I seriously wonder if the book tossed at Obama's head actually found its mark. In the Rose Garden this morning, El Presidente again touted a new $48 billion stimulus-lite, this round aimed at "improving infrastructure."
WASHINGTON—President Barack Obama continued Monday his push for new investment in infrastructure, saying his plan to upgrade the nation's roads, railways and runways would immediately put people to work.
"By making these investments across the country, we won't just make our economy run better over the long haul, we'll create good, middle-class jobs right now," he said at a press briefing, just days after news that the U.S. unemployment rate held steady at a steep 9.6% in September.
Citing problems with collapsing bridges and failing levees, the president described the nation's public infrastructure as "woefully inefficient" and "outdated." With so much rebuilding needed, it "makes absolutely no sense" that almost one in five construction workers is still unemployed, he said.
What happened to all the "shovel-ready" projects contained in the original stimulus? Last month, you saw a project-by-project analysis of the regime's "Top 100" stimulus projects, and an estimate of the cost per job "created or saved." The average cost: Well over $400,000 per paycheck.
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.
We don't have $50 billion to spend on another new, pork-laden bill. The regime says that this plan "won't add to the deficit," which means raising revenue by increasing taxes or cutting spending in other programs (like, defense, NASA, anti-terrorism, etc). Furthermore, Obama's plan only calls for spending $48-$50 billion. That's sure to get a fatter price tag, once the lame duck Congress gets through packing it with pork barrel projects that create or save nine jobs in Kansas.
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