There's a fine line between "stimulus" and "pork"

[Kashka-Kat]

AT first when I heard talk of $$$ for infrastructure, I was thinking – wow. R& D for alternative energy sources and everything we might need to get a post-oil economy in gear. Retooling/ reinventing our industrial base. Innovative, effective mass transit. Getting our public school buildings and entire education system ready for the next 100 yrs. State of the art levees for New Orleans.

But I’m starting to fear that instead of a phenomenal opportunity, this might end up being a phenomenal deepening of debt and waste on a colossal scale. All I hear is “roads and bridges, roads and bridges, roads and bridges.” Roads and bridges are notoriously porky wastes of federal money – eg Sarah Palin’s notorious bridge to nowhere. Besides it was the “roads and bridges” crowd back in the 1920s who sent us down the road of developing the auto industry and oil dependency. It was then when we chose as a nation to divert fed funds - erything transit/transportation from then on went into the car-based economy.

Locally, we’re hearing about condo and office development under the guise of rebuilding of our downtown library. It won’t be just rebuilding the library. That would be OK. Oh no, its got to be a gazaillion stories tall with condos and offices – never mind that our downtown has been so seriously overbuilt with condos and offices that there is a huge vacancy rate, a glut of them left unsold esp with the credit situation. This would do nothing more than profit the same old speculator-developers who spent the last 20 years getting rich messing up our downtown, and nothing to innovate or develop new economies for our region.

Does anyone have any detail about what else is being considered as stimulus – I mean, besides the same old roads’n’bridges? Yep, I've been googling my heart out, just not seeing much detail. I think it would help get the repubs (and skeptics like me) on board if we could start seeing some detail

How is Obama & our legislators going to distinguish between pork and stimulus? Its up to us to closely scrutinize this and question everything. Now is our chance to have a functioning democracy—let’s go to it!! Yahoo!!!!!

[Taverner]

1. A stimulus is just pork delivered with strategy

[DBoon]

9. pork is a stimulus that doesn't work

building condos where there is already a high vacancy rate.

[Taverner]

10. I didn't know pork was supposed to not work

I always thought it was just getting a project built in your constituency, giving your district jobs - without any research into whether said project was needed.

[DBoon]

11. pork is a derogatory term

and in the context of a stimulus bill, is usually intended to point out the spending will likely not result in the expected economic activity.

The difference between stimulus and pork is like the difference between a vinophile and a drunk

[Auggie]

2. Line-item vetoes, anyone?

[Romulox]

4. Line item veto was found to be Unconstitutional by SCOTUS...nt

[Auggie]

13. Should have known

thanks

[Romulox]

3. According to today's Free Press, Michigan's share of the $850B stimulus is only $2.6B

Let's see. $850 billion divided by 50 = $2.6 billion? :wtf:

http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2009901230393

[Winterblues]

5. Gee 2600 million is now "only"

A million just isn't worth as much as it used to be that's for sure.

[Romulox]

6. Yeah, "only". It's .3% of the overall stimulus. And yet Michigan is one of 50 states.

Michigan is one of 50 states, and one of the more populous ones at that. We deserve more than .3% of the overall stimulus.

[4lbs]

8. The federal spending per state will vary depending on how many state building projects have been

authorized but placed on the backburner.

Maybe the "infrastructure spending" portion of the stimulus determined that Michigan only has about $2.6 billion in authorized state road/bridge projects waiting to be funded.

Remember, not all the ~$800 billion is for infrastructure.

[Romulox]

14. If the money is allocated on a basis other than need, then it is PORK. nt

[DBoon]

7. a stimulus usually has caffeine in it

Coffee, strong tea, Jolt Cola

Pork on the other hand is an essential flavoring ingredient, without which many traditional meals would be tasteless and lacking in essential saturated fat calories

[guitar man]

12. uh..huhuh..hehe

uh..huhuh..hehe...huhu..."stimulus" huhuh..hehe...huhu..

huhuh..hehe...huhu.. "pork" ...huhuh..hehe...huhu..



:D

[madinmaryland]

15. It really seems like most of the threads in GD belong in the Lounge today!!

[guitar man]

17. hey

you know, when it says both "stimulus" and "pork" in the subject line, it's hard to restrain my inner adolescent. :D

[Greyhound]

16. I am convinced that the key is for us (the government) to directly finance fledgling

small businesses outside of the current SBA system of corporate welfare.

Small business is the engine of our economy, employs America, and drives the innovation that was the cornerstone of our greatness. Big business takes care of itself by stifling competition and innovation, constantly seeking to reduce/eliminate employment and living standards.

[Lyric]

18. Considering the state of so many American bridges, I have no problem

with money being spent to modernize, bolster, and/or replace them.

But I do agree that we need more reliable mass transit than we need more roads. Ugh.

[TheKentuckian]

19. That's what I was about to say

All this stuff has been put off for an eternity in the name of small government and now the country is literally falling apart.

[sutz12]

20. I look at it this way....

"Stimulus" will be in the bill all the way.

"Pork" has become a sort of back door way to get line items in bills after they leave committee, and often after they are signed and passed and voted on by the floor. If we can stop the shenanigans, then we can stick to stimulus and avoid the pork.

We're getting lots of promises. It's a good idea to try and keep track of this stuff.

I'm thinking that almost any project that gets people working and has a long term public benefit is good.