Stimulus and Job Creation: $22,000 For a Toilet

by | Nov 4, 2009 | Headline News | 6 comments

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    Susan Ferrechio, Chief Congressional Correspondent for the Washington Examiner says that After a flurry of stimulus spending, questionable projects pile up. Here is where some of your $787 Billion in taxpayer bailouts has gone:

    • $300,000 for a GPS-equipped helicopter to hunt for radioactive rabbit droppings at the Hanford nuclear reservation in Washington state.
      Mac’s Comment: If we’ve got rabbits with radio active poo, then there are some serious issues with the Hanford nuclear reservation. Perhaps improving safety standards at the plant would be in order?
    • $30 million for a spring training baseball complex for the Arizona Diamondbacks and Colorado Rockies.
      Mac’s Comment: I am getting sick and tired of multi-million dollar sports franchises building their facilities off the tax payer teet. These are private businesses. If they want a training facility, then need to pay for it themselves.
    • $430,000 to repair a bridge in Iowa County, Wis., that carries 10 or fewer cars per day.
      Mac’s Comment: I am not sure of the going rate for fixing a bridge, nor do I know the specific location of this bridge. Let’s assume that there is no secondary bridge for these drivers to take. In the interest of safety, I think this one is ok – much better than the $30 Mil we blew on the baseball training facility.
    • $9.38 million to renovate a century-old train depot in Lancaster County, Pa., that has not been used for three decades.
      Mac’s Comments: Tried to track this one down, but can’t seem to find the actual train station. In any case, if we’re not actively using the train station to transport people or goods, then why are we spending $9 million to renovate it? Last time I checked, this country was somewhere in the area of $100 Trillion in debt. Do we really need to spend money on projects like this?
    • $300 apiece for thousands of signs at road construction sites across the country announcing that the projects are funded by stimulus money.
      Mac’s Comments: I always wondered what one of those road signs costs. Now we know. A piece of sheet metal, orange paint (or green), and some printed letters. $300. Someone’s making out like a bandit on this one! Here’s what $300 buys you. In the sign’s defense, it is large and visible, so at least they did that part right.
    • $462,000 to purchase 22 concrete toilets for use in the Mark Twain National Forest in Missouri
      Mac’s Comment: I wondered what a $22,000 pre-cast concrete toilet looked like so I tracked down the manufacturer for this project. You decide if this toilet is worth the $22K. For those interested, here is the project contract award.
    • $1 million for Portland, Ore., to replace 100 aging bike lockers and build a garage that would house 250 bicycles.
      My comments: That’s $4000 per bike.
    • $2.5 million in stimulus checks sent to the deceased.
      Mac’s comment: No comment.

    How’s that for sustainable job creation? Once that money is blown and the facilities/services are completed, how will the builders and contractors remain employed?  There is absolutely zero long-term job creation here.

    To see the rest of the list, click here…

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      6 Comments

      1. Your Name..... on November 4, 2009 at 10:47 am

        Those toilets actually look really cool mac!  I would’ve paid 30k for those!

      2. Rick Blaine on November 5, 2009 at 12:20 am

        Re the toilets:

        It’s not like those things have plumbing and electricity…right?

        They are basically “tough sheds” with porta-potties inside (which I could probably rig at Home Depot for, at most, like $1000).

        Nevertheless, I do admire some of the specs detailed on that website.  It sounds like those things should last for the rest of this century…

        …which is why I’m going to be really pissed when they get replaced sometime next decade…probably for $50K a piece.

      3. Rick Blaine on November 5, 2009 at 12:22 am

        …and the radioactive rabbit poo is almost too good.

        It sounds like a sub-plot from an episode of The Simpsons.

      4. admin on November 5, 2009 at 9:10 am

        Yeah, at first i was like, “WHAT?!?!? $22,000 for a toilet?!”  … then i saw those and figured it was probably a fair price considering they had to build the foundation and such. The question is, did the park really need the toilets, and since the country is broke, could the money be better spent?

      5. tquigly on November 9, 2009 at 8:22 am

        “Last time I checked, this country was somewhere in the area of $100 Trillion in debt.”
        Are you serious?  Kriminy!!  Written out in figures, that’s $100,000,000,000.  You never hear this figure on the corporate media.

      6. admin on November 9, 2009 at 9:57 am

        Yes, actually closer to $128.1 Trillion is our debt burden! Here is the total debt burden for every American:

        ————-
        Uncle Sam is saddled with …

        • An officially recognized national debt of $11.8 trillion, which will likely exceed $12 trillion sometime this month.
        • Unfunded national obligations of $104 trillion!
        • Another $9 trillion in cumulative deficits over the next ten years.
        • Plus another trillion dollars for health care reform, no matter what bill finally makes it through Congress.

        Grand total: $125.8 TRILLION of public debts!

        All told, that means that each and every household in America is now indirectly responsible for more than 1 MILLION DOLLARS in government debts and obligations. And that assumes no new government spending, no new social programs, no new wars, no new economic disasters or bailouts. Worse, it assumes no new deficits in the meantime!

        ————

        That $104 Trillion is basically social security, medicaid, medicare and other national commitments.

        source: http://www.moneyandmarkets.com/next-major-leg-down-for-dollar-up-for-resources-3-36009

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