Cash for Caulkers Boondoggle in Texas

By now, most of us have heard of the Cash for Caulkers scheme (if not, you can read more about it here).

Turns out, like much of the stimulus cash, these funds are being wasted on mostly administrative costs. The latest example out of Texas has that state spending $2 million to weatherize 7 homes. An average cost of $285,000 per home!

For more, check out this video from Fox News' "Cashin In."

More on the Willy-Nilly Stimulus Bill(y)

The Washington Examiner asks:

Has the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act -- known more commonly as the stimulus -- been a well-intentioned failure as a jobs-creation bill, or is it a huge porky slush fund that was created without much thought?

and answers:

President Obama promised that his stimulus package would be, among other things, "targeted." Our own Mark Hemingway reported recently a study of stimulus spending that demonstrated there is no rhyme or reason to stimulus spending in terms of local unemployment. ...

Nothing in the data suggests that higher-unemployment states are more likely to get larger amounts of money per capita. It appears that very little thought went into directing funds toward the states most in need of jobs during the first round of stimulus funding, which ended September 30.

Here is the graph Hemingway constructed to demonstrate his point:

("Each square represents a state (or D.C.), and each state sits along the two axes based on its unemployment rate and its amount of stimulus spending per congressional representative. (Congressional Districts contain roughly the same number of people nationwide).")

"Senate Plan will Cost NH"

That is the headline to a quick story in today's Union Leader as well as the simple message from the president and general manager of Anthem Blue Cross Blue Shield to NH's health insurance customers:

[E]xcise taxes on expensive health plans and a tax hitched to the ranks of those covered by not-for-profit insurers in each state both will add costs to local consumers and employers.

The tax on so-called Cadillac health plans will hit the state because health care costs in the area are high, a fact reflected both in medical bills and insurance premiums.

[President and general manager Doug] Wenners said disproportionately large numbers of both small and bigger businesses offer plans that will exceed the thresholds at which the excise tax begins to apply -- $23,000 per family, and $8,500 per individual.

The state will also be hit by a higher than average share of a national tax that raises a total $6.7 billion, but exempts those covered by not-for-profit plans. A higher percentage of people are insured by for-profits in New Hampshire than in any other state, Wenners said.

$4 Billion More in Earmarks

Remember that?

President Obama again broke that pledge today by signing a defense appropriations bill chock full of pet projects and pork barrel spending, much of which has nothing to do with national defense.

The Wall Street Journal reports:

But the earmarks in the defense-spending bill could point to a longer-term clash between lawmakers and Mr. Obama, who campaigned on a pledge of changing the way Congress allocates earmarks. Mr. Obama has said that earmarks can be a waste of government funds and wants more public information about how they are awarded by Congress.

Member of Congress in both parties defend the use of earmarks and say that they are often for worthy projects.

Among the earmarks in the Defense bill: $18.9 million for the Edward M. Kennedy Institute for the Senate sponsored by Sen. John Kerry (D., Mass.); a $23 million item for the Hawaii Healthcare Network, sponsored by Senate appropriations Chairman Daniel Inouye (D., Hawaii); a $20 million appropriation for the National World War II museum in New Orleans, by Democratic Sen. Mary Landrieu and Republican Sen. David Vitter of Louisiana; and $5 million for a Heritage Center at San Francisco's historic Presidio, an item included by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi in her "community funding requests." ...

As usual, many of the top recipients of earmarks in the defense bill were high-ranking appropriators: Mr. Inouye got 37 earmarks totaling $198.2 million, while ranking Republican Thad Cochran (R., Miss.) got 45 totaling $167 million. Mr. Inouye also is chairman of the defense subcommittee, and Mr. Cochran is the ranking member.

On the House side, defense subcommittee chairman John Murtha (D., Pa.) sponsored 23 earmarks totaling $76.5 million, while ranking Republican C.W. "Bill" Young got 36 totaling $83.7 million, according to Taxpayers for Common Sense.

Line by line, huh? Maybe next year, but not holding our breath.

Chat With Governor Lynch Today

This morning (Monday December 21, 2009) at 10am Governor Lynch will take part in an online chat hosted by the Live Free or Die Alliance. This is your chance to question the Governor directly with regards to the overspending in Concord and the 38 new taxes and fees (including the new LLC tax) instituted to pay for it all.

Here is how the LFDA describes the chat:

The LFDA will host its inaugural online chat event with Governor John Lynch on December 21st at 10:00am. Former Governor Steve Merrill will participate as Moderator in what is sure to be an informative session on the issues facing the state.

Anyone can participate in this live chat event. Once you are logged in, you'll be able to email your questions in to Governor Lynch directly about state and community issues that affect you, and listen live as he answers.

Visit the LFDA now to register and take part in today’s chat!

More Data Suggests Politicalization of the Stimulus

A report released by the Mercatus Center at George Mason University suggests stimulus dollars thus far have been doled out without regard to the levels of unemployment in a particular area. Instead, the report found, "Democratic districts received 1.6 times more awards than Republican ones" and "Democratic districts also received 1.89 times more stimulus dollars than Republican districts."

It had been reported from the beginning that the stimulus was crafted to reward favored industries. This news that distribution is also favoring a particular party is yet another strike against the increasingly unpopular bill. Fox News reports:

"You would think, right, that if the administration believes in its theory that government money can create jobs, they would spend a lot of money in districts that have high unemployment," study co-author Veronique de Rugy said. "We found absolutely no relationship. It just kind of shows that the money is spent kind of randomly."

Rather, the study found that Democratic congressional districts received 1.89 times more money than GOP districts. The average award for Democratic districts was $439 million, while the average award for Republican ones was $232 million.

On average, Democratic districts also got 152 awards, while Republican ones got 94.
The data is sure to fuel skepticism about the $787 billion stimulus bill passed in February that only garnered three Republican votes. While the administration claims it has created 640,000 jobs, critics point to the still-soaring 10 percent unemployment rate in arguing that the stimulus has had a nominal effect.

Oddly, the Mercatus study found far more stimulus money went to higher-income areas than lower-income areas.

"We found no correlation between economic indicators and stimulus funding. Preliminary results find no effect of unemployment, median income, or mean income on stimulus funds allocation," the report said.

Hate to Say We Told You So

Ten months since passage of the federal stimulus bill, the concerns expressed by many that the funds were simply an expensive, short-term fix are coming to fruition (emphasis ours):

The summer of 2009 was a boom time for Pike Industries and other paving firms in the state as $130 million in federal stimulus funds poured into the state, the equivalent of a full year of spending for the state Department of Transportation's typical highway and bridge program.

But with $110 million of the highway stimulus already spent or committed under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, prospects are not as bright for the coming construction season.

"We had a good year and I'm a big fan of what the stimulus did for us. The state Department of Transportation did a great job of getting the stimulus money out in a timely manner so it could have an immediate impact. But next year looks pretty bleak with only $20 million left," says Christian Zimmermann, Pike's CEO.