Ben provides yet another example of the free money mindset in state government.
from TaxingTennessee by
Ben Cunningham
A Clip from the
Legislative Report where Transportation Commissioner Nicely is testifying about the stimulus money.
Rep Floyd asks Commissioner Nicely if we have to pay back the stimulus money… in true bureaucratic fashion he says:
“No sir, long as the fed govt will print it and send it, we’ll spend it.”
So commissioner Nicely thinks this is FREE money? Maybe he forgets that Tennessee taxpayers ALSO pay federal taxes??
Christian Grantham over at Channel 2’s Nashville is Talking posted Tennessee’s portion of the Stimulus Package swag. Keeping in mind this is supposed to be spending that stimulates the Economy. This is a joke – and a bad one. The total amount Tennessee is to receive is $3,779,708,000 – almost $4 billion dollars to pump into the economy of the state of Tennessee. Let’s see where the pork is earmarked to go …
The first $943,288,000 under the heading Fiscal Stabilization, whatever that means, is spent as follows: $771,610,000 on Education and $171,678,000 on General Purpose. How spending three quarters of a billion dollars on Education is going to stimulate the Economy is beyond me. I know, I know … an educated populace is a prosperous one. I even agree. But the sky is falling, remember? We have to pass the Stimulus now or Economic ruin is upon us. How even $771 trillion spent on education over the next 5 years is going to do anything but prosper the Teacher’s Union is beyond me. This is not stimulating the Economy anytime soon. General Purpose sounds like the money is going into the state’s General Budget. This is nothing more than Welfare for Tennessee instead of Tennesseans. The state gets another $172 million dollars to spend on whatever it wants. I wish we had checkbook transparency in Tennessee so we could know that money was spent in the Private Sector and thus be sure it was stimulating the Economy. Government spending on Government is only Economically depressing as once the “Stimulus” funds are gone taxpayers still pick up the tab for the bureaucracy it created. Two line items down, we’ve spent a billion dollars – so far no stimulus.
The next several line items are spending for various projects and we get a bit more specific.
Medicaid spending alone gets $1,100,000,000. No stimulus here. In 3 line items we’ve now spent over half of our share of the “Stimulus” money and have yet to stimulate anything.
Foster Care/Adoption Assistance gets $10,200,000. Stimulating? No.
Highways and Bridges get $572,701,000. This might be stimulating if it is spent in the Private Sector. If we hire more state employees to do this work it is not. Score it a maybe. And I won’t even ask why we’re spending federal pork dollars on this. Aren’t we supposed to have funds in our budget for this every year? Take a look and see how that money has been spent over the last 10 years and tell me we should have to receive federal dollars to repair our roads and bridges.
Mass Transit Capital Grants gets $71,988,000 so we can have more Music City Stars losing money and whizzing past paid fares on future 4th of Julys. These are long term money pits, not economic recovery and stimulus.
Fixed Guideway Modernization sounds sort of stimulating but it’s only $28,000 so how much good would it do either way?
Clean Water and Drinking Water are next up at $20,394,000 and $57,814,000 respectively. Perhaps these would pay for some upgrades, repairs and such and would be stimulating if the money is spent in the Private Sector. But without more details, I have to call it another maybe. And again, why aren’t these costs built in to the product they charge for or the current tax base? This is not an item beyond the scope of local Government to address if they are fiscally responsible. Ooops, I guess that explains it, doesn’t it?
Underground Storage Tank and Hazardous Waste are both line items without a dollar figure. I don’t know if that means they’re burying the money and it’s hazardous to my health to know how much they’re burying or something else. But no dollars can’t be stimulating. Moving on …
Weatherization and State Energy Program check in at $97,467,000 and $59,065,000. A State Energy Program is more “money pit” spending. Who knows what Weatherization is? But it’s enough for each county in the state to get $1 million or so dollars so I’m sure they’ll find something to spend it on. Private Sector or Public is the question once again. Which makes the answer, “maybe”, once again.
Immunizations at $7,199,000; Elderly Nutrition at $2,614,000; Child Care at $41,932,000; Community Services Block Grant at $19,699,000; Temporary Emergency Food Assistance Program at $2,069,000; FEMA – Emergency Food and Shelter at $2,064,000 and; Vocational Rehabilitation at $11,500,000 come up as no, no, no, no, no, no and another maybe. If the Vocational Rehab is paid to Private Sector companies, yes – if not, no. Best we can do is another maybe. Regarding the other spending, please spare me the “I don’t care about babies and old people!” It’s insulting and it’s not true. We’re discussing an Economic Stimulus plan, not another Social Welfare plan. That spending is, in fact, Social Welfare. If the President wants to rename his bill the Welfare Stimulus Package, I’ll reconsider and give them all a “Yes!”. But if he’s going to keep calling this Economic Stimulus then he’s either been deceived by the Conference Committee as to what they did to his great idea or he’s not the really smart guy you all thought he was.
