Labor Union: Stimulus Signs Create Jobs
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When a road project underway is funded by President Obama's $787 stimulus package, the administration makes sure that drivers know -- with orange and green signs on the side of the road that declare, "Project funded by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act." A logo of a man with a shovel is accompanied by the message, "Putting America to Work."
Republicans have decried the signage, calling it a waste of money, but Democrats and labor unions are dismissing the GOP outrage.
Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Calif.) has asked for an investigation into the Obama administration's guidance regarding the signs. Rep. Aaron Schock (R-Ill.) has put forward a proposal to prohibit funding for any additional stimulus signs and recapture the money spent on signs by reducing agencies' administrative expenses.
"We don't need to spend taxpayer money on propaganda," Schock said in a statement.
The Department of Transportation says states have spent an estimated $5 million on signage, or about .02 percent of the $28 billion spent on road projects, ABC News reports.
The money amounts to a small percentage of stimulus funds, the administration and its supporters say, and creates jobs in its own right.
"Where do they think the signs come from?" said Eddie Vale, spokesman for the labor union federation AFL-CIO. "There isn't a magical road sign unicorn that brings them... they're manufactured -- i.e., building and placing the signs ALSO create jobs."
White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs yesterday said, "I'm glad that Republicans have noticed the nearly 11,000 road projects that are underway this summer. We have encouraged states to let people know how their tax money is being spent."
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Think of the various projects and programs that ran during the depression, signs were everywhere and it was to rebuild confidence in the public that the government was doing SOMETHING....
OK - think about this line of reasoning. We are borrowing money the nation doesn't have to make signs? This money has to be paid back. Most government run programs suck an enormous amount of funds in the administration of them. Sometimes only 20% of the funds go into actually doing something.
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Robster - got any REAL data to back up this assertion ???
Making signs costs practically NOTHING.
Remember that IDIOT - GEORGE BUSH - that you voted for ???
He started TWO wars.
We are borrowing the money to pay for THAT too.
And Obama could have ended those wars already, instead he keeps throwing more borrowed money into them.
Bottom line: Fred may have a temporary job making a sign today, and it will be gone tomorrow. Leaving Fred's kid with a bill to pay day after tomorrow.
What is the freakin' problem?
People have JOBS making signs ... and providing the raw materials, and trucking them to work sites... etc. etc.
Dang. I like knowing where my money is being spent. I do have rights as an American taxpayer, after all --- make more signs, please. Keep the sign makers employed please.
The Republican Reps are in the rigor mortis of hypocrisy on this one.
The money, capital, and labor to make these signs don't come from heaven. It comes from people, and now those people have less money to spend and invest. Mathematically it amounts to zero, but it amounts to less based on the result of the expenditures (the signs).
Are you a voodoo economics major?
The people who make the signs get paid to make them. Very simple, very easy to prove.
I never go to youtube links... they are notorious for propaganda and/or sneaky little crappies put on your computer.
By the way ... nobody has spent a dime more in taxes because of the Stimulus spending. That is also proven.
It would be so wonderful if people would think and use facts, rather than a bunch of theories-that-don't-amount-to-anything!
wrong...ABC is reporting $20 million spent
It says $5 million ... .02 percent of the 28 million SPENT ON ROAD PROJECTS"
You quoted it in your own post!
Wrong is what you juat made your own self ...sheesh!