How much of the stimulus package will actually create new jobs and how much is just out and out pork? The public is not thrilled with the amount of spending in the bill that will not help the economy and just increase the National Debt. The Wall Street Journal reported:

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention are getting $462,000,000 for “equipment, construction, and renovation of facilities, including necessary repairs and improvements to leased laboratories. The National Institute of Standards gets $357,000,000 for the “construction of research facilities.” The Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration gets $427,000,000 for that. The country is in an economic meltdown and the federal government is redecorating.

There is plenty of other pork in the package including $88.6 billion for the Milwaukee Public School System for new construction projects even though the district currently has 15 vacant school buildings and declining enrollment. If that is not pork, I don’t know what is.

Other questionable items in the bill include:
Provisions of the bill that many legislators are questioning:

# $1 billion for Amtrak, which hasn’t earned a profit in four decades.

# $2 billion to help subsidize child care.

# $400 million for research into global warming.

# $2.4 billion for projects to demonstrate how carbon greenhouse gas can be safely removed from the atmosphere.

# $650 million for coupons to help consumers convert their TV sets from analog to digital, part of the digital TV conversion.

# $600 million to buy a new fleet of cars for federal employees and government departments.

# $75 million to fund programs to help people quit smoking.

# $21 million to re-sod the National Mall, which suffered heavy use during the Inauguration.

# $2.25 billion for national parks. This item has sparked calls for an investigation, because the chief lobbyist of the National Parks Association is the son of Rep. David R. Obey, D-Wisc. The $2,25 billion is about equal to the National Park Service’s entire annual budget. The Washington Times reports it is a threefold increase over what was originally proposed for parks in the stimulus bill. Obey is chairman of the House Appropriations Committee.

# $335 million for treatment and prevention of sexually transmitted diseases.

# $50 million for the National Endowment for the Arts. $4.19 billion to stave off foreclosures via the Neighborhood Stabilization Program. The bill allows nonprofits to compete with cities and states for $3.44 billion of the money, which means a substantial amount of it will be captured by ACORN, the controversial activist group currently under federal investigation for vote fraud. Another $750 million would be exclusively reserved for nonprofits such as ACORN – meaning cities and states are barred from receiving that money. Sen. David Vitter, R-La., charges the money could appear to be a “payoff” for the partisan political activities community groups in the last election cycle.

# $44 million to renovate the headquarters building of the Agriculture Department.

# $32 billion for a “smart electricity grid to minimize waste.

# $87 billion of Medicaid funds, to aid states.

# $53.4 billion for science facilities, high speed Internet, and miscellaneous energy and environmental programs.

# $13 billion to repair and weatherize public housing, help the homeless, repair foreclosed homes.

# $20 billion for quicker depreciation and write-offs for equipment.

# $10.3 billion for tax credits to help families defray the cost of college tuition.

# $20 billion over five years for an expanded food stamp program.