GOP Stimulus Myths

As it turns out, NEVs are nothing new for the federal government. It already has hundreds of them deployed around the country, says General Services Administration spokesman Bob Lesino, including on military bases and at the government's Solar Park in Denver, a collection of government facilities that are powered partly with solar energy. In fact, the U.S. Army announced last month that it will lease 4,000 NEVs over the next two years. According to the Army, the NEVs cost just $460 per year to power, versus $1,200 for a conventional gasoline-fed vehicle. The military is even working on developing hybrid vehicles that could be used on the battlefield.

The stimulus bill requires that the government come up with a plan within 90 days to replace its current fleet of vehicles with more fuel-efficient cars. Then it must spend the $300 million for hybrids, plug-in hybrids or electric vehicles (not just NEVs) by Sept. 30, 2011.

Fish Hatcheries
The AIP ad next mentions "fish hatcheries" as part of the alleged lard in the bill. There is money in the stimulus legislation for fish hatcheries, part of $165 million given to the Department of Interior's U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service for "national wildlife refuges and national fish hatcheries and for high priority habitat restoration projects." According to the USFWS Web site, the National Fish Hatchery System works on a number of habitat restoration projects including the recovery of fish listed as endangered species, the restoration of native aquatic populations, as well as providing fish to the National Wildlife Refuges. But contrary to some conservative characterizations of the $165 million, Fish and Wildlife Service spokesman Josh Winchell told us that the money "is not just for hatcheries." Winchell explained that these "resource management" funds could also be used for maintenance work like roofing and plumbing, as well as other projects. No specific projects have been identified for funding thus far.

So, there is no telling how much of that amount will actually be used for work on fish hatcheries. Interior Department spokesman Frank Quimby told us: "We have no specific information at this point." Winchell said that the emphasis would be on funding projects that create the most jobs in the shortest amount of time and provide value over a long period.

According to an Interior Department press release, the agency is developing a Web page through Recovery.org for the public and will begin providing detailed information on its efforts by March 3.

Remodeled Offices
The AIP ad also mentions money for "remodeled federal offices," which is seriously misleading. The bill allots $5.5 billion to the Federal Buildings Fund of the Public Buildings Service, of which $4.5 billion is reserved for converting GSA facilities to "High-Performance Green Buildings." According to GSA's acting administrator, Paul F. Prouty, this will allow the agency to comply with laws requiring it to reduce energy and fossil fuel consumption. Plans for making the buildings more environmentally friendly include thicker insulation, more efficient windows, dual flush toilets and LED lighting in parking garages – small changes, but GSA owns about 1,500 properties that would need to be updated. They also have bigger plans, such as installing energy-producing roofs and intelligent lighting systems.

Officials at the General Services Administration, the PBS' parent, declined to discuss their proposed projects with us, because they are still finalizing plans. So we can't say how much of the remaining $1 billion will go for new construction, and how much might go for upgrading existing government offices. But for the most part, the ad's claim can be considered true only to the extent that anyone considers such things as weatherstripping and added insulation to be "remodeling."

For the record, a GSA press release on Feb. 20 quoted Anthony Costa, acting commissioner of PBS, explaining why an investment in federal buildings belongs in the stimulus bill. "We can help stimulate the economy by getting money flowing to the building industries – to construction workers, electricians, plumbers, air conditioning mechanics, carpenters, architects, and engineers," Costa said. PBS owns and leases buildings and historic properties all over the U.S., meaning that the FBF appropriation could potentially provide jobs throughout the country.

Levitating Trains
A number of congressional Republicans, including Reps. Patrick McHenry (N.C.), Thaddeus McCotter (Mich.), Candice Miller (Mich.), and Sens. John McCain (Ariz.) and Jim DeMint (S.C.), have accused Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, a Democrat from Nevada, of inserting an $8 billion "earmark" into the stimulus bill for a levitating train from Disneyland to Las Vegas. That's a major distortion. No money is specifically set aside for such a train.

