The fraud of the stimulus program

The Health Care bill just passed and signed into law is not the first bad bill passed by Congress and signed by Obama.

Of the $787 billion for the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, less than $200 billion has been awarded and less than $100 billion has actually been spent. See Recovery.gov

Here's some hightlights of where the money (we don't have) is going:

• The University of California - San Diego received a grant of $233,825 to study African election patterns. The grant proposal stated that "the primary objective of this project is to identify the micro-foundations of vote choice in sub-Saharan Africa through extensive analysis of individual-level exit poll data." I think scientific research is great, but this smacks of a payoff. This is not seriously going to stimulate the economy.
• Deployment Essentials, LLC, received some $648,000 for "expert" installation of 2,074 of digital TV converters in the southwest. That's $312 per box, which cost $50 and a monkey could connect them.
• Vanderbilt University received a grant of $1.1 million to study black holes. Now that's really going to stimulate the economy.
• The city of Cherokee, Iowa, got $30,480 for picnic benches. Dear Obama: Where's mine?
• The Jennie-O Turkey Store in Willmar, MN, received more than $7 million in two separate awards for the delivery of deli turkey breasts. For whom? Since the award came directly from Congress, it must be for their lunches.
• The University of North Carolina received a grant of $447,492 to study the affect of 70 African American children speaking Eubonics (African American English) and its role in school achievement. Very good for the economy.
• The State of NY received nearly $400 million to "weatherize" low income housing. It reportely created 49 jobs. That's $8.1 million per job. Where do I sign up?
• Mt. Saint Mary's College in Los Angeles received a grant for $327,337 for: "Genetic Control of Sensory Hair Cell Membrane Channeels in Zebrafish." I kid you not. 

I'd go on -- there are thousand of examples -- but I'll go puke my breakfast up now.

The American taxpayer is getting ripped off.

Source: Stimulus Watch