Re: What’s in the $780 billion stimulus?

On Sat, 07 Feb 2009 17:00:02 -0800, El Castor <No_One@xxxxxxxx> wrote:

On Sat, 07 Feb 2009 13:52:35 -0700, mg <mgkelson@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:

Considering that we are all supposed to be living on the Information
Highway, it's not all that easy to get information now days. Here's
what I found, though, on what's currently in the bill (that hasn't
been passed yet). I think it both amusing and frustrating that a news
item that's supposed to tell you what is in the $780 billion bill only
lists about $245 billion (by my count). Maybe the rest of it is tax
cuts?

Why is it that the news media doesn't really give the public very much
hard information, by the way? Is it because they're lazy? Is it
because it's more expensive? Is it because they know the public is
more interested in propaganda than facts anyway?

"Joe Johns
AC360° Correspondent

MORE THAN $43 BILLION IN TRANSPORTATION INFRASTRUCTURE
INVESTMENTS

$27 BILLION FOR HIGHWAY, ROAD AND BRIDGE INVESTMENTS

$8.4 BILLION FOR PUBLIC TRANSIT INVESTMENT

$2 BILLION FOR HIGH SPEED RAIL

$1.3 BILLION FOR FAA AIRPORT IMPROVEMENT FACILITIES AND EQUIPMENT

$850 MILLION FOR AMTRAK

$250 MILLION FOR GRANTS TO STATES FOR INVESTMENT IN HIGH SPEED AND
INNER CITY PASSENGER RAIL

$100 MILLION TO MARITIME ADMINISTRATION FOR ASSISTANCE TO SMALL
SHIPYARDS

MORE THAN $76.8 BILLION IN EDUCATION INVESTMENTS

$39 BILLION FOR STATE FISCAL RELIEF TARGETED DIRECTLY FOR EDUCATION

$13.9 BILLION FOR PELL GRANTS

$13.5 BILLION FOR SPECIAL EDUCATION FUNDING ? This would bring the
federal government closer to the promised 40 percent of the national
average per pupil expenditure for every child in special education.
This will help relieve the increasing burden at the local level to
cover the rising costs of special education, and allow districts the
flexibility to retain support staff and teachers in the classrooms
where they are so desperately needed.

A neighbor of ours works with 3rd and 4th graders who are slow
readers. She was recently forced to vacate her classroom and was moved
to a portable that had been used for storage for several years. The
moved was caused by Special Ed people who were expanding their
operation and needed more space. In her opinion, moving special ed
kids into classrooms with the normal student population (very popular
with parents, but not with teachers) is disruptive and diverts
teachers from teaching to baby sitting. So -- $13.5 Billion down the
drain in the name of political correctness.

Some high profile Republicans were part of all this special education
bull*** too. Special ed is the biggest bunch of bull*** to ever hit
education. There are schools locally with as high as 19% kids
included as 'special needs'. Add to this all the kids with requiring
language support and the thugs requiring special attention, and who
gives a *** about the average kids who's parents are not rich and
noisy.

There are great many special education teachers who have 5-10 total
students on their roles. A game locally are parents who push to have
their kid classified as ADD, ADHD or some other bull*** category
since such kids get extra time and access to aids for testing. Their
kids are not really special needs qualified but with that label, they
can use calculators, have more time in testing, or have alternative
testing that will help them get into better schools. So parents game
the system knowing the system is corrupt.

So next time you walk into a high school, ask the principle how many
educators and administrators they have in the school. Then ask how
many students. Do a little math and compute a ratio. Ask how many
administrators qualify as top tier getting 100k a year as well. Ask
what is the annual budget for that school and how much is spent on
salaries. Ask for a listing of classes taught by all teachers and
number of students taught by those teachers.

You are going to get really pissed off. Senior teachers will be
carrying fewer numbers of classes as they will have picked up duties
such as NHS, mentor, classbook advisor, teacher cadet advisor, student
government advisor, dept chair or asst dept chair, and every other
bull*** job that exempts them from classes. Instead of teaching five
sections of about 150 kids, some will only teach 2 or 3 sections for
60-90 kids. And those kids will generally be seniors or AP type
classes. Newer teachers will have 150 kids and be teaching 9th and
10th graders where real discipline problems lay. They will be having
meeting all over the damn school every day planning and documenting
bull*** that has nothing to do with educating kids.

Finally, reflect on how many adults were in your high school? How
many were exempt from teaching the full load? How many principals? My
guess is you had a principle, a vp, a secretary or two, a librarian
with an assistant, a nurse, a janitor, a counselor or two, and
lunchroom staff. Coaches taught classes and sometimes the VP taught a
class or two. Now, nobody seems to teach.

$10.4 BILLION FOR TITLE I? The additional investment in Title I is a
critical investment towards children in poverty. As more and more
children are classified as poor during this economic downturn, this
substantial additional investment will help local school districts
ensure that their academic needs are being met.

A bone thrown to teacher's unions -- big supporters of the Democrat
party.

ENVIRONMENT

$6.4 BILLION FOR WATER AND SEWER INFRASTRUCTURE

MORE THAN $3 BILLION FOR JOB TRAINING

$3.25 BILLION FOR WORKFORCE INVESTMENT PROGRAMS

Job training and "workforce investment". Welfare and ACORN?

$160 MILLION FOR JOB CORPS

HEALTHCARE

$87 BILLION IN TEMPORARY AND TARGETED MEDICAID RELIEF TO STATES

What does that have to do with job creation?

Leading economists have found that targeted aid of this sort will
generate increased economic activity of $1.36 for every $1 spent.
Moreover, with unemployment up, the number of people who are eligible
for Medicaid also rises. Increasing the federal investment in Medicaid
will shore up the safety net for those vulnerable families.

HOUSING

$5 BILLION FOR SUPPLEMENTAL GRANTS TO PUBLIC HOUSING AUTHORITIES FOR
CAPITAL NEEDS

ENERGY

$4.7 BILLION FOR STATE AND LOCAL ENERGY EFFICIENCY BLOCK GRANTS

$4.4 BILLION FOR SMART GRID to improve the reliability of electricity
transmission grid

$2.9 BILLION FOR WEATHERIZATION PROGRAMS

$2 BILLION FOR ADVANCED BATTERY MANUFACTURING

$7 BILLION FOR LOAN GUARANTEES FOR STANDARD RENEWABLES

HOMELAND SECURITY

$800 MILLION FOR CONSTRUCTION OF PORTS OF ENTRY

$500 MILLION FOR FIREFIGHTERS ASSISTANCE GRANTS

SCIENCE

$1.2 BILLION FOR NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION

http://ac360.blogs.cnn.com/2009/02/06/what-i-in-the-780-billion-stimulus/

Probably 2/3rds an enormous wasteful boondoggle. Political payoffs
poured down the drain.
.

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