HEADLINES

Friday, September 17, 2010

Biden’s Friday Doc Dump: Defending the Indefensible Stimulus Package

Vice President Joe Biden released a glossy looking report (PDF) on Friday, September 17, 2010, purporting to defend the regime's $814 billion stimulus package. Entitled "100 Recovery Act Projects that are Changing America," it's got to be the much anticipated Friday Doc Dump.  Because, well, it's nothing more than a defense of the indefensible. 

I read the whole report, and my analysis shows that of the 100 projects—costing a total $8.3 billion of borrowed taxpayer money—92 of them reported jobs 16,693 jobs "saved or created."  The projects showing job impacts cost approximately $7.5 billion, for an average cost per job created (or saved) of $447,019.41.

That's FOUR HUNDRED, FORTY-SEVEN THOUSAND, NINETEEN DOLLARS AND FORTY ONE CENTS PER JOB "SAVED OR CREATED?!?"

THIS is the 100 best?  This is supposed to demonstrate the wonderful things we are saddling our children with billions in debt for?

As a frame of reference, the median household income in the US is about $50,000, meaning that for these projects that are "changing America," the government spent nine times the amount of a typical job's income.  It's changing us, alright.

A few examples of the galling waste:

    • The Nevada "Smart Grid" project, worth an estimated $137.9 million, "created or saved" 60 jobs for a per-job average of $2.3 million.
    • A123, a battery manufacturer in Livonia, Michigan used $249 million to build factories that "created or saved" 90 jobs. Average: $2.8 million.
    • The Kansas Broadband upgrade project cost $49.5 million and saved a grand total of nine jobs for a $5.0 million per job average.
    • New dormitories at Keesler Air Force Base in Mississippi:  $621,000 per job.
    • A new roof for the Bean Federal Center in Indianapolis: $592,000 per job.

Some of the projects in the report didn't even bother to estimate the number of jobs "created or saved," and for good reason.  They didn't create or save any.  The Dallas County Hospital District borrowed $680 million to finance a hospital construction project that would have been built anyway.  The impact:  Transferring both the credit risk and the financing costs to the taxpayer for zero net job creation.   But that's not all!  Call in the next 20 minutes and you'll get our special $15 million deal to build electric car charging stations, $50 million to build solar panels that were going to be built anyway AND this exclusive $39 million New York Broadband upgrade!

This is not "absolutely headed in the right direction."  This is headed right over a raging waterfall, and the only corner we've turned is the last river bend before the shoals.  If this money were put in the hands of taxpayers and small businesses, this recovery summer wouldn't be such a train wreck.

The list of the 92 projects, with their estimate price tags and estimated numbers of jobs created or saved appear in the table below.  The data comes straight from the report.

Millions Name Jobs
1.30 Ann Arbor Autism 1
2.00 Rutgers 4
0.61 Bridgeport Youthbuild 5
8.70 Abide 9
45.00 UQM Tech 9
0.03 A Harold 10
2.50 Goshen Medical 12
49.50 KS Broadband 17
8.20 Palmetto Health 19
3.20 Equinox Chemicals 20
2.00 Dublin VA 20
3.00 Loveland Crossroads 22
4.70 Kansas Highway Patrol 22
3.40 Atlanta Cops 23
1.90 Tiara Yachts 23
3.20 Ocala roads 24
14.90 Keesler Dorms 24
6.60 Jacobsville 25
0.50 Gorman Roofing 25
0.70 Meridianville Fire 25
8.30 Toledo Police 31
3.00 Malden 35
39.50 Denver Fed bldg 40
1.60 Navassa Fire 40
10.00 Batesville WW 40
18.50 Waukegan Waste 40
22.00 Merrill Tech 40
0.06 Masley 44
10.00 Denver Housing 50
28.00 Camden HTRW 50
15.00 BWI Safety 50
22.00 Preferred Sands 50
5.00 Old Wharf 50
40.00 Pike Place Market 50
24.70 Turbine Testing 60
35.50 Bean Center 60
137.90 NV Smart Grid 60
43.00 Stephentown 60
14.60 Cherokee HTRW 60
30.00 Cornell Electronics 68
3.00 KC Housing 68
32.00 Smith Electric 70
11.00 Naperville Meters 70
29.00 Ellis Island 70
111.00 TN Smart Meter 80
30.00 New Bedford Harbor 80
118.00 EnerDel 80
20.00 Gustine Lake 89
249.00 Livonia Batteries 90
94.00 Wisc I-94 100
299.00 Johnson Ctrls 100
13.70 Grand Canyon 100
18.30 Chicago Housing 105
32.00 Amtrak Cars 108
77.00 Atlantic Ave Viaduct 110
28.00 Denver Union Sta 110
175.00 NY Bridges 120
24.90 Raleigh Nat'l Guard 122
114.00 ECOtality 125
24.80 GE Plant 135
153.50 Cancer Genome 150
105.00 Tampa Port 150
5.20 CA Smart Meters 200
21.90 Baltimore Bridge 200
25.00 SEPTA Subway 200
117.00 Kahuku Wind 200
78.00 Reveal Imaging 200
4.40 Euclid Corridor 200
51.00 Ft. Bliss 230
49.00 Battery Plant 250
198.00 Caldecott Tunnel 250
17.00 McCook Hospital 250
18.00 Middle Basin 270
9.00 Amonix 270
138.00 Nelsonville Bypass 300
107.00 Lost Creek 300
200.00 Centerpoint 300
150.00 American Battery 300
170.00 Cayuga Ridge 300
35.00 Amtrak Downeaster 324
39.00 Cree Lighting 375
19.00 Silver Creek 400
17.00 V&M Star 400
12.80 Muncie Turbines 450
71.00 Cape May 500
61.00 Dallas Rail 600
161.00 Dow Kokam 800
25.00 St. Louis Bridge 875
2,800.00 BATA 1000
30.00 Mercer Mess 1200
400.00 Abound Solar 2000







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