There has been plenty of waste in the $862 billion federal “stimulus” that Democrats in Congress passed last year.
But the lower unemployment rate that President Barack Obama promised certainly has not shown any signs of materializing.
But amid all the absurd misuse of stimulus funds, this one caught our eye: More than $1 million from the stimulus has been used to spruce up the extremely fashionable, upscale Sunset Strip.
That’s a high-class boulevard out in West Hollywood, Calif., that is full of exclusive clubs, restaurants and such. The rich and famous frequent those establishments, which undoubtedly bring in plenty of sales and property taxes for local and state government.
So doesn’t it seem strange that taxpayers in Iowa and Tennessee and Vermont and every other state should have to help foot the bill to repave the glamorous boulevard, mend its sidewalks and install medians and fresh landscaping?
Strange or not, those are exactly the things that stimulus funds have been used for on the Sunset Strip, according to an article by the Los Angeles Business Journal.
“Once the project is completed, it will give it a nice new feel to the Strip,” the head of the Sunset Strip Business Association told the Los Angeles paper.
That’s well and good, but we can’t help wondering why taxpayers in California couldn’t pick up the full tab for that “nice new feel.”