Real life “shovel-ready jobs” are ready to roll, Mr. President

By Tom Quiner

InfraSpendingBarack Obama claims to love “shovel-ready jobs.”

He promised that if Congress passed his $800 BILLION stimulus bill, this money (60% extracted from taxpayers, 40% borrowed from China) would be sprinkled around the county to jumpstart infrastructure projects which were vetted and ready to roll.

Congress obliged.

The bill passed.

So did infrastructure projects explode according to the president’s pledge to the American people?

Actually, no. Just the opposite happened. Spending dropped on these so-called shovel-ready projects.

So what actually happened to yours’ and my (and China’s) money?

Some was given to the president’s rich campaign donors such as Larry Page and Sergey Brin (Google founders) to help them fund Tesla Motors. Some went to Warren Buffet and his buddies who owned NRG Solar, a green energy company. In all, 75% of these stimulus grants and taxpayer cash were handed to businesses run by Obama supporters.

Al Gore got a big wad in the guise of a $528 million loan guarantee for his company, Fisker Automotive.

A ton of money was give to various green energy companies including, Solyndra.  Beacon Power. Ener1. Energy Conversion Devices. Evergreen Solar, Inc. Mountain Plaza, Inc.Olsen’s Crop Service and Olsens Mills Acquisition Co. Range Fuels. Raser Technologies. Spectrawatt. Thompson River Power LLC. These are all “green energy” companies that took taxpayer money and filed for bankruptcy.

So much for shovel-ready jobs.

A ton of the so-called stimulus money went to public unions; it was distributed disproportionately to union-friendly states; and states with the most foreclosures, unemployment, and bankruptcies received disproportionately LESS money than richer states close to power. Washington D.C. (surprise!) received the most money.

The stimulus bill in reality was nothing other than a slush fund for Democrats to use to help their political cronies.

A legitimate shovel-ready project actually does exist this very moment. It can create direct construction jobs for welders, electricians, mechanics, pipe fitters, laborers, safety coordinators, and heavy equipment operators.

It will create jobs for manufacturers who make steel pipe, and fittings, and valves, and pumps, and safety control devices.

The president’s very own State Department researched the project and admits it will create 42,000 jobs in the construction phase of the project alone.

Economists say it’ll create an additional 118,000 spin off jobs ON TOP of the 42,000 immediate jobs created.

Here’s the best part: taxpayers don’t have to foot the bill for this project, which is known as the Keystone XL pipeline. The bill even has bipartisan support. The House just passed a bill approving the project. Thirty-one Democrats voted with the majority.

Democrats in the Senate think it’ll pass there as well.

President Obama, who has never met a stimulus bill he didn’t love, vows to veto it. Here’s what he says about it:

“Understand what this project is: It is providing the ability of Canada to pump their oil, send it through our land, down to the Gulf, where it will be sold everywhere else. It doesn’t have an impact on U.S. gas prices.”

Okaaay.

Let’s set aside the president’s economic illiteracy that believes the law of supply and demand is a myth.

His OWN State Department says it’s a job creator! And guess who led the State Department when they did the study: Ms. Hillary Rodham Clinton.

Nonetheless, the president lectured Republicans and job-hungry Americans on why they’re stupid (he didn’t actually use the word, that belongs to the domain of Jonathan Gruber):

“If my Republican friends really want to focus on what’s good for the American people in terms of job creation and lower energy costs, we should be engaging in a conversation about what are we doing to produce even more homegrown energy.”

Like Solyndra? Abound Solar? Ener1? Etc, etc, etc?

In case the realization hasn’t hit you, Mr. Obama has no interest in shovel-ready jobs. He is interested helping his political cronies feather their beds.

You and I don’t matter.

4 Comments

  1. Dennis Wagoner on November 15, 2014 at 6:46 pm

    The only shovels moving are those the progressives are using to shovel manure at the people of this country.



    • quinersdiner on November 15, 2014 at 10:06 pm

      Evidence supports your contention!



  2. oarubio on November 17, 2014 at 5:00 pm

    or he could help us shovel out from this year’s November global warming



  3. […] remember Solyndra and other associated green energy companies that took taxpayer (your) money only to go bankrupt? […]