In Case You Wanted to Know

[large]

Itemized pork in YOUR Stimulus Bill by State . .

http://www.stimuluswatch.org/project/by_state

I'm betting all you Pueblo Residents (and Taxpayers) will find Pueblo's Allocations very Generous . .

Remember this next election . . This is what the Administration (and Congressmen) that all of you elected thinks of you . .

[west4567]

I would urge you all to click the link provided by Large. I cannot fathom why Pueblo gets not a cent.

Boulder has nine projects, totaling $43 million

Colorado Springs has a mind-boggling 60 projects, totaling $1.3 BILLION. My favorite - no lie - $38,000,000 for a pumping station for the Southern Delivery System Project.

But you really need to read the project list for yourself, to see that there would be numerous things the Pueblo could have qualified for. Off-hand, I recall renovations of playgrounds, roof replacement, and two new fire stations.

Perhaps someone can explain to me how to interpret this as anything other than a rip-off of Pueblo.

[Loren Swelk]

According to the link the projects were those submitted by Mayors as being "shovel ready". Evidently our City Council and County Commissioners had not finished jousting at their personal windmills to do their homework. Sounds all to familiar. It will be interesting to see onto whom they try to deflect the blame.

[west4567]

LS, you may have something there with the cause of this, but I'm guessing that lists were submitted and the projects were found unworthy.

I'm looking forward to hearing what Congressman Salazar has to say about his failure TO BRING ONE LOUSY CENT BACK TO PUEBLO, AND WHY HIS DEMOCRATIC BASE SHOULD EVER VOTE FOR HIM AGAIN.

[Sandra]

Well, that's what Pueblo gets for supporting Obama, I guess...

Kinda seems unfair, doesn't it?

[west4567]

[QUOTE=Sandra;17596]Well, that's what Pueblo gets for supporting Obama, I guess...QUOTE]

Boulder did okay, and their leftist votes are, like their leftist views, cast in concrete.

[Loren Swelk]

I don't think Obama had anything to do with it. I believe that those who asked, received. Durango received approx $67,000,000, not bad for a town of 12,000. I do believe that Pueblo had to have some projects more worthy than some of the pure pork in the others. I will stick to my opinion that the Council/Commissioners were too busy pursuing their personal agendas to worry about the constituents they represent. By the way West4567, nice use of the caps key.

[large]

I have to go back to the term "Shovel Ready(?)" . . How many of those Items listed just in the Colorado Springs portion actually were "ready to bid"?

I know for a fact that the EIS's for the Powers Blvd. extension haven't been filed, not has any of the property acquisition or condemnation began . . .

My guess is that most of the "Construction" won't go forward for over a year at the least! And that's not just Colorado Springs, but most of the items in the bill.

Oddly, neither Colorado Springs nor Boulder voted Democratic . . But just having a "Wish list' won't get you any fed Money. You have to have a Congressman get you from your list to his . . And while I can assign some of the blame on our local governments and their self centered agendas, had any of our representatives valued our votes, they'd have pressed for items for the bill . . In the least, the total CDBG list for '09/'10 . . as well as the total amount needed to upgrade our Sewage plant.

[Sandra]

Projects more worthy? I can think of several right off the top of my head. Our CHC needs more funding, and they need to expand a wee bit to accomodate the needs of mothers who are bringing their children to their medical appointments with them because they can't afford a sitter. The City could use funds for it's new recycling projects and clean up efforts and continued air quality control. We're going to need our highways improved, as well, especially with Vestas coming to town. We need to have emergency money set aside for disaster relief, and to keep the dam fortified and in good working condition for the safety of everyone in the area.

Then there's the issue of the mustard gas storage - has that been dealt with yet? Once upon a time there was a plan in place to dispose of that.

The job market here is so tight, we really need extra funding that would bring more business to Pueblo to help raise our economy and deal with our homeless issue, as well.

We also need to continue to expand on education opportunities for Puebloans, there's a pretty high drop out rate here.

There's also the matter of Pueblo having a very large population of Diabetics, and single teen mothers.

Additionally, Pueblo and Pueblo West combined seem to have a growing Autistic population for the combined size of the two communities.

I don't think it's a matter of not having worthy issues to deal with, I think it's more a matter of not having gained enough points in the political popularity contest.

So where do we go from here? This community is a strong one, I say let them have their stimulus money, I'll bet we can stimulate our own economy without it if we pull together and work at it. And in so doing, we'll have the satisfaction of knowing we stood on our own two feet, which gives us that much more to be proud of.

[Loren Swelk]

Another interesting item in the link Large provided was the number of jobs created to do the work listed. Is anyone so dumb to imagine that for every job listed there will be a new set of "unemployed workers" just hired for this project? My guess is that large firms who will bid and get these jobs already have the employess in place and will not hire new employees for every job. Who is Obama trying to kid? Even the Kool Aid drinkers are beginning to wonder.

[Bob Nattering]

There seems to be a nationwide confusion over the 18.750 projects listed as “shovel-ready” by the Conference of Mayors. The connection between this list of projects and the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) is actually pretty close to zero.

The projects on the Conference of Mayors list were not solicited by the Federal Government nor have they been specifically submitted for Federal funding. The list of projects was collected through four surveys of U.S. cities over a three month period. The Conference of Mayors states, “we didn’t make any editing to the information provided us,” adding that these were just examples and that “the Government will decide what to fund, not us.” The Conference of Mayors report, dated January 17th, “was compiled to demonstrate to Congress that localities should get a good amount of whatever stimulus money was approved,” according to the city of Austin, Texas.

