Polar Bear Pork?

People have to wake up! We have the economy of 1930. Banks aren't lending and consumers aren't spending. The whole point of the government spending is to inject money into the economy where it will be spent. Translated, to hold off another great depression, THERE IS NO SUCH THING AS PORK BARREL SPENDING! Whether it's to build a bee spa, a polar bear enclosure, or a bridge; it's all the same! These conservative morons crying "pork barrell spending" NOW sound just like Herbert Hoover. They got the country into this mess, and they should just shut up and sit down.

Is anyone really surprised that such a list would be pork heavy? Government spending during an economic downturn can be helpful, but is ridden with problems. The first of these is the very inefficient allocation of capital (the government buys a lot that the population does not want or need).

The problems don’t end with just inefficient allocations. The horse trading that goes on creates a type of currency with which government officials ‘buy favors’ from other officials or from the public. Then, there are the withdrawal symptoms when the government support of projects end.

Watch this cure! The side effects are large and under appreciated.

Abbie, you missed the point of the report. The point of the Mayor's report is to make the statement that our infrastructure is in need of repair. Sure you can nitpick questionable projects in the report, however even if you assume 10 or 20% of the report includes questionable, that's still a need of over $50 billion dollars. That is a staggering amount. You also need to consider that the US Mayors Conf list included projects from only 427 municpalities... there are over 18443 municipalities in the United States.... the list only represents projects from 2% of all Municipalities. $50 billion from just 2% of municipalities...

Congrats on missing the point of the report...

The US voters supported Barack Obama as an agent of "change" because they have grown weary of business as usual. It appears as if the members of our political system did not get this memo.

Since mankind is destroying the natural resources of the planet and melting the polar bears real home, it's up to us to create a home-like environment for the bears in captivity. Sure, it's insane, and I for one would rather have the polar bears thrive in their natural home in the North Pole, but until mankind can guarantee this, there is no other choice! Pony up!!

So what these Mayors and leaders are saying is that all is fine in their city?
With the submitted request,this will fix everything?

All we need is a water slide? A Zoo exibit ect?

I beleive that most citizens can come up with thousands of better suggestions to help their homtown!

Shame on them!

If you closely read the CNN article here http://www.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/12/18/mayors.pork/index.html and do the math, the "pork" projects the article claims the request is "full" of actually total only 1/2 of 1% of the total request. CNN also includes projects like bike paths and tree planting, which should be considered part of rebuilding and greening city infrastructure – removing carbon from the atmosphere and encouraging non-car transportation – alongside the water slides and stadium improvements.

I could go into greater detail about how many of these projects will actually stimulate the economy and create jobs, but the point is, they do not make up the bulk of the requests, and CNN should be more careful about classifying some projects as "pork." I'm no fan of pork, but let's keep things in perspective.

Most of the requests are for large, work-creating projects and as far as the rest like the Polar bear exhibit, dog park, skate board areas, etc., So What!!! These are all things that are for the enjoyment of us...the people. These things enhance our lives. I just read today that the upstanding gov. of Ill's legal defense can cost between 5 and 20 million. So if a lot of kids get to see and enjoy that Polar bear exhibit I think it's worth it...
Besides, we are talking about a government that will give a blank check of 700 BILLION to Wallstreet and won't give 15 billion to the auto industry unless the average worker gives up part of their salary and benefits. Or where you can get arrested for some petty crime and get sent to jail while people like Madoff bilk this country for 50 billion and get sent to their 10 million dollar Park Ave Apartment. Let's put it all into perspective and stop jumping on the reactionary bandwagon.

I am in the process of reading thru this report line by line and looking for the "pork." I see a couple projects in my city that I am going to check into. I went to Webster's and got a defintion of the word "infrastructure."
Main Entry: in·fra·struc·ture
1: the underlying foundation or basic framework (as of a system or organization)
2: the permanent installations required for military purposes
3: the system of public works of a country, state, or region ; also : the resources (as personnel, buildings, or equipment) required for an activity. I have to agree with CNN SIU on this one. Going to take a fair amount of stretching to get some of these requests to comply. I am tired of getting porked! Its time the American people stood up to the crooked political BS and had their voices heard!

This report is a great example of the mainstream media's political bias.

Please, Abbie, make some sort of effort to present both sides of the argument, rather than stooping to this gotchya journalism.

Water parks and skate parks are great ways to entertain kids and teens and keep them out of trouble. Bike paths are a great way to encourage biking. If improving roads is legitimate, what's wrong with improving bike paths? I, personally, am against prostitution, and it seems like Dayton has a problem with prostitution (http://www.whiotv.com/news/17825645/detail.html)

I have a tip for you, Abbie. I hear billions of wasted pork was spent on private military contractors in Iraq. Sounds like a good story!

