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Furthermore, today the GOP revealed the small-print details of Barack Obama’s stimulus plan, which is supposed to rescue us from the economic crisis. The plan is filled with a staggering amount of waste. We will be adding billions to our national deficit so we can fund such fine programs as:
• $246 million tax break for Hollywood movie producers to buy motion picture film.
• $650 million for the digital television converter box coupon program.
• $88 million for the Coast Guard to design a new polar icebreaker (arctic ship).
• $600 million to buy hybrid vehicles for federal employees.
• $150 million for Smithsonian museum facilities.
• $75 million for “smoking cessation activities.”
• $200 million for public computer centers at community colleges.
• $25 million for tribal alcohol and substance abuse reduction.
• $500 million for flood reduction projects on the Mississippi River.
• $10 million to inspect canals in urban areas.
• $6 billion to turn federal buildings into “green” buildings.
• $650 million for wildland fire management on forest service lands.
• $1.2 billion for “youth activities,” including youth summer job programs.
• $500 million for building and repairing National Institutes of Health facilities in Bethesda, Maryland.
• $160 million for “paid volunteers” at the Corporation for National and Community Service.
• $5.5 million for “energy efficiency initiatives” at the Department of Veterans Affairs National Cemetery Administration.
• $850 million for Amtrak.
• $100 million for reducing the hazard of lead-based paint.
• $110 million to the Farm Service Agency to upgrade computer systems.
• $200 million in funding for the lease of alternative energy vehicles for use on military installations.
Will reducing lead-based paint stimulate our economy? Will inspecting canals in our urban areas create jobs?
Support for the stimulus plan appears to be fading fast. As we reported here, many believe that the stimulus plan won’t reach American taxpayers until it’s too late to create any real jobs. Meanwhile, our federal employees will have some nice Priuses to drive around in.
Thank you, Obama.
Huh?
Although it is not a Federal building, my local township just added solar panels to it's town hall building. It cost $35,000, of which more than half was paid by grants (ie tax dollars). The part that has my head shaking is that, because it is a small part time board, and the building is only used during voting and monthly board meetings, the yearly electric bill is only $1,000.00 a YEAR!
Yes, you read that right, for $35,000.00 we got something that will ease (won't eliminate because we live in Mid Wisconsin, not the most optimum place for solar panels) a $1,000.00 a year bill.
Thank You taxpayers, my township appreciates it.