Not Very Stimulated by the Stimulus

Yesterday an oversight report was released by Tom Coburn, (R-OK) and John McCain (R-AZ) which highlighted 100 projects funded by the Government's massive stimulus program as examples of the wasteful means our money is being spent. The report, called “Summertime Blues: 100 Stimulus Projects that Give Taxpayers the Blues”, is filled with projects in which the money might as well have been piled up and burnt. They are doing nothing to stimulate our economy, nothing to create or save jobs, and in the worst of cases sending our hard earned money overseas.

What surprises me about this report is that a lot of people, and certainly those reporting the news, are surprised by this. Anyone who's ever paid attention to how our Government works should know that Washington is the most wasteful, disconnected, and illogical funding source in the country.

Forget the cocaine for squirrels and studies of African ants reported by McCain and Coburn. This Government stimulus is just that; a stimulus for the Government and the favorite programs of its members. This money would better stimulate the economy if they'd just flown over the countryside and dropped out bags of cash.

This is clearly laid out on the internet at the Government's own reporting of the stimulus spending. (http://www.recovery.gov/) where anyone can look to see how and where their money is being spent. (That they feel they need a flashy website to make us feel good about it should tell you something.) Georgia has received so far $5.8 billion in stimulus spending which has resulted in 34,416 jobs. On average it costs the taxpayers somewhere in the neighborhood of $170 thousand for each job. Here in Columbus it's a bit higher than that. $8.2 million in stimulus funding has been spent in Columbus resulting in 43 jobs with an average of $186 thousand and some change per job.

Now here's where the numbers get really disturbing: The mean personal income in Georgia is about $35 thousand; depending on the source the numbers vary but not by much. Assuming these stimulus jobs are paying these workers the state average, for every dollar that goes into a worker's pocket 5 dollars are spent on who knows what. (Road signs, administrative overhead, flashy websites) If the economy were a car, Obama, Pelosi, and Reid would try to make it go faster by loading it with people and piling bricks in the trunk. Sure that car would go faster... if you drove it off a cliff.

This mind-numbing waste of taxpayer money is typical of our current elite ruling class who believe that THEY are the engine that drives the economy, THEY are the mechanism to put people to work, and it's THEIR money to spend, not yours. They say they want to put people back to work, they want to rebuild this country and it economy. However they have no concept of what it takes to make this country function and little respect for those of us who do the real work.

The only thing the Government can stimulate well is itself (that and the American people into action). While the Government is practically the largest employer in the US, it's also the least efficient. If Washington truly wishes to create jobs, then they should enable consumers to consume, enable employers to employ, enable workers to work then just get the hell out of our way.