Another disturbing thing about this report is the creativity involved in the amount of jobs each "project" will produce. For example in my city, planting trees will create 20 jobs. Creating metered spaces for Hybrid cars, 40 jobs. New sidewalks, 50 jobs. Hybrid vehicle purchases, 200 jobs. New laptops and technology for police, 10 jobs. New RTA buses, 15 jobs. School Buses, 15 jobs. A new football stadium, 150 jobs.
The new job additions by these and the other proposed projects will not come close to the estimated jobs created! Wake up folks!! Tax dollars at work here!

I just saw Abbie Boudreau’s report on “pork” in the U.S. Conference of Mayors’ report to Congres, and I have to say, I was insulted and appalled. I’m not saying that these proposals really are the answer to our nation’s serious problems, nor am I arguing that they are not. I have not read the report, and I’m not well-versed enough in economics to be able to make a well-informed opinion. For that, I would turn to Paul Krugman. What I am saying and what I, as a 20-year-old college student, do know about Boudreau’s report, is that it is grossly misleading. Calling public works projects “pork” does nothing but confuse the American public and promote ignorance. Anyone who has taken a high school history course knows how FDR’s public works projects, which included many “wasteful” projects like building roads and painting murals, helped create jobs and guide the American economy out of the Great Depression. Again, I’m not saying that the new report really is the answer to our problems, but portraying them as an instance of governmental ineptitude or even corruption is grossly misleading.

Further misconstruing the facts by saying that some of these projects “don’t even create jobs” is also reprehensible. Of course, some of these projects might not create new jobs, but they would keep many people employed who otherwise would not be.

I find this kind of news reporting, which bends the truth in order to create a sensationalist story, to be all too common in CNN, and, in particular, Anderson Cooper’s news program.

It is reports like this that help, inch by inch, to promote public ignorance, public distrust of the media, and a general dumbing-down of public American life. You ought to be ashamed of functioning as a tabloid news journal while masquerading as a legitimate source of news.

I can only say that following this hard-hitting report with another hard-hitting investigation on Jim Carrey sitting in a bathtub next to Larry KIng is sadly fitting.

After 8 yrs of red pork, its about time we had some blue pork. All I can say is, oink, oink; I'll have a second helping of whatever $$ the pols in Washington want to return to my state. PS. I was not elgible for last years give-away and am fully solvent on my mortgage, credit cars, auto etc.

Just what we need – obstructionists using YOUR news reporting on a fragment of a percent of the total to delay vital spending our nation needs NOW.

In the tradition of Keeping them Honest, I have to ask – Do you WANT the US to sink further into a depression? Will you be happy when it starts effecting YOUR bottom line?

Thanks Abbie, I suppose it's fine to be cynical and expect business as usual when it comes to tax payer dollars being used to fund pet projects under the guise of larger , more important projects. Accountability is what has been missing in government lately and it is fine and important to question spending of taxpayer dollars on projects that will benefit a very few. Obviously, a legitimate public works project is not the same as funding a ride at a water park. The comment made by Mr. Nicholson about Jim Carrey was apropos of nothing.

With respect to the comment about FDR's CCC projects and " helped create jobs and guide the American economy out of the Great Depression"
It might be important to note that these young men were essentially homeless or unable to provide for themselves and/or dependents. who worked at a minimal wage. Not employees of contracted firms.
in the THE SECOND "FIRESIDE CHAT" FDR defined
"What We Have Been Doing and What We Are Planning to Do."
MAY 7, 1933. (Excerpts)
"First, we are giving opportunity of employment to one-quarter of a million of the unemployed, especially the young man who have dependents, to go into the forestry and flood prevention work.
This is a big task because it means feeding, clothing and caring for nearly twice as many men as we have in the regular Army itself.
In creating this civilian conservation corps we are killing two birds with one stone. We are clearly enhancing the value of our natural resources, and we are relieving an appreciable amount of actual distress. This great group of men has entered upon its work on a purely voluntary basis; no military training is involved and we are conserving not only our natural resources, but also our human resources. One of the great values to this work is the fact that it is direct and requires the intervention of very little machinery."

The CCC's can not be compared directly to these new proposed projects & jobs as they will no doubt NOT be minimum wage, will not provide room and board, or health care, will not be run by government personnel per se, will not focus 1st on the unemployed as a pre condition, and probably not hire returning Veterans as 1st priority either, but rather they WILL require much in terms of skilled manpower, materials, and equipment. This obviously means contracts will no doubt be given to "properly qualified and connected companies" who may or may not provide health coverage or may hire undocumented workers, or may be preferred campaign contributors.