In a fascinating line item square dance step we swing back around to our original partner, Education, for another step or two. K-12 Education – Elementary and Secondary Education Act Grants to LEAs gets $174,210,000 and School Improvement – Innovation and Improvement gets $50,386,000 for another $224,596,000 to go with Education’s original $771,610,000. The big bucks get a big “No!” for being stimulating while the $50 million scores an additional maybe.
Education keeps on being stimulated with another $236,163,000 for Individuals with Disabilities Education Act. Under this expense Special Education gets $229 million and Early Intervention a mere $7 million. Why does this sound like more payoffs to the Teacher’s Union and not an Economic Stimulus. Again, leaving for the moment the ongoing expense of such programs after the Stimulus money is gone when taxpayers right here in Tennessee will have to pick up the tab for it. I’m giving this an “F” in Stimulus accomplishment while noting that the program does manage to play well with other expensive Government boondoggle programs.
Education mercifully peters out at long last with a final gasp of $10,994,000 for Education Technology, $669,000 for Education for the Homeless and $1,985,000 for School Lunch Equipment. I’m excited to be able to finally score a couple of “Yes” votes. Ed Tech and the Lunch Equipment will almost certainly have to be purchased from a Private Sector company thereby providing non-Government jobs and capital to the only people able to actually impact the Economy. Education for the Homeless? Not so much…
Another long list of non-stimulating expenditures follows. HOME Investment Partnership Program gets $30,394,000. $49,518,000 goes to Byrne Justice Assistance Grant. Crimefighting gets stimulated with $9,770,000 for Crime Victims Assistance, $646,000 for Internet Crimes Against Children and $4,496,000 for Violence Against Women. $9,600,000 for State Administration Grants for Unemployment Insurance would appear to be federal money to pay for overseeing a federal program. It might help end a bit of unfunded mandates but it’s not stimulating. $10,945,000 for Adult Workforce Investment Act and an additional $25,353,000 for the Youth version of the same sound unlikely to do anything but produce bureaucracy. Dislocated Workers get stimulated to the tune of $19,777,000. $2,472,000 goes to Community Service for Older Americans and Employment Service gets $7,426,000 which, if it is to help people find work may be stimulating but I wonder how the state’s Private Sector businesses doing the same thing will feel about their tax dollars going to create Governmental competition for them? None of this is economically stimulating.
Our $3.8 billion in Economic Stimulus funds is finished up by our final entries. Head Start, that powerful and ancient economic engine, gets $13,775,000. $80,710,000 goes to the Public Housing Capital Fund. That sounds too much like another Government program as opposed to actual construction work so we’ll vote “No”. CDBG and Neighborhood Revitalization gets a “?” on the amount to be spent on it but it doesn’t sound promising. And the final line item is … drum roll, please … $20,397,000 for Homelessness Prevention.
Our totals are quite interesting. Of our total $3,779,708,000 – $1,246,017 goes to various Education programs, $1,100,000,000 goes to Medicaid leaving just $1,433,691,000 to spend on everything else. Almost two thirds of the money is excluded from stimulating the Economy in just two general items. Of the monies left, $771,282,000 also fails to stimulate the Economy, $662,409,000 falls under the “Maybe” category and only $12,979,000 has the appearance of true Stimulus spending.
This is why only 3 Republican votes could be squeezed out of Congress. This is why hundreds of Economists, including Nobel Laureates, disagree with the President’s contention that Government must do something to fix the problem. This is why the more people found out about the idea, the less they liked it. This is the reason the President broke campaign promises to permit legislation to be viewed and debated before voting on it. This is the reason millions of Americans believe the bill to be nothing but Earmarks and Pork and little or no real Economic Stimulus.
It’s also the reason Phil Bredesen and the Tennessee Legislature should simply refuse to accept the money and send it back. While failing in its stated intention to stimulate the Economy, it succeeds quite nicely at funding taxpayer unfriendly special interest groups and non-profits. It succeeds handsomely at invigorating the growth of Government and bureaucracy. In short, it is actually damaging to the Economy because it creates billions of dollars in federal programs which are left to taxpayers to pay for after the Stimulus funds run out. Not to mention they must pay back the original money, with interest. This is not stimulating to Tennessee or Tennesseans. Our elected officials should understand this and refuse to accept such tremendous financial burdens in the name of fiscal responsibility.
