Halloween or Stimulus? National Park Service to Buy a “Bat Gate” with Taxpayer Funds

• The Nation Park Service is offering up to $25,000 in stimulus funds for a contract to build a “bat compatible gate” in the Great Basin National Park, Nevada. The proposed 8 foot by 8 foot gate will be built into the opening of an abandoned mine in the Lincoln Canyon.

Connecticut Spends $1.3 Million in Stimulus Money for Archaeological Surveys of Man Made Lakes

• The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is spending $1.3 million in Stimulus funds to conduct “archaeological surveys” and perform maintenance on two man-made lakes in eastern Connecticut.

$2.3 Million in Stimulus Funds for Beauty School Tuitions

• Eight Tampa Bay cosmetology and massage schools are receiving $2.3 million in Stimulus funds to pay the tuitions for hairdressers, masseuses and nail technicians. The $2.3 million is coming out of the Pell Grant program which received $17 billion in federal stimulus grants.

$1.5 Million in Stimulus Funds being Spent on Synchronizing Suburban Traffic Lights

• Louisville, Kentucky is using $1.5 million in Stimulus funds to synchronize traffic lights on several of its surrounding suburban roads—the goal of which is to shorten the amount of time the city’s commuters spend sitting at each traffic light. As a result, American taxpayers will help subsidize the convenience of 60,000 suburban residents.

Federal Highway Administration Spends $4 Million in Stimulus Funds to Build a Bike Trail to Taco Bell

• The federal Highway Administration has allocated $4 million in federal stimulus dollars to build a 2.66 mile bike trail in Massachusetts. The planned corridor will provide a new path connecting the Manhan Bike Trail to the Northampton and Norwottuck Trails. Once the new trail is completed, the Manhan bikers will finally have access to the Taco Bell in Northampton.
   

NIH Spends Millions in Stimulus Funds on Questionable Foreign Studies: Will Dragon Boat Racing Create Jobs?

• The National Institutes of Health (NIH) received $8.2 billion in stimulus funds. Recent reports suggest that the NIH is using a substantial portion of this money for questionable studies in foreign countries. Specifically, the NIH is conducting a $65,472 study on the relationship between HIV and sex in St. Petersburg, Russia; a $700,000 study on how taxes, trade and politics affect tobacco sales in Thailand, Malaysia, Vietnam and other nations in Southeast Asia; and a $73,000 study on whether the Asian tradition of dragon boat racing will enhance the lives of cancer survivors.

$2.8 Million In Stimulus Funds Will Be Spent On Fighting Forest Fires in Washington, D.C. – Only One Problem: Washington D.C. Doesn’t Have Any Forests

• The U.S. Forest Service will spend $2.8 million in “Wildland Fire Management” stimulus funds on Washington, D.C., despite the fact that the city does not have a national forest. The National Interagency Fire Center (NIFC) does not even include Washington, D.C. in its annual wildfire statistics.

DHS Spends $31 Million to Upgrade Two Border Crossing Stations that See Less Than 22 Cars a Day

• The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is spending $31 million in “stimulus” funds to upgrade two border crossing stations in Scobey and Whitetail, Montana. CNN reported that these two stations, which are 13 miles apart, were not in need of renovations and see less than 22 cars a day. 

Casino Uses $67,726 in Taxpayer Money to Send Staff to Customer Service Seminar

• The Oneida Bingo and Casino outside of Green Bay, Wisconsin used a federal grant they received through the Stimulus package, to send their staff to a customer service seminar. The two day seminar was held at a local technical college to teach the casino staff how to handle confrontations with customers. It was clear to the instructors, however, that the casino staff was already well trained at handling confrontations.

THEATER SHOWING EROTIC PERFORMANCE RECIEVES $25,000 IN TAXPAYER STIMULUS FUNDS

• The Nation Endowment for the Arts (NEA) will be allotting $25,000 to CounterPULSE, a theater located in San Francisco, CA. Among others, the theater produces a show called “Perverts Put Out,” described by the theater as a “long-running pansexual performance series.”

NEA TO SPEND $30 MILLION IN STIMULUS MONEY ON PUPPETS AND HAND-WOVEN BASKETS

• The Nation Endowment for the Arts (NEA) will be allotting $30 million in stimulus funds for 600 non-profit grants to organizations such as the Center for Pupperty Arts and the Maine Indian Basketmakers Alliance.

$3.4 MILLION TO BE SPENT HELPING TURTLES CROSS THE ROAD

• The Florida Department of Transportation will spend $3.4 million in Stimulus funds to build an “eco-passage” for turtles and other animals under U.S. Highway 27 in Jackson Lake, Florida. The project will consist of a series of fences to direct turtles to a 13-foot long tunnel under the highway, helping them avoid the oncoming traffic.
   

