SOTU: Democrat ‘Investment’ Prospectus

Despite The Poor Track Record Of Their Stimulus ‘Investment’ Decisions, Dems Want To Spend Even More

PRESIDENT OBAMA, 2012: “…the payoffs on these public investments don’t always come right away. Some technologies don’t pan out; some companies fail. But I will not walk away…” (President Obama, State Of The Union, 1/24/12)

Democrat Research ‘Investments’

PRESIDENT OBAMA, 2011: “This is our generation’s Sputnik moment… to reach a level of research and development we haven’t seen since the height of the Space Race… We’ll invest in biomedical research, information technology…” (President Obama, State Of The Union Address, 1/25/11)

· RESEARCH ‘INVESTMENT’: $300K For “Mapping Radioactive Rabbit Feces” -- “A government contractor at Hanford, in south-central Washington State, just spent a week mapping radioactive rabbit feces with detectors mounted on a helicopter flying 50 feet over the desert scrub. … the helicopter flights, which covered 13.7 square miles and were paid for with $300,000 in federal stimulus money…”(“Even Rabbit Droppings Count In Nuclear Cleanup,” The New York Times, 10/14/09)

· RESEARCH ‘INVESTMENT’: $219K To Study “The Sex Patterns Of College Women” -- “Five hundred Syracuse University freshmen will divulge the details of their sex lives… received $219,000 in stimulus funds for the study, which looks at the sex patterns of college women.” (“SU Sex Study Raises Concern,” The [Syracuse] Daily Orange, 9/8/09)

· RESEARCH ‘INVESTMENT’: $325K To Study “The Mating Decisions” Of Female Cactus Bugs – “The cactus bug project at the University of Florida is more ambitious, spending $325,394 in stimulus money to determine how environment affects the mating decisions of females.” (“Stimulus Money And Weird Science: Benefit Or Boondoggle?” Sun Sentinel, 2/15/10)

Democrat Energy ‘Investments’

PRESIDENT OBAMA, 2010: “You can see the results of last year's investments in clean energy…” (President Obama, State Of The Union Address, 1/27/10)

· ENERGY ‘INVESTMENT’: ‘Solyndra Files For Bankruptcy, Lays Off 1,100 Workers’ “Solyndra was the recipient of a $500 million loan to create jobs in the United States at a time when 95 percent of solar panels were built overseas. It created 158 jobs, but those jobs and 1,000 more are now gone.” (Solyndra Files For Bankruptcy, Lays Off 1,100 Workers,” ABC’s KGO News, San Francisco, CA., 8/31/11)

· ENERGY ‘INVESTMENT’: EnerDel: “An Indiana-based energy-storage company that received a $118.5 million stimulus grant from the Energy Department filed for bankruptcy Thursday. … The Energy Department in 2009 approved a $118.5 million stimulus grant for EnerDel, a subsidiary of the company that develops lithium-ion batteries used in electric vehicles. The grant was part of a broader program aimed at promoting the development of electric-vehicle battery technology.” (“Obama-Backed Electric Car Battery-Maker Ener1 Files For Bankruptcy,” The Hill, 1/26/12)

· ENERGY ‘INVESTMENT’: A123: “To help compete with China, the Obama administration gave $249 million to A123. … In an ironic twist, A123 filed for bankruptcy. In the bankruptcy auction, a Chinese conglomerate, Wanxiang Group beat American company Johnson Controls to buy A123 for $257 million.” (“China Wins, U.S. Loses In A123 Bankruptcy,” Forbes, 12/12/12)

Democrat Infrastructure ‘Investments’

PRESIDENT OBAMA, 2009: “…we are remaking the American landscape with the largest new investment in our nation's infrastructure…” (Remarks By The President And The Vice President At Signing Of The American Recovery And Reinvestment Act, 2/17/09)

· INFRASTRUCTURE ‘INVESTMENT’: $150K For A Bridge That ‘Doesn’t Go Anywhere’ And ‘Ends In A Sheer, 8-Foot Drop’ -- “A historic stone arch bridge that received more than $150,000 in federal stimulus funds this year has fallen short of some people's expectations -- mainly because it doesn't go anywhere. The bridge, which dates back to the 1860s, ends in a sheer, 8-foot drop after it crosses the Contoocook River. Traffic no longer crosses the span, which parallels a modern bridge near the intersection of Routes 202 and 149.” (“$150 Thousand For 'Bridge To Nowhere,'” The Union Leader [NH], 8/12/10)

· INFRASTRUCTURE ‘INVESTMENT’: $520K For A Bridge ‘That Is Closed To Traffic’ -- “The U.S. Department of Transportation has awarded Greene County a $520,000 federal grant to restore a historic covered bridge that is closed to traffic and carries few pedestrians in a lightly-traveled area of Xenia Twp. … The bridge carried traffic until 2003, but was a problem for emergency vehicles, which had to detour around it. That year, the county built a $650,000 modern concrete bridge 100 feet downstream and moved Stevenson Road there, stranding the old bridge. On a recent visit to the bridge, No Trespassing signs warned people away from the east entrance.” (“Unused Bridge Gets $500k Federal Grant,” Dayton Daily News, 8/19/12)

· INFRASTRUCTURE ‘INVESTMENT’: $50K To Repair ‘Cracks’ In Tennis Court -- DAVID MATTINGLY, CNN: “I came to Bozeman [MT] to find a city on thin ice over how it's spending stimulus money -- $50,000 to erase all of these cracks and potholes in city tennis court. ... Montana Governor Brian Schweitzer wants to make Bozeman an example of how not to spend stimulus money.” ... GOV. BRIAN SCHWEITZER: “What they violated was that rule of common sense. There ought to be that little guy in your head that waves his finger at you and says, wait a minute, we might want to rethink this thing.” (CNN, 1/25/10)

---

Tags: SOTU, Democrat spending, poor performance,energy investment, infrastructure investment, research investments To share or post to your site, click on "Post Link". Please mention / link to the ARRA News Service. Thanks!