What would permanent tax cuts have done? Created long term employment?
By Kleinheider Posted on February 16, 2009 at 1:24 pm
From the Memphis Daily News:
A breakdown of the new job creation for each of Tennessee’s congressional districts, with the most recent Census estimate of each district’s civilian labor force in parentheses, is as follows:
* Congressional District 1 – 7,700 new jobs (labor force: 315,161)
* Congressional District 2 – 8,200 new jobs (labor force: 351,617)
* Congressional District 3 – 7,800 new jobs (labor force: 328,740)
* Congressional District 4 – 7,600 new jobs (labor force: 301,545)
* Congressional District 5 – 8,200 new jobs (labor force: 363,250)
* Congressional District 6 – 8,700 new jobs (labor force: 371,581)
* Congressional District 7 – 8,600 new jobs (labor force: 360,718)
* Congressional District 8 – 7,400 new jobs (labor force: 303,589)
* Congressional District 9 – 6,800 new jobs (labor force: 295,949)
Terry Frank points toward Congressman Blackburn’s comments to slow down on this snake oil remedy…..
Congressman Marsha Blackburn delivered a speech yesterday raising several issues about the massive spending bill that’s supposed to stimulate our economy. The Congressional Budget Office doesn’t really know what this spending package will do. Their initial report indicated long term problems and a newly released report talks of crowding out private investment, but it does note that there is a possibility that jobs could be created. Uncertainty abounds from economists and experts, however the Democrats are selling an urgent and certain sales pitch that this is the cure all!
One thing is for certain. This bill is certainly arousing the Democrats! Stimulate our re-election is their motto.
This bill reminds me of an antique bottle of medicine that my mother has in her curio cabinet. The medicine is called Golden Relief. The ingredients? Ether and alcohol!! Will it cure you or kill you? Golden Relief all right! That’s this spending bill!
Here’s the link to Congressman Blackburn’s 3 minutes on the floor. Important issues she raises concern debate, the rush, the sheer volume of time it would take to read the over 1,500 pages, the spending per page of $1,206,185,569. That’s PER PAGE! But this bit of info from the Congressman really ticks me off:
Why the rush? Congressman Blackburn is told there’s a rush to get this done not for the economy, but because there are congressional delegations jetting off into the sunset at 6 on Friday.
Word is that Nancy Pelosi will be traveling to Italy. We called Speaker Pelosi’s office to verify, but were told that for national security reasons, they could not tell us. Hmmm. Sure.
I’ve uploaded Congressman Blackburn’s comments for you here: blackburnspending
According to our Williamson county delegation; judicial selection, spending of the Federal Stimulus package, the Copeland Cap, and tort reform, issues that have been ignored or blocked under a Democratically controlled state legislator are now up for input, debate, and change under a GOP helm. (I would also throw in Pro-Life and Second Amendment Issues)
I encourage all to read up on these issues and give your REP your thoughts and feedback.
County’s state legislators predict sesssion’s hot topics
By wherald
Johnson serves as chairman of the Government Operations Committee, which reviews the more than 200 government agencies that, according to the state constitution, regularly sunset. This committee reviews those agencies to determine whether they should be continued. From the Department of Safety to the Department of Revenue, the agencies will go away unless an affirmative action is taken, he said.
“One of the entities currently in wind down is the Judicial Selection Committee,” he said. If not reaffirmed, the committee will be dispersed as of June 30. “There is some strong debate taking place in state government right now about how we fill judicial vacancies and it’s a pretty controversial issue.”
Johnson encouraged anyone who had any thoughts about the Judicial Selection Committee to contact him.
Sargent (R-Cool Springs) is vice chair of two important committees; Budget and Finance and the Budget sub-committee.
“Something we will not know until they come out with the Federal stimulus package is how much money is going to be passed down for roads and highways and we do not know if there is any money coming down for cities and counties,” he said. “We are just going to have to learn to live within the budget. I think we will be able to do that.”
All bills go through Sargent’s committees, he said. Normally bills with a $50,000 price tag or less – sleeper bills – are automatically approved. This year government officials will be a lot more careful.
“I would be surprised if a bill of $5,000 gets by,” he said.
Casada (R-College Grove) relived the “painful” election in which the minority determined the vote for Speaker of the House.
“This was a year of change for the state of Tennessee,” he said.
