The Nuts and Bolts Of Stimulation

A condensation of 50 De-Stimulating Facts

Chapter and verse on a bad bill.

By Stephen Spruiell & Kevin Williamson

Photo by Jason Reed/Reuters

Here are 50 of the most outrageous items in the stimulus package:

VARIOUS LEFT-WINGERY

Summary:

$50 million for the National Endowment for the Arts

$380 million in the Senate bill for the Women, Infants and Children program

$300 million for grants to combat violence against women

$2 billion for federal child-care block grants

$6 billion for university building projects

$15 billion for boosting Pell Grant college scholarships

$4 billion for job-training programs, including $1.2 billion for “youths” up to the age of 24

$1 billion for community-development block grants

$4.2 billion for “neighborhood stabilization activities”

$650 million for digital-TV coupons;

$90 million to educate “vulnerable populations”

POORLY DESIGNED TAX RELIEF

Summary:

$15 billion for business-loss carry-backs

$145 billion for “Making Work Pay” tax credits

$83 billion for the earned income credit

STIMULUS FOR THE GOVERNMENT

Summary:

$150 million for the Smithsonian

$34 million to renovate the Department of Commerce headquarters

$500 million for improvement projects for National Institutes of Health facilities

$44 million for repairs to Department of Agriculture headquarters

$350 million for Agriculture Department computers

$88 million to help move the Public Health Service into a new building

$448 million for constructing a new Homeland Security Department headquarters

$600 million to convert the federal auto fleet to hybrids

$450 million for NASA (carve-out for “climate-research missions”)

$600 million for NOAA (carve-out for “climate modeling”)

$1 billion for the Census Bureau

INCOME TRANSFERS

Summary:

$89 billion for Medicaid

$30 billion for COBRA insurance extension

$36 billion for expanded unemployment benefits

$20 billion for food stamps

PURE PORK

Summary:

$2 billion for renewable-energy research ($400 million for global-warming research)

$2 billion for a “clean coal” power plant in Illinois

$6.2 billion for the Weatherization Assistance Program

$3.5 billion for energy-efficiency and conservation block grants

$3.4 billion for the State Energy Program

$200 million for state and local electric-transport projects

$300 million for energy-efficient-appliance rebate programs

$400 million for hybrid cars for state and local governments

$1 billion for the manufacturing of advanced batteries

$1.5 billion for green-technology loan guarantees

$8 billion for innovative-technology loan-guarantee program

$2.4 billion for carbon-capture demonstration projects

$4.5 billion for electricity grid

REWARDING STATE IRRESPONSIBILITY

One of the ugliest aspects of the stimulus package is a bailout for spendthrift state legislatures. Remember the old fable about the ant and the grasshopper?

Summary:

$79 billion for State Fiscal Stabilization Fund

Click Nuts and Bolts to read complete article. Thanks to Marcia for sending this along.