So I wouldn't exactly compare this initial "Mayors project" list to FDR's CCCs other than the rather minor percentages of funding to parks, murals, and lifestyle facilities similar to what the CCC's built and we continue to enjoy today.
On the subject of the interview, I agree it highlighted the minor portion for Polar Bears and horse trails as a legitimate question however of greater concern are the following points.
The report was printed, bound, and waved like a victory flag, but upon closer inspection, the answer to "didn't you read it?" was.. " I didn't have time, It's a big report"
WHAT?? YOU don't have time to read what YOU proposed, but do have time to present it and expect applause?
Well we don't have the money for it either. So before we approve "the investment" how about READING it to make sure its the BEST plan we can come up with?
Didn't President elect Barak Obama say "we will read the budget line by line, eliminate non working programs and enhance those that do work?
Are the mayors not on board with the program? If Mr. Diaz can't read it. It does sound like business as usual which usually includes a BIG NEW PORK FARM with these guys and their friends driving the tractors.
Maybe the plan includes some folks hired to read it for him?

I can only hope President elect Obama gets these guys on the program before we continue printing more confetti disguised as dollars. We do need to invest at home BUT how about a little responsibility and accountability?
Keep in mind the report introduction that in part says ..
both the potential infrastructure INVESTMENT and the potential number of jobs that such an investment would create, are SIGNIFICANTLY LARGER.

Perhaps a well intended start but will our elected officials will once again be standing in line with hands out and not looking back as they attend fund raisers, sign contracts,and await their chance to vote themselves a new raise as they continue to raise taxes and build a bigger government payroll.

Stay tuned, this is just the beginning
IF all states and cities recieve more money than they could fund themselves through OUR tax dollars, How does the Federal Government get the money to pay for all of them combined?
Party time at the print shop. Lets not forget all the new jobs there too.

After eight years of Bush Leadership, people wanted a change in Washington. After looking at the cast members of Obama's cabinet I can say that I see no change at all. They are the same cast of criminals that have been in Washington for years. It is no wonder that the list of infrastructure projects would list such things as a polar bear exhibit and minor league baseball museum and a mural. I had no expectations that there would be any change. These projects are a big waste of our money. Only on true infrastructure programs should the taxpayer money be used.

It's obvious to me that neither the mayors or the commentators understand the concept of "need" versus "want". Infrastructure is not "want".

Dear Abbie,

My opinion is that unless the emergency and I stress emergency money is for repair or replacement of the existing crumbling infrastructure or creates many permanent jobs for American Citizens then the project does not deserve the public emergency funds. Sure their projects are nice to have and would probably enhance the city or town or community and maybe even the general public but please people we have to start facing reality. We are in dire trouble because we just cannot control our spending and everything is deemed as necessary for our survival or is of vital importance to National Security, or is a deadly mushroom cloud looming over the horizon.

Throwing money at a problem doesn't always help and in most cases where monitored, is abused who knows what happens when it is NOT monitored, such as the BILLIONS that just disappeared in Iraq. Examples abound two of the top of my head are Iraq and the Wall Street Bailout, there are many many more but if it happened more than 6 months ago people will not remember it.

Joe Biden our Vice President elect said it just the other day. Our ECONOMY is on the verge of TANKING...... does this prospect seem like we should spend huge sums of money on projects that are not DIRE necessities? I think not! For that matter I see absolutely no reason to have a huge gala exaggeration party in January. Look a reasonable celebration is great, there is much for Obama to celebrate I suppose but please let's keep it reasonable, under a million bucks, I could throw a hell of a party with a million bucks.

It is well past time to tighten our belts both the people and the GOVERNMENT as well, we cannot and must not continue to wear the RED SUIT, everyone World Wide must carry their own weight. Terrorists continue to cost countries worldwide enormous sums of money which could be better spent on the peoples needs within each country if we could only keep the Robber Barons, elected officials and governments from stealing the reserves.

Oh yeah as long as we are discussing viable projects I have a pond on my property that has over the years filled in somewhat and could use a dredging, this would improve the pond and enable more fish species to be stocked and improve fishing enjoyment for my community.

To Abbie Boudreau,

Your story on Lew Dobbs, regarding the $73 billion infrastructure plan assembled by U.S. mayors, served up an inflated definition of "pork" in my opinion. Fixing old roads, bridges, schools and sewer systems is certainly important infrastructure work, but addressing neglected resources used by the general public, such as parks, zoos, libraries and hiking and biking trails, can also create much needed jobs, and restore a sense of pride in what we once called the commonwealth. Let's not think too narrowly about the range of work that can be done to improve our communities during these difficult times.

p.s. I'd much rather see federal bailout money go to these kinds of projects than to line the pockets of finacial industry elites . The elite class has been sucking the prosperity out of the commonwealth for nearly 30 years; it's time to change that trend. Enough!