Casada said his No. 1 issue will be to continue the Copeland Cap, a bill designed to control the growth of government, allowing it to grow only as fast as the economy.
A brief question-and-answer session followed in which tort reform and judge appointments, apparently areas cited as roadblocks when attracting business to the state, were briefly discussed.
“We want to see that the state of Tennessee is a business friendly state,” Johnson said. “We have been classified as a crisis state by the American Medical Association because of the litigations in the medical community.”
Legislators will be talking about tort reform and judge appointments, he assured the group.
The four legislators said they will continue to work closely on issues that affect Williamson County as well as state issues. They invited the community to join the monthly Public Affairs Round Table discussions held at the Williamson County Administrative Complex on the last Monday of each month, starting with light refreshments at 7 a.m. followed by discussion by legislators and attendees.
TDOT, city governments, and construction contractors are licking their chops and circling the stimulus prey to get their bite out of this fatten pig of a spending bill.
Stimulus package may be good news for Mack Hatcher
By Mindy Tate. Williamson Herald Editor
But next Friday, Franklin officials hope to hear good news regarding funding for the northwest section of Mack Hatcher between Hillsboro Road and State Route 96 West. The all-important environmental impact study was recently completed on that section of the road and funding has been dedicated for preliminary engineering by Southern Land Co. The city of Franklin has agreed to pay for a portion of final design and right of way for this section. Right-of-way and construction phases have yet to be funded, Oaks said.
With word that Tennessee may get as much as $613 million in federal stimulus funding for highway and bridge construction, state and local officials are all wondering where the money will go.
“My impression is that TDOT is looking at the stimulus package and while Mack Hatcher can’t get stimulus money, it may free up money on other projects that can be funded by stimulus funds,” Franklin Mayor John Schroer said.
To be eligible for stimulus funding, a project must be ready to turn the shovel within 180 days of notice of stimulus approval, Schroer said, although design work, right-of-way acquisition and construction qualify for stimulus funding, according to Fourth Ward Alderman Dan Klatt.
“Shovel ready” means any of those components ready to implement within 180 days of funding and that local road projects could receive stimulus funding through the Metropolitan Planning Organization if they are identified on the city’s long-range thoroughfare plan, Klatt said. The city’s Capital Investment Plan Committee will consider a proposal to update the city’s major thoroughfare plan on Feb. 12, he added. The plan has not been updated since 2003 and there is some urgency because of the stimulus package, Klatt said.
While Mack Hatcher has been on state and local planning boards for 10 years, it is nowhere near that time frame.
And no decision has been made on stimulus funding, Oaks said.
“As far as stimulus funds are concerned, we are still waiting to see what action the Senate will take,” Oaks said. “Their bill is likely to differ from the House. According to the House bill, Tennessee would receive around $613 million for highway and bridge construction. Keep in mind that a portion of those funds will go to the Metropolitan Planning Organizations also.”
Tennessee is also likely to receive more than $62 million for transit, Oaks said
Voters in the TN 6th Congressional District are about to be given a choice between a conservative challenger and the same old liberal lifer to represent their district.
A Wartrace man who intends to run against U.S. Rep. Bart Gordon in 2010 on Wednesday criticized Gordon’s vote for an economic stimulus package, calling it a “pork-laden wasteful spending bill.”Dave Evans of Wartrace, a major general in the U.S. Army Reserve, says he will make a formal announcement of his candidacy for the Republican nomination in the next 60 days.
“Incumbent Liberal Democrat Congressman Bart Gordon today demonstrated once again why it’s time for the voters of Tennessee’s Sixth Congressional District to vote him out of office in 2010,” said Evans in a news release on Wednesday. “Bart Gordon voted in lock step today along with Nancy Pelosi, Barney Frank, and Henry Waxman in favor of the pork laden wasteful spending bill known as the ‘Stimulus Plan.’ The bill’s $825 billion of spending and over $300 billion in future interest on the debt necessary to finance the bill brings the total cost to $1.1 trillion.”
The bill passed the House by a vote of 244-188. All 177 Republicans and 11 Democrats, including former Shelbyville resident Rep. Jim Cooper, voted against it.
Gordon, meanwhile, said the need for a plan is immediate.
“Tennesseans are losing jobs at an unprecedented rate and the situation only seems to be getting worse. From November to December, over 15,000 Tennesseans lost their jobs,” he said in a statement released to the Times-Gazette. “I am not going to sit back and watch workers and their families struggle, especially if we can intervene to improve the situation.”
