Stimulus Bill, Some Info for you to ponder

With some comments
LINK to CNN's site
Story Highlights
Congressional Republicans unveil list of "wasteful" Senate stimulus spending
Stimulus bill passed in the House without any Republican support
One provision: A $246 million tax break for Hollywood movie producers
Another concern: $75 million for salaries of employees at the FBI
Hats Off to CNN for actually putting this on their web site.

• $2 billion earmark to re-start Future Gen, a near-zero emissions coal power plant in Illinois that the Department of Energy de-funded last year because it said the project was inefficient. Shouldn't Energy companies fund their own infrastructure just like big oil invests in it’s own infrastructure. http://www.futuregenalliance.org/
• A $246 million tax break for Hollywood movie producers to buy motion picture film.
What? You got to be kidding?
• $650 million for the digital television converter box coupon program. So it’s the government’s job to buy everyone a TV converter that is probably already obsolete?
• $88 million for the Coast Guard to design a new polar icebreaker (arctic ship). While this is an important item for the Coast Guard this item should not be part of this Bill. Re-submit it as part of another, more appropriate Bill and if there is a need fund it.
• $448 million for constructing the Department of Homeland Security headquarters. There are a lot of government buildings out there. Re-hab one for half the cost. Times are tough.
• $248 million for furniture at the new Homeland Security headquarters. Bring your old stuff. Make do.
• $600 million to buy hybrid vehicles for federal employees. JUST SAY NO.
• $400 million for the Centers for Disease Control to screen and prevent STD’s. Take it out of your existing budget.
• $1.4 billion for rural waste disposal programs. Give it to the STATES. It their obligation to dispose of their own waste.
• $125 million for the Washington sewer system. SEE ABOVE.
• $150 million for Smithsonian museum facilities. WRONG BILL.
• $1 billion for the 2010 Census, which has a projected cost overrun of $3 billion. WRONG BILL. http://www.census.gov/2010census/
• $75 million for “smoking cessation activities.” Want to really make people quit smoking? Keep hiking the taxes. Otherwise you’re not serious about getting people to quit.
• $200 million for public computer centers at community colleges. No. People should buy their own computers. A computer is not an entitlement. They already have them in public libraries.
• $75 million for salaries of employees at the FBI. Wrong bill. If they need a pay raise it should go through the normal channels.
• $25 million for tribal alcohol and substance abuse reduction. No. They want to be independent Nations then fund your own programs with gambling revenue. http://www.hhs.gov/asl/testify/t991013a.html
• $500 million for flood reduction projects on the Mississippi River. Not again, Move. http://www2.mvr.usace.army.mil/UMRCP/
• $10 million to inspect canals in urban areas. States job. Handle it.
• $6 billion to turn federal buildings into “green” buildings. ABSOLUTELY NO WAY. UTTER WASTE OF CASH.
• $500 million for state and local fire stations. OF COURSE! Actually it’s the local jurisdictions job to fund this but tax caps have been putting them behind along with the post 9-11 frenzy.
• $650 million for wildland fire management on forest service lands. Wrong Bill.
• $1.2 billion for “youth activities,” including youth summer job programs. MAYBE. If the “YOUTS” are actually working and paying taxes. This is also so that they can buy Foreign made game systems too!
• $88 million for renovating the headquarters of the Public Health Service. NO. http://www.usphs.gov/
• $412 million for CDC buildings and property. NO. http://www.cdc.gov/
• $500 million for building and repairing National Institutes of Health facilities in Bethesda, Maryland. Is it in such bad repair? How did it get there, they had the money to redo the Capitol building visitors area. http://www.nih.gov/
• $160 million for “paid volunteers” at the Corporation for National and Community Service. http://www.nationalservice.org/ Typical government doublespeak. “Paid Volunteers” No. Hell no. The Works Progress Administration (W.P.A.) was created to help provide economic relief to the citizens of the United States who were suffering through the Great Depression. Call it what is is?http://www.indiana.edu/~liblilly/wpa/wpa_info.html
• $5.5 million for “energy efficiency initiatives” at the Department of Veterans Affairs National Cemetery Administration. Smoke and mirrors. http://www.cem.va.gov/cem/cems/listcem.asp
• $850 million for Amtrak. It’s time AMTRAK made a profit or go under. http://www.amtrak.com
• $100 million for reducing the hazard of lead-based paint. Stop making it, stop importing it.
• $75 million to construct a “security training” facility for State Department Security officers Can't they can be trained at existing facilities of other agencies. You can train at Blackwater for much less I’m sure.
• $110 million to the Farm Service Agency to upgrade computer systems. Upgrade to what Vista? Ha! http://www.fsa.usda.gov/FSA/webapp?area=home&subject=landing&topic=landing
• $200 million in funding for the lease of alternative energy vehicles for use on military installations. No. I’m sure the Military is being forced to buy these because they are made in some lowlife Senators district. Launch another investigation.

Ok so now that we have a peek into how our hard working Congress goes about the “People’s business” we can clearly see that they should all be fired. This is just a snippet of over 600 pages that we are going to get the bill for. While some of these things are worthwhile and deserve to be funded this Bill is not the appropriate piece of legislation. Our economy is tanking because the government messed it up with bad policies and lax oversight. This is their attempt to fix it? With a wish list of pet projects? We as taxpayers should all be indignant. It’s bad enough that congress is confirming one unethical cabinet member after another.
The point of this Bill is supposed to CREATE JOBS. Not temporary jobs, but LONG TERM, EXPANDED ECONOMY TYPE JOBS! Nothing on this page appears to do that. Reducing the hazards of lead paint for 100 million large is not going to cut it. Congress needs to do things like cut taxes for Americans reduce tax rates across the board and give businesses incentives to expand through tax cuts and employment incentives. Even lowering interest rates would help. This will cause businesses to start retooling and expanding. They also need to address the banking mess once and for all. That should be done with the quickness. People need real jobs that are created in the private sector. It’s the private sector that should be leading the charge with some help from the Feds, not the other way around.


Now is the time to call your Senator and tell them to sink the pig!