Who really benefited from the so-called “stimulus” bill passed earlier this year? While it was touted as key to preventing economic collapse and focused on job creation, it should surprise no one that the money disproportionately made it’s way to Democratic districts and that where the money went had no relation to where unemployment problems are actually the worst.
Here’s how the Washington Examiner summarizes the findings of the report by the Mercatus Center at George Mason University:
A new analysis of the $157 billion distributed by the American Reinvestment and Recovery act, popularly known as the stimulus bill, shows that the funds were distributed without regard for what states were most in need of jobs….
Additionally, Mercatus found that stimulus funds were not disbursed geographically with any special regard for low-income Americans. “We find no correlation between economic indicators and stimulus funding. Preliminary results find no statistically significant effect of unemployment, median income or mean income on stimulus funds allocation,” said the report.
The Mercatus Center analysis also found that Democratic congressional districts received on average almost double the funding of Republican congressional districts. Republican congressional districts received on average $232 million in stimulus funds while Democratic districts received $439 million on average.
You can read the whole report here. While the cynics amongst us are hardly shocked, it’s a reminder of just how corrupt Washington can be and the dangers of granting government so much power. The American people should ask themselves: Why do we want to put Washington in charge of more of our lives and our resources when we know this is how they dish money out, based on politics and political payoffs? Do you really want Washington in charge of the entire health care system?