In trying to defend the $862 billion so-called “stimulus” that President Barack Obama signed into law last year, the administration is bizarrely pointing to a stunningly inefficient bridge rehabilitation project in New York City. Vice President Joe Biden recently released a list of 100 taxpayer-funded projects that supposedly show the “success” of the stimulus.
Among the projects is the $175 million that taxpayers from around the country are providing to New York to upgrade eight vehicle bridges, a pedestrian bridge and a parking lot.
“The report says more than 120 people work on the project and that it has given a boost to the local economy,” The Associated Press reported.
Oh really? The bridge and parking lot work – which should be the responsibility of New York City or New York state, not of federal taxpayers – is costing well over $1 million per job. And in a city of more than 8 million people, 120 “created or saved” jobs are not really going to provide much of a “boost” to the economy – especially considering how much that handful of jobs cost to “create or save.”
The numbers the administration is using to label the stimulus a success are actually much stronger proof that the stimulus has failed – and that it has wasted lots of money in the process.