[quote=investor][quote=Eugene]To me this looks like misleading accounting with the intent to make the government look bad.
For example, people whose jobs were saved because of $70 mln in DPW spending obviously did not earn $1.5 million/year. Where is the money? Two thirds of the DPW stimulus budget involved street resurfacing projects. There are substantial costs associated with these projects, in addition to direct labor costs, (e.g. equipment rental and raw materials) and you can’t say that spending money to buy asphalt and rent heavy equipment does not create jobs. Were all these jobs counted correctly? I bet they weren’t.
About those traffic lights. Notice that the cost quoted is ‘per location’. At a typical intersection, there are at least eight normal traffic lights (x3 or 4 light bulbs each), + pedestrian traffic lights. One traffic-light-sized LED light bulb can cost on the order of $100. So $5000 per intersection, including labor, seems reasonable. Again, where does most of the money go? To light bulb manufacturers. Those are probably located in the United States because of the ‘buy American’ provision in the stimulus bill (Republicans wanted to take it out, but failed). Did anyone count jobs saved and created in the company that produced and supplied light bulbs, and in the company that produced raw materials for those light bulbs …? Evidently not.[/quote]
Eugene. With all due respect, you have got to be kidding. Are you actually defending ANY government in not being wasteful? I spent 5 years in the USAF, probably the best run government organization (the military not just the air force) and every august, we were given a dream list of things to buy just so we would not have our budget reduced for the next year. If you ran your flight/squadron efficiently, you were penalized by having your budget decreased for the next year. EVERYONE did it. It is institutionalized and will never be routed out since the motives are the opposite of what they should be. This is just one example. Think about the lobby money that buys bridges to nowhere and you are beginning to see why all governments are very wasteful. The only way to reduce the waste is to reduce the size of government to its smallest size possible. I do believe in a safety net for society but to defend criticism of the wasteful government….. Bulbs being produced in America, when they are made on an assembly line by the thousands cannot account for many jobs either. I do applaud your independent thinking though. Keep that up.[/quote]
1. Good post, Eugene. I agree with most of what you’ve said, and have seen the media distort the truth in order to serve their own agenda.
2. Investor, you are also right about the budgeting methods. That being said, “smaller government” does not solve that problem. What would solve the problem is incentivizing efficiency and productivity by making departments compete to see who can most effectively increase productivity and save the most money. The winners should be rewarded for their achievements, while the losers should be subject to a formal review of their budgeting and business practices.
