Big Bucks to Study Voting Trends

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For some, the answer to that question would be a resounding — YES! But in this case I want to talk about dollars buying a study of how people vote — in Africa. Yes, I said Africa. In 2009, The University of California at San Diego received a $233,825 grant to study voting habits of the African people to determine if the democratization, a nice way of saying nation building, of Africa is possible.

Turkey Breasts in Minnesota

Jennie-O Turkey Store, Inc., in Willmar, MN, received $5,379,000 to help them with the production and distribution of turkey deli breasts. Man, that’s a lot of turkey. Those Norwegians must be well fed. So where am I going with this astounding information?

Does Money = Jobs – Or just window dressing?

In the case of the African vote study, I was wondering how many jobs this grant created? Well, at last report,(July 2009) the “study” was only half done and zero jobs created.

So how did Jennie-O do? Surely, with $5 million plus to spend that must have created a boatload of jobs. Well, they have spent the money and reported the jobs created — sort of. See if you can understand their description of the resulting jobs.

They claim 286 jobs reported as “full time equivalent weeks of work??” What?? Now I’m not the sharpest knife in the drawer, but I do know that a job is a job. So does this report mean 286 jobs or 286 weeks of work for an unknown group of people? Wouldn’t you like a little better accounting if you were the one giving up $5 million?

So where does the money come from for these two examples?

Are you sitting down? Have a blood pressure cup handy? Got a phone in case you need to make a 911 call? The money for both these projects came from The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 or, as most of us affectionately call it, “The First Stimulus Package.”You can follow how well they are doing here.

We Gotta Pass It!

In February of 2009, we were told that if we didn’t immediately pass this legislation, we were headed off the economic cliff. Not sure any of us had any idea that the big bucks we were allowing our elected officials to spend, would be spent on deli breasts and African voting habits. Is it still a mystery why no millionaires or billionaires want their money anywhere near these idiots? Who makes decisions like this? We all know about the “turtle bridges” and some of the other idiotic uses of the stimulus, but I think this has to give most of us pause, about how well our hard earned money is being spent.

Some Final Thoughts

When I find things like this I don’t know whether to laugh or cry. When I think about all the needs in this nation, about the total waste, in my opinion, of almost $6 million dollars, that could have been used much more responsibly. It almost seems that the DC fat cats are having some kind of sick competition as to who can waste the most money fastest. They literally rob the American people under the guise of doing good work. I sure hope your votes not for sale.

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