SFC Ollie
Still Marching
Oops, you better tell that to the Republican leadership. Seems like they have been applying for stimulus money, which is to be used for, get this, "shovel ready projects". Oops, let me say that again. "Ooops".
Republicans apply for stimulus money - pottsmerc.com
Boehner's state, Ohio, already had 52 job-stimulus contracts for infrastructure projects.
Ohio's Sen. George Voinovich had written to the Dept. of Energy for stimulus funds that would "create 480 construction and engineering jobs, and 167 full-time permanent jobs."
Sen. McConnell, "I support the application submitted by (Kentucky and local railroads)" for job-stimulus funds. These funds have "...the potential to attract industry, create jobs..."
The Washington Post reported that half of the job vendors at Eric Cantor's job fair were companies providing jobs with stimulus funds.
Republican Deputy Whip Rep. Kevin McCarthy confidentially asked for job-stimulus funds for a California highway project, delayed 20 years because of lack of money. The Obama stimulus funds for this project, McCarthy wrote, "will quickly put people back to work."
This August, the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office released a finding that the jobs stimulus spending added about 3.3 million jobs to the economy.
Wait,
wait,
wait, I like this part best:
McCarthy's swipe about public skepticism might be credible given that he and most Republicans carried out a coordinated campaign of deception for two full years.
Or like Tea Party Republican Centerfold Scott Brown who said he was going to Washington to STOP the stimulus and then applied for stimulus money to build broad band in the area he represents. See, all those small businesses. Scott thinks broad band would help create thousands of new jobs. Even though you don't put in a broadband network with a "shovel", it's still considered a "shovel-ready" project.
Audio | Senate Minority Leader Letter: Stimulus is Economy Booster and Job Creator | Capitol News Connection
WASHINGTON -- Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, who was one of the most outspoken critics of the Obama stimulus package, subsequently wrote letters in an effort to obtain large amounts of stimulus funding for projects in his district. Those letters contradict his earlier public assertions that the stimulus would not help the economy or create jobs.
In one letter McConnell writes in support of rail improvements around Appalachia, saying supporting the railroads has the potential to attract industry and create jobs. In another letter Rogers supports a broadband project he says will stimulate economic growth.
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You gotta love those Republicans. Bold as brass. Lies, misleading statements, tricks, they know 'em all.
So you're calling Obama a liar now???
Mr. Obama is acknowledging that, despite his campaign promises, "there's no such thing as shovel-ready projects."
You can't have it both ways dip-shit. lol
au contraire mon ami
We know that right wingers love to jump on everything Obama has to say and take it out of context. As long as the jobs happen and the jobs are created, who cares what Obama said? Don't you want Americans to work? Don't you want bridges to be built? Railroads to create jobs? Why aren't you criticizing the Republican leadership for building an infrastructure to create jobs? You do understand the connection between building an infrastructure and creating jobs? Think of it as a "foundation" and a "building". What would the building be without the foundation?
EK: None of this really explains Obama's disappointment with shovel-ready projects. You're saying the work fulfilled expectations. He keeps telling reporters that it didn't.
JB: Very early on in the Recovery Act, the VP went to visit this bridge in Pennsylvania that was a good candidate for repair. He asked how shovel-ready is it? It happened that the engineer was there and said, hold on, Ive got the blueprints right over here in my car. He actually got them and showed them to the VP.
They quickly got a transportation grant to fix the bridge but didnt start construction for a few months because the local government didnt want to have to divert traffic patterns until the summer. Now the project is completed. Thats just the way these things unfold sometimes. Theres often going to be some wiggle between approval and shovels in the ground.
Ezra Klein - Are there 'shovel-ready projects?' An interview with Jared Bernstein.
How many permanent jobs did the repairs on that bridge create?