What the bill contains is $8 billion in funding for unspecified high speed rail projects (skip to p. 237 for the relevant section). The money is to be allocated by the secretary of transportation. A DOT spokesperson told us that it is "premature to speculate" about what exactly will be funded. Even vigilant pork-busting budget watchdogs agree that the "levitating train earmark" charge is without merit: Taxpayers for Common Sense, a nonpartisan group that scours legislation for earmarks, told us that there is "no way that this provision is an earmark for Sen. Reid."

In truth, "levitating" trains really do exist – but they are properly called maglev trains, and they are high-tech marvels. The technology uses electromagnets to lift the train off the tracks. That reduces friction and allows trains to reach extremely high speeds; in 2003, an experimental Japanese maglev train reached a record speed of 581 kilometers (or about 361 miles) per hour. Here it is in action.

Officials in both Nevada and California, including California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and Nevada Gov. Jim Gibbons (both Republicans) have agreed to back a maglev train between Anaheim (home of Disneyland) and Las Vegas. In June 2008, Reid did help to secure $45 million for an environmental study of the proposed route.

It's possible the Anaheim-Las Vegas project will receive some of the stimulus funds, though how much remains uncertain. It's not even clear how much Reid expects will go to it. On Feb. 12, the Associated Press reported that a statement from Reid's office bragged that the Anaheim-Las Vegas project could receive what AP called "a big chunk of the money." But The Washington Post  later quoted a Reid spokesman as saying that while the project is "eligible" for funding, the transportation secretary, Ray LaHood – a former Republican congressman – "will have complete flexibility as to which program he uses to allocate the funds." We asked Reid's office to explain the discrepancy – "big chunk" or merely "eligible" – but we received no response.

In any case, the weaker statement is more in line with the actual text of the legislation: 

American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009: Within 60 days of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall submit to the House and Senate Committees on Appropriations a strategic plan that describes how the Secretary will use the funding provided under this heading to improve and deploy high speed passenger rail systems.

Is this pork? Taxpayers for Common Sense's Ehrich Zimmermann told us: "Nothing about the bill indicates that maglev has a higher priority than other types of high speed rail." That is the DOT's view as well. A spokesperson for the DOT told us: "The Secretary of Transportation is developing a comprehensive plan over the next 60 days to ensure the allocated high-speed rail funds are spent on projects that will have the highest-impact across the country."

The L.A.-to-Vegas project may well be under consideration for funding; according to a FAQ posted on the Federal Railroad Administration's Web site, maglev projects are eligible for funding under ARRA. But that same FAQ also points to a 2005 Railroad Administration report to Congress that found that outside of the heavily populated northeast corridor (roughly D.C. through Boston) and a 527-mile section along California's coast, maglev's costs exceeded its benefits. That implies that the proposed Disneyland-to-Las Vegas route doesn't make economic sense to the FRA.

We can't predict the future, and it's certainly within the realm of possibility that the Republican who is Obama's transportation secretary will decide to devote the entire $8 billion to a project that is nowhere near shovel-ready and that the Federal Railroad Administration says is not cost-effective – all for the benefit of the Democratic majority leader. But we wouldn't bet on it.

Of Dog Parks and Frisbee Golf
There are several more supposedly frivolous, not-so-stimulative projects that Republican members of Congress have criticized for being part of the economic recovery act. None of them are actually mentioned in the legislation, either.

In a form letter to constituents (e-mailed to one of our readers on Feb. 20), Rep. Erik Paulsen of Minnesota claimed that the bill (now law) "contains a huge amount of spending on many things that are unrelated to saving or creating jobs." He said that it "will fund requests such as $2 million for neon signs in Las Vegas, $4.5 million for an eco park featuring butterfly gardens and gopher tortoises, $500,000 for a dog park, $3 million for a municipal golf course clubhouse, $886,000 for a 36-hole disc golf course, $1.8 million for replacement tennis courts, $6 million for three aquatic centers with water slides ... the list goes on and on."

None of these projects are specified in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. In fact, golf courses, and many other recreational projects, simply can't get funding under the law, which stipulates: