e-update 10/27/09
1. Stupid Stimulus Spending Contest
2. Down the Yellow Brick Road
3. Cash for Clubbers
4. Fido May Help FICA
5. Citizens' Council on Health Care
1. Stupid Stimulus Spending Contest
While following the flow of stimulus money this week, we gleaned an interesting fact from the flood of data released by the Obama administration. A review of the data, which flaunts the fact that $16 billion in stimulus money has created or saved 30,000 jobs, shows that each job cost taxpayers an incredible $533,000!
The vast and growing number of ways to waste tax dollars is growing exponentially and we would like to hear from you about the most outrageous, ridiculous, or down right egregious ways you have seen stimulus money being spent.
To read more click here.
This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. the Taxpayers League the most outrageous way in which the U.S. Federal Government is spending stimulus money by November 30, 2009 and win!
1st Place - $100
2nd Place - $50
3rd Place - $25
If your story is a winner, you will receive a stuffed pig to accompany your cash winnings. Don't delay send your entry today!
2. Down the Yellow Brick Road
Taxpayers will be picking up the tab for a one-block stretch of Goodrich Avenue that is being repaved in expensive brick rather than asphalt. The city could have paved the street in asphalt for about $46,000. Instead, brick pavers will cost a whopping $304,000.
So far city officials have refused to comment on the city's policy for paying for street projects. St. Paul Mayor Chris Coleman's office told reporters he was too busy with meetings and City Council President Kathy Lantry said it "doesn't affect her or her ward."
Mayor Coleman has complained vehemently about the deduction in state aid payments to the City of St. Paul, but it seems that the city has plenty of money to pave the streets.
It's good to know St. Paul's Mayor and City Council President aren't worried our tax dollars turning to bricks.
To read more click here.
3. Cash for Clubbers
Just when you thought cash for clunkers was the ultimate waste of taxpayer money, the feds have outdone themselves. Uncle Sam is now paying Americans to buy golf carts. The federal credit provides from $4,200 to $5,500 for the purchase of an electric vehicle.
The golf-cart boom has followed an IRS ruling that golf carts qualify for the electric-car credit as long as they are road worthy. The IRS has also ruled that there's no limit to how many electric cars an individual can buy, so some enterprising profiteers are stocking up on multiple carts while the federal credit lasts, in order to resell them at a profit later.
This golf-cart fiasco perfectly illustrates tax policy in the age of Obama, when politicians dole out credits and loopholes for everything from plug-in cars to dishwashers, home insulation and vitamins.
To read more click here.
4. Fido May Help FICA
A bill, HR 3501, making the rounds on Capitol Hill would marry tax cuts and pet ownership to create a tax break of up to $3500 per person for pet care expenses. The feel-good proposal is being offered by Rep. Thaddeus McCotter, R-Mich., and championed by some of Hollywood's elite. You might also think that Rep. McCotter would have more important issues on his mind. For instance, the unemployment rate in his home state of Michigan is 15.2 percent.
Anyway, as if convoluting and manipulating the tax code isn't nauseating enough, the measure has a snappy acronym: the HAPPY Act, as in Humanity and Pets Partnered Through the Years.
To read more click here.
5. Citizens' Council on Health Care
Freedom Celebration Dinner with Special Guest Speaker - Maria Anne "Hansi" Hirschmann
What does it mean to be free? On the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall, a former Hitler Youth leader will answer this very important question. Register today!
Monday, November 9, 2009
Crowne Plaza St. Paul - Riverfront
To view the formal invitation click here.
