Cactus bugs and the 'stimulus'

Sunday, March 7, 2010

Graduate students at Florida International University are using $60,000 in federal "stimulus" funds to study the explosion of lawsuits in Mexico and Peru -- in the 1600s.

Also, at Florida Atlantic University, two temporarily hired researchers spent $16,000 from the stimulus to see what mice would do when they were fed alcohol.

Meanwhile, at the University of Florida, more than $325,000 from the stimulus is being used to improve mankind's understanding of the mating habits of cactus bugs. One technician was hired for the work, the Sun Sentinel newspaper reported.

We don't object to researchers studying centuries-old Peruvian lawsuits, drunken rodents or amorous insects -- so long as they're doing it on their own dime.

But is that sort of academic nonsense really what President Barack Obama had in mind when he promised massive job creation from the $862 billion stimulus -- and that almost all the jobs "created or saved" would be in the private sector?

Do you get the distinct feeling that you've been "taken for a ride" with the stimulus?