There are alot of things we don't need like parks or bike pathways or playgrounds but they do add to our quality of life. I agree a muesum about baseball isn't a necessity but maybe a bike path or a new playground or a community pool or a skate park but do alot to keep our young people occupied.

Tim brings up a good point. Why doesn't CNN do a story on the private contractors that were hired during the war like Halliburton.
CNN needs to work on stories that really matter. Halliburton has ROBBED the American people and no one in the mainstream media does anything about it.

This piece isn't worth the bandwidth it takes up. You can't just throw out references to these projects and try to stir the pot without sharing the proposed benefits these projects will provide, including long-term economic benefit. The problem is, one persons pork is another persons investment in the long-term viability of their community, and the larger problem is Americans' tendency to make judgments based on sound bites instead of making sound decisions based on transparent and complete information. I think one of the projects referenced is in my metro area, and I can tell you that it would provide long-term benefit to one of the star attractions in this urban area - one that has been a gem of the community since the late 1880s. If I am right that this is project referenced, it is also significant that the importance of this funding has increased due to our Republican governors fiscal policies that have dulled our state's former resiliency to economic downturn, resulting in painful cuts to local governments and cuts to funding for this project as well as a disproportionate number of other important projects in this urban community whose lawmakers are generally unsupportive of his policies (i.e. he cut the crap out of most of their proposed projects because the local lawmakers disagree with him on a regular basis). It is important to get the back story and facts instead of passing judgment based on the 5 or so words that identify the subject matter of the project.

Let's see... we spent our way into this mess and we're going to spend our way out? I see, we'll spend on Critical Infrastructure. Could some one explain how a polar bear exhibit is critical?

Don't try to be facetious about this. It is absolutely pork. It is spending that is not "infrastructure"....that is apparent.

Sounds like it has a flat snout, a curly tail and oinks. Most of this is pure pork and federal tax dollars should not go to these kinds of projects. Here's one I would propose, spend money to upgrade electrical and plumbing in older homes for solar panels and heating. Start with the poor side of town. It would create manufacturing and trade jobs.

Um... Field of dreams... Is he serious?

If I build a private jet hanger in the middle of nowhere, why would anyone fly there? To play baseball?!?

Maybe he should ask if there is anything in Fayetteville, Ark. to which it is worth flying.

Well, I just looked at all the cities in Illinois, where I live. An overwhelming number of projects contained the following phrases:

Road resurfacing
Road construction
Sewer construction
Sewer maintenance

We may have a corrupt Governor, but our mayors seem to be pretty responsible.

How about affordable housing??Your gonna need it after all the for closers
How about health care??
How about cutting the trillion dollar defense budget???
etc etc etc
The bears can wait

If you wanna get serious,get serious then

Sure, some of these projects are worthwhile. I'm all for making my city beautiful and fun. If so, then let there be a fund for these kinds of projects, (of course only AFTER we are in recovery from this economic mess). The infrastructure project should be very specific, only roads, bridges etc. It's easier to keep an eye on things...

This is typical elected official bull_ _ _ _ who are only thinking about re-election and not about what really matters to the community. Sure some fo those things might be nice but if the tax dollars are going to be spent I don't want it spent on water parks, murals, or polar bear exhibits. Add another lane to I-85 between Atlanta and Greenville, SC. There is a long stretch that is just two lanes each way and it always crowded, has horific tractor trailer crashes all the time, plus the South Carolina side needs to be repaved. Create more lakes to help make up the drought problem in GA and SC. Just look at Lake Hartwell or Lake Lanier, both down 20 plus feet each. (of course it may just be the army corp of engineers fault and not the drought). Add generators to all the cell phone towers so in a disaster, cell phones, which have become the life blood of just about every human, will still function.

CNN is not very good at reporting anything. They only print what they beleive is right. They try to get the public to beleive things that really are not true. If you want real news go to a different website to get both side of a story

oink...oink........Oink........Miss Piggy would be Proud!!

◄]:>)

Abbie, I don't think you missed the point of the list at all. I think the Mayors and Concerned Reader missed the point by a country mile. A mural? A duck pond? A hangar jet? Please. This county is on a downward pointing slippery slope. If our elected officials cannot seriously find projects in their communities like dangerous roads or crumbling bridges or failing tunnels, just what color is the sky in their world? This like the mayors of towns who took Homeland Security money. Americans need to get it. This country is in trouble and we need to get ourselves back to work. Once we start working again local communities will have money of their own for a duck pond or a mural. I think if I lived in AR, I would be looking for a village who misplaced their idiot.

