CNN Biased Reporting: GOP senators list what they say are the 100 worst stimulus projects

Some of the projects that this CNN reporter chose to highlight like monkeys on cocaine should have the animal rights people up in arms for starters. Since when is it the federal government's responsibility to fund this type of research? Found their reasoning hard to swallow. Research dollars going to cocaine research instead of toward diseases that could become curable with more research dollars is wrong.

If you are not going to use the facility like the one at Mount St. Helen's, buy plywood and board up the windows. A lot cheaper than getting new windows for something not used.

How many dollars went to fund projects in the public sector to keep public employees or add new employees to the public rolls? We assume quite a few. Instead of congratulating, Senators Coburn and McCain, CNN chose to nitpick some of their choices instead of giving them credit. Dr. Coburn is right about the lack of 'Common Sense' on these stimulus items.

The amount of money going to universities to fund some projects make us wonder like the one on dance that is spread out over three years but even then, why can't they find donors to fund these items instead of taxpayers. That is why so many people are up in arms because the stimulus uses taxpayer dollars that are spent on projects that most taxpayers will see little to no benefits in the long term. If public universities are going to do research, then find the dollars for the funding.

Once again CNN has shown why they are losing viewership when they write an article like this that is slanted in favor of Obama and the stimulus. Doesn't take a genius to see the bias slant of this article. The reporter finds a few items they try to debunk out of 100 to show why the list is flawed. Funny thing when discrepancies are pointed out, the Senators change the analysis to fit the facts something that CNN doesn't seem to grasp.

GOP senators list what they say are the 100 worst stimulus projects
By Tom Cohen, CNN
August 3, 2010 2:15 p.m. EDT



Washington (CNN) -- Monkeys on cocaine. New windows for a closed visitor's center. Modern dance as a tool for software development.

A report released Tuesday by conservative Sens. Tom Coburn and John McCain cited these and 97 other projects as leading examples of misguided or wasteful spending under the Obama administration's $862 billion economic stimulus bill.

Titled "Summertime Blues," the report is the third by the two senators targeting projects that they say fail to meet the job-creation goal of spending under the Recovery Act of 2009.

The report highlights the extraordinary "waste and mismanagement" of taxpayer dollars, said McCain, R-Arizona. The stimulus plan "was supposed to create jobs. It does not."

The "American people have awakened to the incompetency of Washington," declared Coburn, R-Oklahoma. "The rest of the federal government is filled with stuff just like this."

Both senators conceded that the stimulus plan has had some positive effect on the economy, but insisted any benefit was due solely to the sheer size of the package, and that its effectiveness had been blunted due its poor design and spending choices.

Coburn complained the measure was full of projects that are "stupid or inappropriate," and fail to meet "the common sense test."

The plan failed to give "us the biggest bang for our buck," he asserted.

The Recovery Act, which was passed a few weeks after President Barack Obama took office, was a government-funded effort to kick-start economic activity in response to the ongoing recession.

It called for "shovel-ready" jobs -- from road and bridge repair and construction to scientific research and expanded broadband and wireless service -- through federal contracts, grants and loans, as well as helping state and local governments avoid layoffs and funding tax cuts.

The senators' report challenged the viability or effectiveness of specific projects across the country. However, the report's use of selected information from hundreds of footnoted sources left it unclear if the brief summaries of each project told the whole story.

In a previous report last January, the senators included the Napa Valley Wine Train as an example of wasteful stimulus spending without mentioning that the money was for a flood control project along the train's route, rather than the train itself.

The latest edition covered a broad range of projects including construction, research, development and conservation.

Topping the list was $554,763 spent for new windows at the Coldwater Ridge Visitor Center at Mount St. Helens in Washington state. The U.S. Forest Service facility opened in 1993 at a cost of $11.5 million to provide visitors with panoramic views of the scenic volcano.

However, it closed in 2007 due to staffing shortages, and now is getting the stimulus funds to replace its trademark windows in preparation for use for another purpose, according to information provided by the Forest Service.

"One government official likened it to 'keeping a vacant house in good repair,' while another official noted that there is hope to find some purpose for the building in the future, whether as a hotel, science camp or restaurant," the report said, attributing the information to a July 2009 article on tdn.com, a local news website.

"Despite those efforts, there are no plans to use the empty space."

Read More of Slanted CNN News at: http://www.cnn.com/2010/POLITICS/08/03/senators.stimulus.spending/index.html?hpt=T2