The connection that is being made between this list of projects and the ARRA may have originated from a form letter mailed to constituents by Rep. Erik Paulsen of Minnesota. This letter indicated that a number of items in this list would receive ARRA funding. A number of the projects cited by Paulsen later appeared in a Wall Street Journal article. Among the items cited: neon signs in Las Vegas, butterfly gardens, a dog park, a 36-hole disc (Frisbee) golf course, and aquatic centers. When the Rome News Tribune interviewed Paulsen legislative assistant Desiree Westby regarding the letter, the aide indicated: “We didn’t say they were in the bill, but inappropriate requests such as these will be considered for funding.” However, the actual Paulsen letter said “will be funded” not “considered.”

The wording in the bill itself excludes a number of these projects. Note from ARRA: Sec. 1604:

None of the funds appropriated or otherwise made available in this Act may be used by any State or local government, or any private entity, for any casino or other gambling establishment, aquarium, zoo, golf course, or swimming pool.

The Rome News Tribune reports further clarification from the city of Austin’s website:

On its Web site, the city of Austin goes into greater detail of how this “disc golf course” seemed to be on a list of requests for stimulus money. It says that in October the Conference of Mayors asked cities for a list of “ready-to-go” projects. The city says that it didn’t have time to prioritize any of the projects, which “were not necessarily intended to be submitted to any federal agency for funding.”

Austin has compiled another, more serious list of programs that it believes actually could receive stimulus funds. That one was submitted to Texas’ Capital Area Metropolitan Planning Organization (CAMPO), which, according to the city, has said the only projects likely to get federal funds through ARRA are transportation improvement projects.


I have posted this information to hopefully clarify some of the confusion about what is in the ARRA. My intent is not to defend the ARRA.

[Sandra]

My guess is that large firms who will bid and get these jobs already have the employess in place and will not hire new employees for every job.

An excellent point! May I add to that?

Often times contractors will hire extra crew to get a job done, but they hire as few as possible because any money left over at the end of the project becomes a bonus. Sometimes the contractor pockets that bonus, other times he splits it among the workers.

I see some hefty bonuses in store for some contractors because of this.

So I do believe there will be hiring, but it may not be enough to make much of a difference.

[Bob Nattering]

Reported by Sean Hauser KRDO (http://www.krdo.com/Global/story.asp?S=9907592)

PUEBLO - C-DOT has confirmed that Pueblo will be left high and will not receive any of the state's highway stimulus money.

President Obama showed plenty of love for pueblo residents before the election with several visits, but his stimulus bill, has left the Steel City absolutely nothing when it comes to highway money.

Overall, Colorado is expected to receive $403 million in highway stimulus money. C-DOT officials say that the majority of the money will go to Denver, Ft. Collins and Colorado Springs. Residents in Pueblo, obviously not happy to hear the news, but some are still looking at the bigger picture.

"I'm kind of bummed to hear we may not get any more stimulus money for construction on I-25, like the eagle ridge construction," said Rod Hegler, a Pueblo Resident. "I thought that I-25 could use some further improvements but I'm more concerned about building the economy overall."

Colorado Springs is projected to land about $41 million for two projects. Denver will receive upwards of $90 million.

So why was pueblo left out?

Well some officials say that it was because of projects like the 4th Street Bridge that have already received recent federal aid. That project will most likely continue, but others that pueblo officials had planned, will not until they find further funding.



Additional monies from ARRA in Colorado will be overseen by a Ritter appointed panel, according to AP's Kristen Wyatt (http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/29390989/)

DENVER - As Colorado prepares to hand out more than $2 billion in stimulus money from Washington on everything from road repairs to food stamps, a group of state officials and business executives is mapping out a plan to make sure every cent is spent wisely.

The 12-member board starts work Thursday to monitor how Colorado spends its share of the $787 billion purse set up by Congress.

Colorado is one of a handful of states where governors can spend federal dollars without oversight from the state legislature, assuming the money doesn't require a state match or special oversight. That means the bulk of stimulus money will be handed out by Democratic Gov. Bill Ritter.

Citing the need for accountability, Ritter set up the panel to oversee spending, which could start within days.

"Obviously we've got a lot of work ahead of us," said Sandy Gutierrez, a board member and president of the Pueblo Latin Chamber of Commerce.

The task is dizzying. Colorado is getting some $2.85 billion in direct assistance, according to an analysis by the Colorado Fiscal Policy Institute, a public policy think tank in Denver.

The sum includes $752 million to help Colorado pay the bills and cover the state budget deficit without draconian cuts such as laying off teachers or reducing Medicaid benefits.

The law sends Colorado $404 million for highway and bridge repair and construction. The state also is due almost $100 million to make homes more energy efficient. Millions more are coming for job training and extended unemployment benefits as the state hit a five-year unemployment high of 6.1 percent in December.

[Loren Swelk]

Well we shoulda known. To Tax Ritter and the Legislature anything south of Hwy 24 is considered Baja Colorado.

[Bob Nattering]

The Governor's Office today certified a second round of transportation projects to be funded through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, giving the OK to $194 million for 30 projects mostly in the Denver metro area.

The total price tag for all (1st round was on March 2) 48 projects is $339 million.

Go to Colorado.gov (http://www.colorado.gov/cs/Satellite?c=Page&cid=1236342368926&pagename=GovRitter/GOVRLayout) and then click on the link to the 48 project list.