Hmmm... Yes,not only do I smell pork, I smell a whole pigpen! In these trying economic times, some politician wants to use "emergency money" to build a five million dollar polar bear exhibit? Some redneck politico in Backwater, Arkansas wants to build hangars for corporate jets in a place where there are no corporate jets? This should serve as a wakeup call to Americans to get involved in the political process on a local level, because it's time to get rid of old-style politicians who don't think beyond impractical, "wish-list" types of useless projects! Politicians dream these kinds of things up to make themselves look and sound good, and they do it at the expense of taxpayers. It's time for Americans to do the responsible thing and vote the pork barrel types out of office.

I did not expect anything different form the conference of mayors, and what I see of the incoming administration is not "change" they are reverting to their version of the "Glory Days" of FDR. WPA, CCC, TVA, REA all feel good government handouts aimed at securing votes for the future. That is what those people do. They could not care less about our well-being or desires. If this seems unkind and harsh to you, about the best advice I can give you is to HIDE AND WATCH.
Then have the guts to admit that I was right.

Get use to it. If it's "good enough for government work then it's good enough for me!
Hey Carrol County Maryland government wake up, take a tip, how about paving my road which is long over due!!! Don't my taxes pay for anything?!

Our Founding Fathers are fuming......they are mad as hell and are not going to take it anymore....GO TED NUGENT...

SUREgive it all away!!!!!!!!!!! Remember 700billion that had to be done that day or we would be in the great depression? The 150billion in earmarks it's all BS Auto bailout Mercedes was only too happy to get rid of chrysler. The unions aren't giving anything up.In fact the layoff for the month they will get 95% of their pay The gov"T is going to tell them to make cars that won't be popular and if they are popular use so much less gas then they have to raise the gas tax because loss of revenue. Obama has 2 advisors that say we need $400 gas to get the economy moving i know that $4oo gas people won't spend on any extras no eating out no trips nothing. So spend it all even better send your check to Washington and they will send you back a stipend

OMG! will it ever stop? I want, I want, I want...I thought we were going to stick to needs from now on??? JUST STOP IT!

You have got to be kidding, NO way. that's what got many states in trouble stupid crap that does not create jobs. Build plants that produce something will create jobs like solar power, wind power plants. Those individuals that think up that crap should resign.

Where I live the phone lines are so bad that when someone moves into the area Southwestern Bell steals live lines from one customer to connect the new resident. When I called to find out when our lines would be upgraded so that our children could get reasonable lines for internet, I was told my great great grand children would want internet before they would put lines in. For years all phone customers have paid a tax to allow the companies to keep rural lines up to date.

I have switched to cell phone that is not reliable either because the cell phone companies refuse to cover all of the United States either. How can the Government justify a water slide over Nation Wide Communication. We can't start jobs and educate all children without these basics.

Do not just hand out money to the phone companies either because they take the money and do not hire anyone to fix anything......

Wish you could all trying to live in an area that has third world communication in this century..

I congratulate you on the work that you do and I admire as a
journalist very much.
But what gets revealed in your reports just depresses me to no end...
(I'm not trying to discourage you)
Why is that (rich) people in power are so corrupted (in whatever which way) ?
I hope that Obama will bring about the real change that the modern
world needs. He does set the right example, but we as a society need to evolve ... quickly ...
Education, is the solution .. I believe. We need more educated parents and teachers. (and I don't mean being able to take the square root of 23488 or being able to quote Shakespeare as educated)
I don't see any way around it.
This should be number one priority in our country (after solving the
short term problems)

How do I find out what the state of South Carolina is asking for? What type of projects do they have planned. How do I find this out?

Here is a prime example of our in-effective congress at work:

ENERGY INFORMATION ADMINISTRATION
The bill provides $110,595,000 for the Energy Information Administration (EIA). The EIA has failed to accurately predict the tremendous run up in oil and gas prices, raising serious questions regarding EIA's predictive and modeling capabilities. The EIA is directed to consult independent expert entities with economic modeling experience to review and recommend improvements to its models and methodologies and propose a strategy to increase its in-house capabilities to more accurately predict global energy Price trends.

How and why is this in the stimulus bill? We should be cutting the EIA budget and giving $1 Million dollars to a graduate team at MIT and get better results.

hybrid cars are energy efficient compared to diesel or gas powered cars.;,,

i like hybrid cars because they are more energy efficient compared to petrol engines.":

toyota and other car manfucaturers should step up the production of Hybrid Cars~':