Sen. Coburn's list of outrageous stimulus projects.
All of this is absolutely necessary to pull us out of the worst economy in human history. And if you don't agree, you're a racist.
1. Forest Service to Replace Windows in Visitor Center Closed in 2007 (Amboy, WA) - $554,763
2. “Dance Draw” - Interactive Dance Software Development (Charlotte, NC) - $762,372 ............
3. North Shore Connector to Professional Sports Stadiums, Casino (Pittsburgh, PA) - $62 million
4. FEMA Stalls Two Texas Fire Stations More Than a Year, Increases Costs (San Antonio, TX) - $7.3 million
5. Abandoned Train Station Converted Into Museum (Glassboro, NJ) - $1.2 million ...................
6. Ants Talk. Taxpayers Listen (San Francisco, CA) - $1.9 million
7. Stimulus Project Threatens Pastor’s House (Newark, OH) - $1.8 million ......................................
8. Old Abandoned Iron Furnace Gets Facelift after Money Squandered on Same Project Years Before (Fitchburg, KY) – $357,710
9. Power Plant Construction Won’t Start for at Least Two Years (Kern County, CA) - $308 million
10. Town Replaces New Sidewalks With Newer Sidewalks That Lead to Ditch (Boynton, OK) - $89,298
coburn.senate.gov
A few more selections:
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18. Jamming for Dollars (Atlanta, GA) - $762,372
A Georgia Tech assistant professor of music will receive $762,372 to study improvised music.173 The project will apparently involve the professor jamming with “world-renowned musicians” to “hopefully also create satisfying works of art.”174 The project “seek[s] to understand, model, and support
improvisation, or real-time collaborative creativity, in the context of jazz, Indian classical, and avantgarde art music,”175 according to the project description. “They will also conduct systematic evaluation of formal models in realistic performance contexts, and use brain imaging of improvising musicians to gain insight into highly creative mental activity.”176 How will this help pull the United States out of an historic economic slump? “We are putting money into the local economy that is supporting local jobs,” the project’s principal, Parag Chordia, an accomplished classical Indian music performer, told a reporter. “We are creating the intellectual capital to support future growth.”177
19. Nevada Prison’s Biomass Plant Too Expensive to Operate (Carson City, NV) - $620,000
An $8 million wood-burning power plant constructed to save energy at the Northern Nevada Correctional Center in Carson City will likely close in the next few months because it is too expensive to operate.178 The total project cost was $8.8 million, including the state’s $6.5 million investment, a
$620,000 stimulus award,179 and money from the U.S. Forest Service.180 The plant opened in 2007, and officials soon saw trouble: the cost of the plant waste used as fuel was cheap, but getting it to the plant was too costly. Within six months, the plant was operating only sporadically,181 but despite the
problems, the project still received stimulus funding. “It loses money every day,” said state corrections director Howard Skolnick in May, when he admitted the plant would likely close.182 “[The plant]was a good idea, but one that was not well implemented.”183
20. Monkey and Chimpanzee Responses to Inequity (Atlanta, GA) - $677,462184
While much is known about how humans respond to inequity and injustice, researchers at Georgia State University are using almost $700,000 in stimulus funds to study why monkeys respond negatively to inequity and unfairness.185 “Seven species of primates will be asked to make decisions about whether or
not to accept rewards in a series of studies in which their outcomes vary relative to their social partners.
The influence of social factors like group membership and individual factors like personality will also be investigated. The results of this research will clarify how decision-making is affected by unequal outcomes.”186 Previous research by the investigator on this project had found that “Chimpanzees respond with temper tantrums if they do not get what they desire,” and that “Capuchin monkeys and chimpanzees both respond negatively to distributional inequity.”187
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36. Scientist Attempts to Create Joke Machine (Evanston, IL) - $712,883264
Conan O’Brien vs. Jay Leno was nothing. Competition among late night television hosts is about to get very interesting. That’s because researchers at Northwestern University are using stimulus money to develop “machine-generated humor.”265 And nothing is funnier than a robot repeating someone else’s
jokes. The lead designer plans to use artificial intelligence to create a “comedic performance agent” that “will be funny no matter what it is talking about.”266 Computer systems will mine jokes from the Internet and then use them to create hilarious presentations that mimic real-life comedians.267 The lead designer hopes to model his new creation off of News at Seven, 268 a web-based “entertainment oriented system that combines clips from CSPAN with topics [sic] humor and comments pulled from Twitter to create a Daily Show-like experience.”269
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58. 14 Flat Screen Televisions for the State Department (NY, VT, GA, TX, CA) - $36,924
State Department officials took full advantage of their stimulus dollars and stocked up on 14 flat screen televisions. Ranging in size from 42 inches to 55 inches, the department paid Allied Contract nearly $37,000 for the Toshiba sets, along with wall mounts to hang them neatly in the office.378 A quick price check, however, raises serious questions about whether they got such a good deal. The award was made on July 9, 2010, but the same new equipment on RitzCamera.com would cost much less. Ten 42-inch Toshiba flat screen models cost $1,084.94 apiece, with shipping, for a total of $10,849.40. Four 55-inch screens were available for $1,522.94 apiece, with shipping, for a total of $6,091.76.379 All remaining purchases were mounts to hang the televisions on the wall, with the grand total of all equipment coming to less than $18,000. That would leave nearly $18,000 left over and a lot of questions about whether or not the State Department is a good shopper.
