We hope that this report will become part of a regular series as new recipient reports are released each quarter. Some of the questions we asked are: Is the money allocated based on political affiliation? It looks like it. Is the money allocated based of unemployment levels? Nope.
Tar. Feathers.
I’d be more convinced if they reported anything about the urbanity of some of the congressional district averages. That the majority of Democrat districts are also heavily urban is not insignificant in terms of projects that could seek funding under this program.
Also, as I typed that, I began to wonder about party affiliation spending being a chicken-and-egg problem. Are the Democrat-represented districts receiving 60% more funding on average than the Republican-represented districts because of favoritism being shown in the distribution of funds, or because the districts that voted for Republicans don’t have it in them to try and manufacture ludicrous ways to take and spend ARRA money?
Interesting, they looked at districts that were marginal (barely favored Obama over McCain) and saw lower numbers than for districts that were solidly for Obama. That strikes me as foolhardy, if the money is being doled out in order to secure votes. But another scenario is simply that this is feeding time and the people with connections get more space at the trough.
Transparency…What a wonderful concept. We can track where the stimulus money is going. Another President Obama promise delivered.
The biggest issue, which will be with us for months is the nationalization of banks. THIS IS NOT NEW. THE FDIC HAS BEEN SEIZING FAILED BANKS FOR YEARS. As big banks fail, they too will be seized. Due to the lack of deregulation, we will have nationalized banks within two years. Instead of Free Market, it will be a Regulated Market. Get ready Conservatives, here it comes and you will not be able to stop it.