Posted on 05/18/2011 5:36:23 PM PDT by Kaslin
Infrastructure: On top of the other failures of President Obama's $787 billion stimulus plan you can now add this: It didn't even fulfill the simple promise of creating more highway jobs and improving roadways.
Shortly after getting the gargantuan program through Congress, Obama heralded the stimulus' $28 billion in new highway money, calling it "the largest new investment in America's infrastructure since President Eisenhower built the Interstate Highway System" and promising that it would "help states create a 21st-century infrastructure."
Obama also said that the extra highway money would "create or save" 150,000 jobs by the end of 2010.
Well, the results are in.
A new study by economists Timothy Conley of the University of Western Ontario and Bill Dupor of Ohio State found that despite the influx of all that federal money, highway construction jobs actually plunged by nearly 70,000 between 2008 and 2010.
As the authors explain, many states simply took the free federal money and shifted their own highway funds to meet other needs. In fact, in some states, highway spending dropped, even with the added federal money.
Examples cited in the study:
Texas got $700 million in highway stimulus funds last year, but spent $560 million less on its roads in 2010 than it did in 2009.
(Excerpt) Read more at investors.com ...
There isn’t anything the policies of liberals ever improve.
Their world is a fantasy and a wasteland of failure and we all (ok 50% of us) get to pay for their policies.
How many of you know that the 787 billion stimulus is in Ryans budget and will be in every future budget if not removed.
We have a shovel-ready project on our southern border. If we’d spent this money on a border fence, it would be paying us back by now.
Unexpected.
The laborers and the operators unions around here, managed to get themselves an 18% raise in the past 2 years, thanks to the Stimulu$.
I recommend a shovel project for everyone.
Don’t forget we’re dealing with knuckleheads here.
So the states cheated the federal government. All the states? Regardless of party in control?
I had a shovel, I never want another one.
The automobile just enjoyed the byproduct.
Can you say “Hello Democrat Slush Fund for 2012’’! Biggest theft of the taxpayers money and no one is saying a peep about it.
I’ll give the Baraqqis credit for that much.
They didn’t waste a crisis.
(of course having 99% complicity with the media makes that a bit easier)
The real tragedy here is our kids and grandkids are going to be on the hook for this for the rest of their lives. We have done the patriots who gave their lives to make this nation the worst turn any generation of Americans have ever done by allowing this Marxist pop-in-jay the continued gift of breathing, really. This is a very sad time for America.
Other needs like teachers' unions.
I always make it a point to remind the young Zero voters that they have 787 Billion dollars of debt to be paid back by them. They got what they voted for and it will soon be time to pay up ... unfortunately, I and a lot of other parents and grandparents will not be around to bail them out.
TYPICAL BARRACK HUSSIEN O$$$$$AMA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
This stuff needs to stop!!!!!!
I’m not surprised.
Even Ryan’s budget is too little, too late
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.