So, the debate rages on. What’s going to stimulate the economy, and what isn’t?
CNN has a breakdown of some of the topics that the GOP is concerned about.
Let’s take a look, shall we?
– $2 billion earmark to re-start FutureGen, a near-zero emissions
coal power plant in Illinois that the Department of Energy defunded
last year because it said the project was inefficient.
Hrm. Coal. Well, how do you do zero emissions coal? I’m not sold on this whole clean coal thing yet. And it’s near-zero, which means there are some emissions. And emissions and byproducts are two different things, so… Ok, I buy this one. Let’s axe it.
– A $246 million tax break for Hollywood movie producers to buy motion picture film.
Er.. why? Seriously. Why? They make millions on the movies, yet we need to help them pay for the film? Axe it.
– $650 million for the digital television converter box coupon program.
Didn’t this coupon thing already happen? And wasn’t it a complete failure? Supposedly the purpose here is to let the lower-income families continue to have TV reception after the conversion, but I think these coupons were snapped up rather quickly by everyone. I don’t see more coupons making life easier, either.
– $88 million for the Coast Guard to design a new polar icebreaker (arctic ship).
This is a DoD thing, isn’t it? Isn’t the Coast Guard technically an arm of the military? They have a budget. A massive, huge, disgustingly large budget. In fact, their budget is so large that $88 million is like pocket change. Axe this.
– $448 million for constructing the Department of Homeland Security headquarters.
– $248 million for furniture at the new Homeland Security headquarters.
Wow. That’s like.. Wow.. I’m not sure how big this building is going to be, but it better be massive if it’s going to fix a quarter of a billion dollars of furniture in it.. Seriously, are we loading this thing up with desks of gold and chairs of diamond?
Look, the DHS is supposedly a good thing, though I have a hard time believing it so far. And they need to have a place to do business, right? Are there no existing places in DC that can be purchased? I can accept the cost for building a new building, but $200+ million for furniture? Hell no.
– $600 million to buy hybrid vehicles for federal employees.
Well, techincally, this is probably a good thing. Reduces oil consumption (presumably), and requires people to build the cars, right? So what’s the problem?
– $400 million for the Centers for Disease Control to screen and prevent STD’s.
Why would you want to block this?
– $1.4 billion for rural waste disposal programs.
I’m not sure I understand this one. Isn’t this a state/local responsibility? Or is this money going there?
– $125 million for the Washington sewer system.
They’re rebuilding congress?
– $150 million for Smithsonian museum facilities.
Hrm. Well… Hrm. Does this produce more jobs? Sure, the facilities need to be built, and someone needs to run them… Not sure this fits under the umbrella of stimulus, though. The Smithsonian is a government institution, though, so perhaps this does fit. On the fence about this one, I think.
– $1 billion for the 2010 Census, which has a projected cost overrun of $3 billion.
COST OVERRUN? Jesus, we’re counting people here, what’s the problem? How about we do it online? No, wait, it has to cover everyone.. Hrm… What’s the purpose of this again? There has to be a better way of handling this.. $3 billion is insane..
– $75 million for "smoking cessation activities."
As much as I would love to agree with this one, it’s in the wrong bill. This is a stimulus bill and smoking cessation really doesn’t create new jobs. In fact, if you want to look at it from a job perspective, if people stop smoking, it will actually result in a loss of jobs, no? Quit anyway, though. It’s a great way to save some cash.
– $200 million for public computer centers at community colleges.
Another great idea, but not really for a stimulus bill.
– $75 million for salaries of employees at the FBI.
Increased salaries is nice.. But this doesn’t create jobs, does it?
– $25 million for tribal alcohol and substance abuse reduction.
See above reasoning for smoking cessation. Additionally, by "tribal," are they talking about Native Americans? Or is this some other meaning I’m not sure of… Seriously, do we need to pinpoint a specific population for this?
– $500 million for flood reduction projects on the Mississippi River.
Aha.. Infrastructure. This is probably a good thing, is it not? It should provide work for construction workers, and provides much needed infrastructure for the country.
– $10 million to inspect canals in urban areas.
This seems like a short term thing to me. Is there some intention to fix/replace/do something with these canals?
– $6 billion to turn federal buildings into "green" buildings.
Damn.. $6 billion dollars worth of green paint? Oh.. right.. Yeah, I like this one. I don’t see a major problem with renovating buildings and making them more energy efficient. In fact, this will also reduce the budget as less power would be needed for those buildings. I see that a win.
– $500 million for state and local fire stations.
This is necessary infrastructure, I believe. Assuming this is to keep existing fire stations open and possibly to open additional ones?
– $650 million for wildland fire management on forest service lands.
Would this help in California and other places where wildfires are prevalent? Seems like there’s plenty of work to be done there, and this would keep those jobs open, no?
– $1.2 billion for "youth activities," including youth summer job programs.
Hrm.. This would keep the youth out of trouble, provide jobs for those monitoring the activities, and even create jobs for some of the youth as well.. What’s the argument against this one?
– $88 million for renovating the headquarters of the Public Health Service.
Why? And wouldn’t this fall under the green building thing from before?
– $412 million for CDC buildings and property.
See green building argument above.
– $500 million for building and repairing National Institutes of Health facilities in Bethesda, Maryland.
Seems to me there’s a pattern here. Perhaps these buildings need better upkeep? Are these in such bad shape that this is necessary? And is it normally the government who pays for renovations such as this?
– $160 million for "paid volunteers" at the Corporation for National and Community Service.
This is cheating. Seriously. If these are volunteer positions, then pay isn’t supposed to be involved. If it’s a job, then fine. But this seems pretty short term to me.
– $5.5 million for "energy efficiency initiatives" at the Department of Veterans Affairs National Cemetery Administration.
Ok, I don’t mean to be crass, but umm… graves.. they’re pretty energy efficient already, no?
– $850 million for Amtrak.
Why? Seriously. Why? This is not a government organization, and I don’t see why they should get money and someone else doesn’t. Is this company in danger of collapsing? If so, why?
– $100 million for reducing the hazard of lead-based paint.
Stop using lead-based paint. There. Saved you $100 million.
– $75 million to construct a "security training" facility for State
Department Security officers when they can be trained at existing
facilities of other agencies.
I’m gonna guess that should be "when they can’t be trained at existing facilities" … Kinda stupid to build a training facility to train people that can be trained elsewhere. Besides, this is hardly something that will stimulate the economy. Drop this.
– $110 million to the Farm Service Agency to upgrade computer systems.
Where’s the stimulus in this?
– $200 million in funding for the lease of alternative energy vehicles for use on military installations.
Wasn’t there a thing before about eco-friendly cars? Oh yeah, that and the BIG FRIGGIN BUDGET that the DoD has? Yeah.. suck it up.
Seems to me there’s a TON of waste there. Most of this can be dropped, though some of it might be legitimate… Regardless, this entire stimulus thing is a complete mess. My wife has argued that it should be broken into multiple bills, each with its own theme. That’s a damn good idea, though it’ll never happen. Politicians seem to like to muddy these bills up with all sorts of useless shit before they push them through..
*sigh*