Yesterday, Stephen Gutowski and I (Joe Schoffstall) hit the streets in Alexandria, VA to talk to some people about their thoughts on whether some little-known programs that were jam-packed into the $787 billion stimulus package passed by the Obama Administration actually were intended to better the economy. The absurdities include: $3.4 million for a turtle tunnel in Tallahassee, FL. A total of 22 bathrooms in Mark Twain National forest that carried a price tag of $21,000 each ($462,000 total). A genital-washing program in Africa that ran the taxpayers $800,000. Fifty-five thousand ($55,000) in Wichita, Kansas to spay and neuter pets. A total of $356,000 to research how children understand and perceive foreign accents. A whopping $550,000 for a skate park in Pawtucket, Rhode Island. And finally, a bridge connecting two Microsoft campuses costing $11 million (like Microsoft can't afford that themselves). As the unemployment rate sits at 9.6%, here is what people thought about the 'economy-stimulating' and 'job creating' projects:
Of course, this is not all of the ridiculous spending that was crammed into the stimulus bill. Other projects include $1.9 million used to photograph ants in foreign countries and $144,000 spent to study the behavior of monkeys on cocaine. According to CBS News:
Obama Administration economists say all the projects have valid goals, and the Recovery Act has put three million people back to work.Right
. In January of this year, it was predicted that 2.7 million jobs were lost nearly 11 months after it's passage. As the year went on, government jobs expanded, but were largely a result of the temporary hiring of employees by the Census Bureau. Those jobs are now gone.