I got a newsletter today from Senator Johnson. I found this pie graph from the New York Times interesting. I wonder how many teabagger heads exploded after reading this. I’m sure something like “Lying Socialists!” was shouted in living rooms across the state. The truth hurts.
If only the stimulus would bailout crappy RR companies, maybe ironic Johnny would get behind it
John wants to end TARP even though he was all gungho about it when his best buddy GW pushed for it;
Thune voted for the bank bailout bill last year that then-President George W. Bush pushed Congress to adopt as Wall Street institutions started to fail. Now Thune is leading the charge to end TARP, saying the Obama administration has used the money in ways that Congress never intended by buying stakes in banks, financial institutions and automakers.
But now that a Democrat is running the show, it can’t be helping;
Thune’s criticisms come as the once-moribund economy shows signs of life: The stock market has risen since mid-August; banks are stabilizing; the rate of job losses, while still steep, has begun to moderate.
A report issued Wednesday by the Government Accountability Office, Congress’ watchdog arm, found that states have been using billions from the stimulus program, officially known as the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, to ease budget shortfalls, expand medical coverage and undertake about 7,000 highway projects over the past six months.
Yeah, kind of sounds like the stimulus isn’t doing shit, huh John, accept of course helping Americans on domestic projects instead of building bombs to blow up foreigners. I wonder if John would support the stimulus if it would help dying RR Companies?
That hasn’t stopped him in the past from seeking federal aid for items and issues benefiting his home state, such as safety on Indian reservations, water projects and weapons systems.
Hyp, Hyp, Hypo . . .
Ken Blanchard, a political science professor at Northern State University in Aberdeen, said it’s only natural, and politically important, that Thune would fight to steer some taxpayers’ money back to South Dakota.
“There’s clearly a risk in doing that because it makes you look like a hypocrite. The only thing worse would be not doing it,” Blanchard said
Balancing the checkbook in the Sioux Falls finance office is not a high priority, in fact, it is not a priority at all.
A key element of the federal government’s $787 billion economic stimulus program passed by Congress in February is telling taxpayers how much money is going where.
But in Sioux Falls, that number is tough to find.
City Finance Director Eugene (Montgomery Burns) Rowenhorst does not keep track of the money.
Heck, that guy has trouble keeping track of his thoughts let alone a couple million bucks.
That duty falls to Mayor Dave Munson’s chief of staff, Jodi Schwan, who was named the city’s stimulus coordinator for United States Conference of Mayors stimulus planning requirements.
“We don’t keep a running tally. We just look at it at a departmental basis,” Schwan said.
“Yeah, like, next thing you are gonna, like, want me to do, like, is keep track of my Macy’s receipts, and how many pairs of shoes I have, like, bogus, man. It’s all good, doll, no worries.”
“It’s just not something that we have a need to compile,” Rowenhorst said.
Because my multiple consultants and 0ver 20 employees are too busy spinning and twisting the tax revenue numbers, they don’t have time for this stuff. And when we provide too much information to the public, then we have to be accountable when we fuck up.
City Councilor Pat Costello agrees. “I don’t know that the total dollar amount is that important. We know that we have been getting some stimulus money.”
And if I run for mayor and get elected, I will continue the Munson administration’s bookeeping practices; Close? Good enough.
State Bureau of Finance and Management Commissioner Jason Dilges said that as of Friday, the state has spent $124.5 million out of a total of $761.5 million it potentially could be awarded.
“It’s extremely hard to track,” Dilges said. “We are applying for grants every day and spending money every day.”
Shit. The state can’t even make sure license plate tags have adhesive on the back of them, what makes you think they can do simple accounting?
At least one city office has started its own reporting procedure. Sioux Falls Transit planner Debra Gaikowski initiated a grant-fund tracking feature on www.siouxfallstransit.org. As the money is spent, it lists each project description, the contractor or supplier, cost and completion date.
“They are really promoting oversight on this money, and I thought this would be a good way to get that information out there,” Gaikowski said.
Debra, hope you have your resume updated, that kind of talk and action will get you fired.
Do you also like sausage?
Steffy bringing home the bacon water;
Among Herseth Sandlin’s requests:
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$35 million for the Lewis & Clark Regional Water System, a project that ultimately will cost $587 million and provide water to communities in South Dakota, Iowa and Minnesota.
I’m confused? I thought Johnson already secured this money for us? I guess that’s what happens when you have a lifelong Republican and lifelong Democrat star in a commercial together, double the bullshit. (During Johnson’s last senate campaign, Mayor Munson praised senator Johnson for all the pork he brought to Sioux Falls. Two of the items were the RR relocation project and Lewis & Clark. But we haven’t received a single penny yet for either project.)
$3.5 million for Minnehaha County to help build Project Safe Home, a 32-unit complex in Sioux Falls that would provide permanent housing to chronically homeless people with severe alcohol addictions.
I see the County and City got the Feds to pony up on helping the homeless. That’s good, so we can free up some of our tax dollars to buy historic million dollar windows and armored vehicles for the Sheriff’s department.
l3wis 