CNN Poll: 3 of 4 Americans Say Stimulus Money Wasted

I'm guessing you cribbed this from some partisan website, and there is probably more to the story - but anyway, - bridges and roads, yes, but parking lots no? Park on the dirt.

That also doesn't seem to support your "political uses" I mean it's not being used to promote any political agenda that I can see- you seem to be contesting the social utility of a few projects, which obviously, when spread out over the country, aren't all going to be the same, also it's debatable as to what the economic value/multiplier effect of some of these things are.

For example, what if bridge repairs have a 2 year time frame to groundbreaking, but a golf course has a 3 month time frame? You go with the golf course if short term stimulus is your object

 

Yeah...U.S. News & World Report.

Do you really need a $150 million dollar parking facility at a Little League park? Really?

Sure it does. These were things that were doled out in exchange for votes with questionable utility as a stimulus. I wonder how many people were really put to work in building a course, not for golf, but for frisbee golf. I don't recall there being much more to a frisbee golf course than levelling the field and sodding it for grass.

True...but my perception is that the funds could be put to a better use both societally and putting more people to work over a longer period of time.

Perhaps, but things like the bridge have been used before as stimulus to put people back to work. Why not go with things that we have seen be effective before? Sometimes it is not wise to reinvent the wheel.

 

Well, I'm not sure how the housing stimulus could not be called a waste. Yesterday it was reported existing home sales plunged 27%. The 8k tax credit did nothing but delay the inevitable. Home prices could be in for a double dip any time now.

 

This just in 3 or 4 American's don't know how to balance their own checkbook.



DD

 

Do you have any proof that this actually occurred? I just did a bit of research and googled this phrase, I found it in a bunch of right wing blogs and some blog post on US news site....however the full context of the quote, which you apparently omitted, leads me to believe it is speculation, rather than fact:

This appears to be taking a completely unrelated document, a report by the US conference of Mayors, and speculating about the dropping of a provision of the stimulus bill means that these projects "are open" to get money - that's an incredible logical leap which is careless at best and disingenous at worst. It doesn't have any allegation whatsoever that anybody actually spent money on these projects.

http://money.usnews.com/money/busin...pork-in-the-obama-stimulus-bill.html?PageNr=2

Of course in the right wing echo chamber of telephone, this is taken as gospel, regardless of whetehr or not it really happened, and the fact that it's not even really alleged to have happened.

Do you have a link to an official Bill Provision/GAO/CBO/whatever type document or something else that indicates this money was actually allocated and actually spent on these projects?

I did not find anything in my cursory research that indicated it - just dozens and dozens of blog post copying this quote word for word, but purposefully omitting the context.

It's amazing the amount of disinformation that's spread out there these days. I'm embarrassed at myself for not questioning sooner.

 

Dude, he's complaining about 0.02% of the spend. It's just a partisan attack with no real merit.

 

this is bogus, this was a wish list item the city sent in, doesn't mean it will happen. Although I wish it would

 

I don't think it's a revolutionary thought to say that the stimulus was not the most efficient plan put together.

 

Yeah, 3 million jobs didn't do jack for the economy, would have been better to give them money to the rich.

 

This is the first I've heard of $6 million for snowmaking at a ski resort in MN. I would figure that if that had happened people like Michelle Bachmann would be all over that.

I don't have the figure but there has been stimulus money going to bridge and other infrastructure repair in MN.

Just to add if the snowmaking was at Spirit Mountain I could support that as the time I was there wasn't much snow.

 

yes. because that's exactly what i said.

 

Well now that the Republicans have killed additional stimulus and home buyer tax credits, the economy can tank, more people can lose their jobs, and so you guys can win political points.

Great job Republicans - way to use your power to hurt people so you can win a few elections!

 

If voters are only anti-incumbent, then why is it that a much higher percentage of Democratic incumbents are in real danger of losing their seats than Republican incumbents?

 

I agree. What if all of the stimulus money had gone directly to putting people to work and improving our infrastructure, rather than 40% of it going into tax cuts?

 

Short-term payroll tax suspension or sending checks out of around $2500 to EVERY American in the country would have been more efficient.

 

How do you guarantee that 90% of Americans don't just sit on that $2500?

 

and 95% of the americans do not know how the economy trully works, what is the point of the poll?

The fact that most people think something doesn't make it true.

 

60% of Iraqis say it's the 'wrong time' for US withdrawal.

 

Let the world be governed by polls!