According to The Associated Press, the bill would provide over the next two fiscal years $1.2 billion in aid to Tennessee’s state budget, $613.1 million for highways and bridges, $62.5 million for mass transit, $954,000 for other rail, $84 million for wastewater treatment and sewers, $13.5 million for low income energy assistance, $347.6 million for school modernization, renovation and repair, $13.8 million for Head Start, and $18.5 million for education technology grants.
Evans cited several specific examples of what he called pork barrel spending in the bill:
* $4 billion for neighborhood stabilization groups, which Evans said included “the left-wing ACORN group.”
* $142 billion in education spending which Evans, citing the Heritage Foundation, said would have no economic benefit and which he called “political payback” to the National Education Association, a teachers’ union.
* $246 million for what he called “Hollywood tax breaks.”
* $24 billion for “green job” projects including carbon-credit pilot programs
* $600 million for universal health care promotion.
“As a conservative Republican, I am challenging Bart Gordon in the 2010 election because the Sixth Congressional District of Tennessee can no longer afford this kind of irresponsible Federal spending,” said Evans. “I would have voted NO on today’s bill, just like Tennessee Republicans Zach Wamp and Marsha Blackburn, and Tennessee Democrat Jim Cooper.”
“Gordon voted against proposed GOP amendments that would have ensured a “true and timely stimulus” by providing tax relief to individuals and businesses. After all, individuals and businesses are the backbone of our economy and it is individuals and businesses that preserve and create jobs — not the government. The government cannot spend our nation out of economic crisis!”
“The answer to improving the economy is to cut taxes across the board and to cut wasteful government spending.”
Gordon defended the bill.
“The Economic Recovery bill we passed will put money in the pockets of working families and create/save 63,000 jobs in Tennessee. In the immediate term, working Tennesseans will get a tax cut and funding will be provided to the state and local governments, which will allow them to continue to make available essential services. The bill also included provisions that will prepare our workforce for the jobs of the future.
“In the days to come as we work with the Senate and President on the final version of the bill, I remain committed to strengthening the bill and ensuring that more and better jobs are created for Tennesseans and the rest of America.”
Sunday, February 1, 2009
By John I. Carney
Kudos to Congressman Cooper for standing fast and voting for his professed fiscally sound principles.
I hope Tennesseans note how one of the other Blue
Dogs in our state voted….Lincoln Davis. (aka Gubernatorial candidate).
Cooper, Blackburn vote against Obama’s stimulus package
Amy Griffith Graydon
Nashville U.S. Rep. Jim Cooper is one of just 11 Democrats who voted against new President Obama’s proposed economic stimulus plan, which passed Wednesday in a definitive 385-to-35 vote.
“I think everybody knows I’m for Barack. Everybody knows I’ve been reforming Congress. I think this is a very consistent vote,” Cooper told The City Paper Wednesday. “I’m disappointed we weren’t able to persuade enough others to give the bill another editing.”
Cooper is part of the fiscally conservative Blue Dog coalition, and has publicly voiced concerns about the package prior to the vote. Other Tennessee Blue Dogs voted in favor of the package, including Rep. Bart Gordon, D-Murfreesboro; Lincoln Davis, D-Pall Mall; and Rep. John Tanner, D-Union City.
The package, Cooper said, relies on borrowed money. He raised questions about the lack of a plan for paying the sizeable annual interest expenses he believes will be associated with it.
Referring to the bill as a “pork festival,” Cooper blamed members of Congress — and particularly the members of committees of jurisdiction — for transforming Obama’s original proposal into a bill Cooper could not support.
“I love Obama, but I’m disappointed with Congress for its business-as-usual attitude. The bill is loaded with pork. Half of it had nothing to do with stimulus. Only 5 percent has to do with the infrastructure projects that most people in the public think is in the bill. It was the largest bill in American history, by far, and one of the most wasteful,” Cooper said. “It’s likely it will only get worse when it goes to the Senate.”
All House Republicans from Tennessee cast votes in opposition to the plan, including Rep. Marsha Blackburn (R-Brentwood).
Blackburn on Wednesday called the program a “spending bill,” rather than stimulus. Big portions of the bill should have been considered through regular order, she said, including $3 billion for prevention and wellness, immunizations and grants, as well as $600 million for the federal government to buy “plug-in cars.” Only 10 percent of the bill would be spent this year, she said, with the rest to be spent between 2009 and 2019.
“A stimulus is to be short-term. It is to be focused. It is to be precision spending, and immediate,” Blackburn said Wednesday. “I think there was bipartisan opposition to this plan because it is a bad plan.”