59. Commerce Department Gets Makeover, Moves Aquarium Door
(Washington, DC) - $185 million
When it was built in 1931, the Herbert C. Hoover Building (HCHB) was the largest building in the world. Now it is one of the largest stimulus recipients in the United States. Housing approximately 3,500 federal employees at the Department of Commerce, the White House Visitor Center, and the National Aquarium, the HCHB has received over $185 million in federal stimulus dollars380 as part of a decade-long,381 $893 million, 8- phase project to renovate and “green” the building.382 Elements of this massive effort include renovating unused office space for temporarily rotating groups of up to 400 Commerce employees at a time and ripping out walls to install 16 miles of insulation.383 Notably, the project also moves the National Aquarium from the northeast side of the building to the south side, allowing “for a dedicated entrance and more room for additional displays.”384
60. Planting Palm Trees (Fresno, CA) -
$341,000
Traveling on the west side of Fresno, California, you may find your way onto Kearney Boulevard, named after the early 20th century entrepreneur and millionaire Theo Kearney.385 The boulevard extends 11 miles from the west side of downtown Fresno towards Kerman, California.386 The County of Fresno recently awarded a landscaping firm a $341,000 contract, funded by stimulus dollars, to plant 54 Washingtonia Robusta palm trees along six miles of the road between Marks and Westlawn Avenues.387 Taxpayers outside of Fresno may wonder why this road is in need of beautification. Although it is an historic boulevard leading to the historic Kearny Mansion and surrounding park, it is a two-lane rural road for most of its length and is already known for being lined with palm trees.388 The winning bid for the contract came in lower than
Photo courtesy of Mr. T in D.C. the county engineer’s original estimate as a result of lower than anticipated cost for the palm trees.389 Taxpayers may rest easier knowing that the palm trees came in at just $4,000 a piece
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67. If Government Builds it, They Will Come . . . We Hope (Lakewood, IL) - $18 million
Local officials in Lakewood Village (pop. 3,050) recently approved plans for a $40 million sports complex by a unanimous vote in the hopes of bringing in up to $500,000 in annual tax revenue from hosting local, national, and even international sports events. 425 The complex, spanning over 165 acres will feature 17 lighted baseball fields, seven soccer fields, an indoor soccer dome, an arena for basketball, an extreme
sports park for skating and BMX competitions, a gas station, and a 125,000 square foot building for a restaurant and retail facilities – all of this using $18 million of bonding authority granted to McHenry County from the stimulus bill.426 That portion of the money has been described as both “only a start-up mechanism” and a “bridge loan.”427
Not so fast, say the neighboring residents whose lives will be affected by the proposed facility. The most recent public meeting of the Lakewood Village trustees drew enough attendees to fill the room, the standing-room behind the chairs, and standing room into the hallway.428 A local blogger who attended observed that “besides the consultants, village officials and staff, most in attendance were people objecting from the neighborhood.”429
Concerns raised included traffic, light pollution, noise, water quality, and utility bills. Following the meeting, Village Trustee Ken Santowski wrote an e-mail to residents justifying his vote, arguing that “…the village would only lose face if the project fails…”430 He went on to say “This project is far from a done deal.”431 Perhaps Mr. Santowski is the only one who sees it that way - the Continental Amateur Baseball Association (which calls itself “the greatest show on
dirt”) is already trying to attract teams with a video “flyover” of the planned facility, calling it the “new CABA complex.”432 Several residents came away from the recent meeting frustrated. Tom Balboney of a nearby subdivision said “we feel all of this was done behind our backs,”433 and Larry Larson, long time resident, summed it up for the local newspaper: “It stinks…if they had to use their own money, they wouldn’t do it.”434
68. Museum With 44 Annual Visitors Gets Funding for Bug Storage (Raleigh, NC) -$253,123
What is the best way to simultaneously preserve an insect collection, promote a haiku contest and produce bug baseball cards? Simple. A grant to the North Carolina State University Insect Museum. The museum boasts being an “internationally recognized resource for the study of insects and mites in North Carolina, the Southeastern United States, and, in several insect groups, the world.”435 The Museum, which has “virtually no public presence” (it gets about 44 visitors a year), will also use the money for outreach efforts.436 It also hosts the annual Hexapod Haiku Challenge every March on its blog.437 In 2008, the Insect Museum submitted a proposal for a National Science Foundation (NSF) Biological Research Collections grant, which the NSF declined.438 Based on that same proposal, last year the NSF awarded the Insect Museum $253,123439 in stimulus funds to purchase new cabinets, drawers, and units for its specimens and a new computer server and software.440 Using stimulus funds, the Museum has started an “Insect of the Week” series on its website441 and plans a physical presence at the Yates Mill Pond County Park.442 In addition, for the yearly BugFest festival, the Museum will design and distribute “packs of baseball-style cards featuring North Carolina’s native and fascinating insects (quote
