are quite interesting. Of our total $3,779,708,000 - $1,246,017 goes to various Education programs, $1,100,000,000 goes to Medicaid leaving just $1,433,691,000 to spend on everything else. Almost two thirds of the money is excluded from stimulating the Economy in just two general items. Of the monies left, $771,282,000 also fails to stimulate the Economy, $662,409,000 falls under the “Maybe” category and only $12,979,000 has the appearance of true Stimulus spending. But Tennessee is no different than any other state in this regard. Obama and his minions in Congress did nothing to stimulate a flagging economy. This bill is meant for one thing and one thing only: to enlarge government and infuse the people’s money into dubious programs of little worth as a way to self-perpetuate government. This porkulus bill is more proof than ever that we now have a government of the government, by government, and for the government. And like cancer it grows to kill its host. ____________ Warner Todd Huston is a Chicago based freelance writer, has been writing opinion editorials and social criticism since early 2001 and is featured on many websites such as newsbusters.org, Human Events Magazine, townhall.com, New Media Journal, Men’s News Daily and the New Media Alliance among many, many others. Additionally, he has been a frequent guest on talk-radio programs to discuss his opinion editorials and current events. He has also written for several history magazines and appears in the new book Amazon.com: Americans on Politics, Policy, and Pop Culture: The 101 Best Opinion Editorials From OpEds.com @@AMEPARAM@@http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51T5YDHGNDL.@@AMEPARAM@@51T5YDHGNDL. Feel free to contact him with any comments or questions : EMAIL Warner Todd Huston
Cool. And by all appearances, PA is headed down the same path, extending existing programs that the central control agency thinks beneficial regardless of what the grass roots wants and really needs. I don't feel the love up here. Arguably worth the observation, whatever bridges, roads, and construction is needed (and plenty of it is) those things are temporary jobs that will have little long term effect.
Well, I'm still awaiting something, mostly anything, from our new governor, Jan Brewer, that took over for the NEW DHS dingo, Janet Napolitano..... No word, no idea, no hope at all! Yup, I can feel the "stimulation" already! ( me thinks we've been...." " (looking for a clean word here....note the long pause?...) Just Not in my current vocabulary I guess... Bill
We wouldn't be in such a mess if the state's had not created and supported all the silly failed 'social programs'. Huge waste of funding. Jobs were out there for those healthy enough to work. BUT.... Welfare paid better.....
Stimulus In Illinois Three contractors are bidding to fix a broken fence at the White House. One is from Chicago, another is from Tennessee, and the third is from Minnesota. All three go with a White House official to examine the fence. The Minnesota contractor takes out a tape measure and does some measuring, then works some figures with a pencil. "Well," he says, "I figure the job will run about $900: $400 for materials, $400 for my crew and $100 profit for me." The Tennessee contractor also does some measuring and figuring, then says, "I can do this job for $700: $300 for materials, $300 for my crew and $100 profit for me." The Chicago contractor doesn't measure or figure, but leans over to the White House official and whispers, "$2,700." The official, incredulous, says, "You didn't even measure like the other guys! How did you come up with such a high figure?" The Chicago contractor whispers back, "$1000 for me, $1000 for you, and we hire the guy from Tennessee to fix the fence." "Done!" replies the government official. And that, my friends, is how the new stimulus plan will work.
It's really just a national version of The Shell Game. Put the money under one shell, move them all round so fast, nobody watching knows where it has gone....... There is NO money being made, no new jobs generated. It's all just moved around, one pot to another. The various countries simply trade each other's debt around. It's the perks of the various Trade Agreements that are the important thing - the money is just the vehicle. The problem is, these vehicles have flat tires and their tanks are on "E"......
