Your Tax Dollars at Work Not Creating Jobs
From the Cincinnati Enquirer on the subject of stimulus spending and job creation:
[After four projects for new construction,] most of the rest of the highway stimulus money will go for routine maintenance or resurfacing work. Construction so far on all the projects has created or retained fewer than 200 jobs since the money started flowing this spring, an Enquirer analysis shows….
Only seven jobs had been created or retained by Northern Kentucky projects under way through August, according to state records.
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Wow, now that is just plain messed up dude. I mean really!
RT
http://www.complete-privacy.net.tc
Wait. I thought the stimulus was to create/save jobs. Mission accomplished apparently. Suckers.
Damn you privacy bot!!! Damn you straight to hell!
The stretch of I-44 that runs past my house is being completely redone. For no apparent reason. It was in perfectly good shape before they started digging it up. The only roads that are in bad shape around here are gravel, and none of them are being paved over. For that matter, US-63 got repaved a couple years ago, but what it really needs is another lane.
Roadwork stimulus is just like c4c from what I can see. Money spent but no value added.
If the project is underway right now it's likely the planning for it started three or four years ago. IOW before the "crisis" began. If they're using stimulus money it's just because this was a convenient set of plans to pull of the shelf. On the other hand it could very well be part of the state's regular works program.
Are they actually tearing up the whole thing or just milling and resurfacing it.
Digging it all up and laying it down exactly like it was before they tore it up.
Warren,
I suspect part of the reason why they are repaving good roads rather than paving bad ones or replacing bridges has to do with environmental laws. If you replace a bridge or build a new road that is probably going to be a major federal action and subject to NEPA and years of bullshit. If you just repave an existing road, you can just do it.
John,
Why didn't you use the new "reply to this" feature. It's the only "improvement" we got out of the "upgrade". And as I mention in the Michael Moore thread, it has it's own suckieness.
HEY REASON WEB PERSON
We need a New Format thread because we're going to spend the whole day bitching about how the new format SUCKS. Like if you hit the wrong submit button you lose your comment. THAT SUCKS
dont forget the 200 thousand jobs that it has saved, though...
Citation needed.
The new Reason website saved 200 thousand jobs? Well, then maybe I can forive its faults.
Faults like taking away the fucking "preview" button so that people write shit like "forive"
how come i have to type my handle every time i post now? there is no longer a "remember me" button?! its been a while since i contributed regularly - but that would seem like a fairly significant oversight in the new format...
Warren,
I think the "reply" feature sucks. On long comment threads it means you have to read the whole damn thread to see new comments rather than just the bottom. I am boycotting it for that reason. And I invite you to do the same.
According to Amity Shlaes, Herbert Hoover had a similar program of public works, but discontinued it when he crunched the numbers and saw how few jobs were created per zillion dollars spent. Of course, the government no longer thinks that way.
Lester,
Liberals are amazingly stupid about this stuff. during the stimulus debate the house liberals on Reason argued that the government could create jobs in the net simply by spending money regardless of how the money was spent.
I strongly second John's boycott of the "reply to this" feature. It will kill the best long threads and/or make them terribly annoying to follow.
I completely agree. Starting now.
I disagree.
I (dis)agree and invite you to participate in my extensive "reply to this" campaign, so they'll have to fix it.
Testing the ugly
Testing the ugly
Testing the ugly
Testing the ugly - this is just part of the linked article to see how it looks all smooshed to the side:
Four major projects will widen or improve parts of Interstate 75 in Hamilton County, the Ohio 4 bypass in Butler County, US 27 in Campbell County and 12th Street in Covington.
But after those four, most of the rest of the highway stimulus money will go for routine maintenance or resurfacing work. Construction so far on all the projects has created or retained fewer than 200 jobs since the money started flowing this spring, an Enquirer analysis shows.
In the rush to fund "shovel-ready" roadway projects, are chances for long-term highway improvements and lasting economic benefits being lost?
AROUND THE HORN!
OK, at least it stops indenting before it gets ridiculous.
I just wanted to see where this comment would end up.
OK, I'm done playing now. 🙂
I don't like this new format either.
Only seven jobs had been created or retained by Northern Kentucky projects
I hear the Census Dept has an opening.
In the interest of being constructive, I just recalled that that comment boards that allowed threaded replies can also allow users to toggle the view between flat and threaded.
If "reply to this" must exist, can we have the option to turn off threaded view? PLEASE??
FrBunny - vice in defense of comedy is no virtue.
We have a raw, libertarian lust for flat comment threads.
And preview please? I can't type, obv.
I smell a "New Coke" plot.
"Remember how awesome Classic H&R was?! Oh, remember the PREVIEW button?! Oh my god! I would pay like $9 a month for Classic H&R!"
Nice try, Nick.
Un-create or un-save the job of fucking up the site plz thnx.
reply to this
Forks with long tines are far superior to those with short tines.
Even if it did create hundred thousand jobs, those jobs do not typically reflect any real supply and demand; once the spending stops, those jobs will need to be filled somewhere else, and the bill will have to be footed by someone. Anyone that is even minutely politically savvy can guess what will happen next.
Handle links! Hooray!
Alright, if the comments are fixed with remember me, preview, and next post/last post buttons, chop chop, I'm cancelling my subscription.
Dammit, I'm not just cancelling my subscription, I'm leaving the country.
The problem with "reply to this" is that this format provides no way of finding the messages you haven't yet read: is one supposed to scan an entire 100+ post thread for new replies buried somewhere in the page?
REASON WEB DUDE!!!
*shakes fist in air*
Isaac,
I'm just gonna turn in my libertarian decoder ring and lobby for government control of the tubez! Market failure, I tells ya!
"Externalities.
Why did it have to be externalities?"
Change? We fear change.
Warren, is any of these anywhere near you?
Shod have been "are any of these..."
Damn, I need preview. I hate no preview.
GRRRRRRRRRRR