attached) [sic]. An image of the insect will be printed on the front, with statistics and information on the back. This effort will help raise awareness of how insects contribute to our lives (focusing on positive contributions) and why natural history collections are critical to understanding and documenting biodiversity trends.”443
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71. Bus Station Art (Los Angeles, CA) - $1 million
If you want to experience art in Los Angeles, look no further than the local bus stop. That’s because transit agencies have been purchasing art for bus stops and train stations and for construction fences to “create[ ] a sense of place and engage [ ] transit riders.”448 Now the transit authority will use a portion of the just over $ 1 million of stimulus funds to purchase art for 19 bus stations along the Harbor and El
Monte transit way “to enhance the customer experience,” and to incorporate “unique artworks…designed to make transit a more attractive alternative.”449
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76. Field Trip to Study Dinosaur Eggs…in China (Bozeman, MT) - $141,002463
This past spring, nine students from Montana State University (MSU) were given a six-week, allexpense paid trip to China, funded by the National Science Foundation.464 MSU received a grant to send students to work with researchers at the Natural History Museum in Hangzhou studying various dinosaur eggs and other fossils.465 In a conversation with a local resident of Wuzhen, one of the students said “I told him that I was here to study dinosaur eggs. He replied with, ’Bloody hell! That’s the sort of thing you just can’t make up!’”466 While there, the students spent six weeks examining and cataloguing
the eggs. As recorded on the group’s blog, however, they were still able to take plenty of time to let their hair down hiking on the Great Wall, spending a day at the Xixi National Wetland Park, exploring several small towns, visiting the opera, and touring the Tiatai temples.467 Not to worry though, according to one student blogger, “Believe it or not from previous blog posts, we have been hard at work doing
research.”468
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78. Helping Drinkers Control Their Alcohol Consumption With Creative Labeling (San Diego, CA) - $497,117478
Can people at bars be persuaded of the benefits of moderate drinking? 479 Researchers at San Diego State University
think so, as they plan to spend almost half a million dollars to research whether better nutritional and alcohol content labeling will affect consumption of alcoholic beverages.480
The research includes field experiments to test the “effectiveness of different disclosure strategies under various levels of natural drunkenness.”481 Indeed, according to one local columnist, “most of the research, not
surprisingly, will be done in and around the university campus and the bars and nightclubs of Pacific Beach.”482
Photo courtesy of San Diego Shooter
79. High-End Boutique Hotel Built Where None is Needed (Buffalo, NY) - $6 million
Visiting Manhattanites will feel right at home in Buffalo at a new chic downtown boutique hotel being built with the help of a $6 million tax-exempt bond backed by federal stimulus funds.483 Local restaurateur Mark Croce is building a “true boutique hotel experience…as high-end as they come.”484
Unfortunately Buffalo’s hotels have a history of dependence on subsidies and an even longer history of struggling financially. According to one local newspaper, “practically every hotel in and around downtown Buffalo was built with public subsidies, and most of them are treading water – at best.”485 The Buffalo News reported last year that, “For nearly 30 years, politicians have poured more than $65 million
into downtown Buffalo hotels - an average of more than $50,000 per room. The strategy produced five hotels - and a lot of red ink.”486 There are plenty of folks who think downtown Buffalo has enough hotels. The former president of the local conventions bureau stated in 2008 that “based on the current market demand, [Buffalo has] a sufficient number of rooms in the downtown core.”487
80. Wildlife Refuge Gets Fancy New Visitors Center (Bismarck, ND) - $6.1 million488
