Tuesday, February 10, 2009

Take Action Today to Stop the 'Stimulus!

Time is of the essence but it is not too late to stop the $827 BILLION "stimulus" bill now under consideration in the U.S. Senate. Many have said this bill is loaded down with pork. The Center for Fiscal Accountability has a great weblog where you can see some examples of the useless expansions of government that are proposed in this bill. They include:




  • $2 billion earmark for FutureGen near zero emissions powerplant in Mattoon, IL

  • $39 billion slush fund for "state fiscal stabilization" bailout 

  • $5.5 billion for making federal buildings "green" (including $448 million for DHS HQ) 

  • $200 million for workplace safety in USDA facilities 

  • $275 million for flood prevention 

  • $65 million for watershed rehabilitation 

  • $200 million for public computer centers at community colleges and libraries 

  • $650 million for the DTV transition coupon program 

  • $307 million for constructing NIST office buildings 

  • $1 billion for administrative costs and construction of NOAA office buildings 

  • $100 million for constructing U.S. Marshalls office buildings 

  • $300 million for constructing FBI office buildings 

  • $800 million for constructing Federal Prison System buildings and facilities 

  • $10 million to fight Mexican gunrunners 

  • $1.3 billion for NASA (including $450 million for "science" at NASA) 

  • $100 million to clean up sites used in early U.S. atomic energy program 

  • $10 million for urban canals 

  • $2 billion for manufacturing advanced batteries for hybrid cars 

  • $1.5 billion for carbon capture projects under sec. 703 of P.L. 110-140 (though section only authorizes $1 billion for five years) 

  • $300 million for hybrid and electric cars for federal employees 

  • $198 million to design and furnish the DHS headquarters 

  • $255 million for "priority procurements" at Coast Guard (polar ice breaker) 

  • $500 million for State and local fire stations 

  • $180 million for construction of Bureau of Land Management facilities 

  • $500 million for wildland fire management 

  • $110 million for construction for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service 

  • $522 million for construction for the Bureau of Indian Affairs 

  • $650 million for abandoned mine sites 

  • $75 million for the Smithsonian Institution 

  • $1.2 billion for summer jobs for youth 

  • $412 million for CDC headquarters 

  • $500 million earmark for NIH facilities in Bethesda, MD 

  • $160 million for "volunteers" at the Corp. for National and Community Service 

  • $750 million earmark for the National Computer Center in MD 

  • $224 million for International Boundary and Water Commission - U.S. and Mexico 

  • $850 million for Amtrak 

  • $100 million for lead paint hazard reduction 



Does this look like a job-creation bill or a massive expansion of government? The fact is, we are adding over $800 billion to a $3 trillion annual federal budget. Next year, we will start with a baseline budget of almost $4 trillion and grow from there. Even President Obama has admitted we will have deficits of at least $1 trillion for years to come.


It is not too late, but time is short. Log on to NoStimulus.com and add your voice to the hundreds of thousands of everyday Americans who are telling Congress to stop! Don't delay, log on now!


1 comment:

Scott Jones said...

I noticed in your blog that you don't care much for "green".
While I find it unfathomable to believe that human impact has had no impact on our environment (all those rain forests did not cut and burn themselves down - trees absorb CO2 and factory mammal farms produce CO2)
Have you considered that eliminating our dependence on foreign oil could pay huge benefits in not funding regimes that hate us? Independence is the answer - I think.
Green should be a CONSERVATIVE issue.
The only thing I can figure is that Conservatives have been hijacked by big business, whose profits are dependent on the status quo.
Government involvement is not always a bad thing - and leaving business to make all the decisions is not always a good thing (Peanut Corp of America, Financial services, Enron, and on and on..)