STIMULUS FUNDS USED TO REHABILITATE HOMES AND BUSINESSES SCHEDULED TO BE DEMOLISHED 

• Picher Housing Authority in Oklahoma received $135,494 in stimulus money from the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) so they could rehabilitate homes and business in the Tar Creek Superfund site which is currently scheduled to be demolished.

WISCONSIN USES $15.8 MILLION IN STIMULUS MONEY ON RARELY USED BRIDGES -- LEAVES DEFICIENT BRIDGES WANTING

• Wisconsin has decided to use their Stimulus money to repair 37 bridges that carry only about 500 cars each day, ignoring 1,256 “structurally deficient” bridges in need of immediate repair.

MINNEAPOLIS SPENDS $2 MILLION OF STIMULUS FUNDS ON DANCE CENTER, BUT PASSES ON AN OPPORTUNITY TO HELP CREATE 360 MANUFACTURING JOBS

• The Minneapolis City Council recently voted to use federal stimulus funds to convert a vacant 99-year-old theater into a center of dance instead of funding a solar-energy-panel manufacturing plant that would have created 7 times as many jobs. The center of dance project will cost 2 million stimulus dollars and only create 48 permanent jobs according to the City. Interestingly, in the Spring Newsletter, the theatre estimated that completing the project would actually only create 26 full and part-time permanent jobs. At only 26 jobs, each permanent jobwould cost $76,923 to create.

$1.5 MILLION OF STIMULUS FUNDS TO BE SPENT ON SIGNS

• By order of the Obama Administration, roughly $1.5 million of stimulus money has been spent (so far) to produce signs bearing a “recovery emblem” for each project approved under the stimulus bill. In other words, stimulus dollars are being spent to promote stimulus spending. Make sense?

$120,000 IN STIMULUS MONEY FOR PRINT PAMPHLETS

• Last month, Senators Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY) and Charles Schumer (D-NY) announced that $120,000 in federal stimulus money would be spent on cleaning up the Onondaga Lake in Central New York. According to the senators, the federal money would help “improve the quality of life for residents in the area.” 

HUD SPENDS $327,078 IN STIMULUS FUNDS ON ITS OWN FURNITURE

• The Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA), an agency within the Department of Health and Human Services (HUD), spent $326,078.12 in stimulus funds on a contract to “purchase and install 98 workstations.” That works out to a total cost of $3,327 per workstation. HRSA will also get 20 “Conference Chairs in Grade A Fabric with Casters” as part of the deal.

FEDERAL AGENCY SPENDING $121 MILLION IN STIMULUS MONEY TO RENOVATE A VACANT BUILDING FOR ITSELF

• The General Services Administration (GSA), the Federal Government’s landlord, just announced that they will use $121 million in federal stimulus money to upgrade a vacant federal building in San Francisco.

Michigan Spends $1.5 Million in Stimulus Money to Improve Casino Sidewalks

• The state of Michigan has announced plans to spend $1,525,000 in federal stimulus money to streetscape six blocks of a downtown Detroit area surrounding a local casino and its parking garages. Taxpayers, of course, will fund the street decorations, at a cost of $254,000 per block.

“ARTWalk” NEW YORK SPENDS $3.8 MILLION IN STIMULUS MONEY TO EXTEND AN "ARTWALK"

• New York state elected to spend $3.8 million in federal stimulus funds to extend the “ARTWalk,” an urban art trail in Rochester.
• According to their website, “ARTWalk is a permanent urban art trail, connecting the arts centers and public spaces within the Neighborhood Of The Arts (NOTA)… Along ARTWalk you can find various pieces of public art, be it visual works, or practical things such as park benches or bus stops which are artfully designed. Art is even imprinted into the sidewalk!”

ARTWalk Info: http://www.rochesterartwalk.org/photos.php
Press Release: http://www.state.ny.us/governor/press/press_0402091_print.html
 

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RHODE ISLAND CITY ON THE "VERGE OF BANKRUPTCY" SPENDS $550,000 IN STIMULUS MONEY FOR A SKATEBOARD PARK

• Apparently the city of Pawtucket, Rhode Island, has been trying to “cobble together funds to pay for the skateboard park and [tennis and basketball] court upgrades” for several years now.

WASHINGTON, DC: BIKES FOR GEORGETOWN

• The D.C. Department of Transportation will spend $3 million in stimulus money to expand its “Smartbike” program.

Union, New York

• Democrat Stimulus: The town of Union, New York, received $578,661 in stimulus money that they didn’t ask for. The money is supposed to pay for homeless prevention and emergency shelter programs.

MONTANA

• Democrat Stimulus Myth: “A joint press release from Sens. Max Baucus and Jon Tester… claimed that $1.3 million in federal recovery funding would create 40 new jobs for the Flathead City-County Health Department.”