The almost 15,000-acre489 Audubon National Wildlife Refuge, located about an hour north of Bismarck, North Dakota is visited by fewer than 80 people a day on average.490 However, that hasn’t prevented the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service from spending over $6 million to build a new administration and visitor center for the refuge.491 While the old building was over 50 years old, the new building will be built to special energy efficient specifications and will include a 1,038–square-foot multipurpose room and 884- square-foot exhibit hall.492
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83. Bureaucracy Gives Low-Income Housing Luxury Costs (Rochester, NY) - $3.3 million
One of north Rochester’s poorest and most crimeriddled neighborhoods is getting an expensive facelift, with 23 new homes built with stimulus money. In the El Camino Estates development along Conkey Avenue, the median value of existing houses are less than $50,000.502 The new stimulus funded neighboring houses will cost six times that to build. At an average cost of $300,000, the 23 new houses being built for
rental to low-income families range from 1,200 to 1,700 square feet, a mere fraction of the space the same dollar amount would buy in some of Rochester’s wealthiest suburbs.503 Why the high cost for low-income rental properties in such a rough part of town? According to the developers and the non-profit community development corporation they are working with, it is
the red tape that comes from the combination of tax credits, state and local money, federal stimulus dollars and a large bureaucratic mess.504
84. Stimulus Funds Going to the Dogs (Ithaca, NY)505 - $296,385
Cornell University scientists have received $296,385 in stimulus funds to study “dog domestication.”506 Researchers believe that there is common understanding of where dogs
descended from, but the progression from there to Lassie “is poorly understood.”507 They point out that much of the research “has focused on breed dogs, but the diverse populations of semiferal ‘village’ dogs are likely an important key for understanding dog domestication.”508 A
previous Cornell study found that North Africa was probably the origin of dog domestication.509 In that study, the scientists examined the genetic markers of 318 African
dogs and then performed the same test on mixed breed American dogs and street dogs in Puerto Rico.510 The new study “will likely to [sic] challenge current theories of dog origins and develop village dogs into a useful system for the study of domestication, speciation, behavior and morphology.”5
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87. Study: Does Retirement Help or Hurt Marriage? (Los Angeles, CA) - $174,661
Is it better to retire and spend more time with your spouse, or just keep working? Researchers at UCLA are pursuing the answer to this question with a $174,661 grant from the National Institute on Aging.519 They plan to study the correlation between couples transitioning into retirement, the health of their marriage, and the resulting effect on their physiological health. Participants will be subject to two laboratory assessments once before and after retirement that will examine their marital and physical health including “discussions about retirement and problems in the
relationship.”520 Sixty couples over the age of 60 who are expecting to retire in the near term will participate in the study.52
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93. NIH Spends Stimulus Money to Promote the Impact of Its Stimulus Projects (Silver Spring, MD) - $363,760546
When does a federal project cross the line from simple self-promotion into propaganda? Palladian Partners Inc. of Silver Spring, Maryland was awarded $363,760 to promote the good things being done with stimulus money by the National Institutes of Health (NIH).547 The project requires Palladian to develop “web-based real life stories that underscore job and infrastructure creation and accelerated ARRA research findings.”548 Indeed, interested citizens can go to the NIH Recovery Act website and learn about the $12.2 million stimulus grant NIH is spending on “Facebook for Scientists”549 and another story on how “Researchers Pull in Big Bucks Under Recovery Act.”550
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98. Artists Get New Digs (Wilton, CT
and Philadelphia, PA) - $184,650
The National Park Service (NPS) and the City of Philadelphia love their artists. So much so, they combined to spend over half a million dollars to provide them with artistic space. At the Weir Farm in Wilton, $184,650 is going to turn what local media describe as “an old garage” into an Art Studio to be used
for personal or professional work by artists participating in the Weir Farm’s “Artist-in- Residence” program.574 Despite public funding, the NPS superintendant at the facility said the issue of visitor access to the studio had not yet been decided. 575 Less than 150 miles away just down Interstate-95, Philadelphia Mayor Michael Nutter awarded over $500,000 through the Creative Industry Workforce Grants program.576 Eight Philadelphia arts-related organizations received various amounts of the money, with over half of it going toward
“artist workspace.”577 |
