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Stimulus Projects Sought for Michigan Total $2.7 Billion So Far

Wikipedia Lists "Shovel Ready" Projects Requested on StimulusWatch.org

February 15, 2009       Leave a Comment
By: Dave Rogers

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Is it an economic stimulus that will create jobs or is it pork?
 

As Michigan and the tri-city area awaits a flood of stimulus money from Washington, the question arises:

Is it an economic stimulus that will create jobs or is it pork?

Here's your chance to decide, provided by a free national informational service, Wikipedia, that states:

"Congress and the President are preparing to spend billions of dollars to try to stimulate the lagging economy.

"As a result, the U.S. Conference of Mayors has responded by releasing a list of "shovel-ready" projects in cities around the country that the mayors would like to see funded. President Obama, however, has promised to spend stimulus dollars only on critical projects."

"What we need to do is examine what are the projects where we're going to get the most bang for the buck [and] how are we going to make sure taxpayers are protected," the President has said. "You know, the days of just pork coming out of Congress as a strategy, those days are over."

Wikipedia states: "StimulusWatch.org was built to to help the new administration keep its pledge and to hold public officials to account. We do this by allowing you, citizens around the country with local knowledge about the proposed projects in your city, to find, discuss and rate those projects."

Wikipedia has listed the "shovel-ready" projects for which the mayors of Michigan cities, and those of other states, have requested federal stimulus funding.

The data on this site comes from the U.S. Conference of Mayors' MainStreet Economic Recovery Report. If a city did not include its "shovel-ready" projects on that list, you won't find it here. However, this does not mean that cities that are not included here do not have projects they'd like to see funded. Once the stimulus bill passes, (as it now has) cites will make requests for federal grants, and we will likely see grants to projects not listed on this site.

Wikipedia has listed all projects requested for the nation on a special website, www.stimuluswatch.org.

You can click on a project to read (and add to) its description. You can also discuss the project and vote on whether you believe it is critical or not. For a more local view, you can drill down to projects in a particular city. Just choose a city from the following list.

The total of cost of all the projects submitted by Michigan is $2,761,766,561.

Cities listed in Michigan include Battle Creek, Bingham Farms, Center Line, Clawson, Dearborn, Dearborn Heights, Detroit, Dexter, Eastpointe, Flint, Fraser, Grand Rapids, Grosse Pointe, Grosse Pointe Farms, Grosse Pointe Woods, Jackson, Kalamazoo, Keego Harbor, Lansing, Livonia, Marshall, Oak Park, Port Huron, Portage, Roseville, Southfield, Southgate, St. Clair, St. Clair Shores, Sterling Heights, Taylor, Wayne, Westland.

It is not known whether communities in Bay, Midland and Saginaw counties, or others in the northeast Michigan area, have applied or are on lists to be published in the future.

Wikipedia states: "It is expected that the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act will be signed by the President on February 16 (Monday). That legislation won't list the projects to be funded. Instead, it will appropriate money for federal grant programs, such as the Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) or Surface Transportation Program, which will then use the appropriated stimulus money to make grants to cities. In the case of CDBG, for example, the Department of Housing and Urban Development will be the agency that will decide (using a formula) which of the projects requested by the mayors will be funded.

"That said, the funding Congress approves for these programs, and thus how much money cities will actually receive for their projects, may exceed or fall short of the mayors' suggestions. This means that not every project requested by the mayors will be funded. And that is why it's important for citizens to register their opinions on which projects they believe are critical and which are not. By the same token, it is also likely that many projects not yet proposed by localities (and thus not listed on this site) will receive funding via federal programs."

President Barack Obama in his Inaugural Address said:

"The question we ask today is not whether our government is too big or too small, but whether it works?whether it helps families find jobs at a decent wage, care they can afford, a retirement that is dignified. Where the answer is yes, we intend to move forward. Where the answer is no, programs will end.

"Those of us who manage the public's dollars will be held to account -- to spend wisely, reform bad habits, and do our business in the light of day -- because only then can we restore the vital trust between a people and their government."

StimulusWatch.org was built to to help the new administration keep its pledge and to hold public officials to account. "We do this by allowing you, citizens around the country with local knowledge about the proposed projects in your city, to find, discuss and rate those projects," states the website.

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Dave Rogers

Dave Rogers is a former editorial writer for the Bay City Times and a widely read,
respected journalist/writer in and around Bay City.
(Contact Dave Via Email at carraroe@aol.com)

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