As you know, President Obama signed the stimulus package which will hopefully aid the economy. Since it's passage, a number of websites were launched that are created to keep an eye on where the money is spent.
Recently, mayor's and selectmen have come under fire from groups that claim that elected officials are using the stimulus money for projects that will not stimulate the economy. That being the case, I decided to look into what Mayor Boughton requested from the government and present it to you.
Well, actually, the site entitled "Stimulus Watch" did all the hard work, all I had to do was click a couple of times.
You decide...are Mayor Boughton's request reasonable in terms of stimulating the economy, or is this a form of "pork" spending?
Click on each project (which will take you to the Stimulus Watch website) and vote on whether or not you think the particular item will stimulate the economy.
After offering your opinion on all the projects, please cast your vote on the latest poll here at this site...and of you like, give your thought about the mayor's proposal in the comments...
(NOTE: The column entitled "Vote Ratio" is the response value of the vote results from the website. A negative number means the readership think that the particular proposed project is pork spending).
Below are the "shovel-ready" projects for which this city submitted in the 2008 U.S. Conference of Mayors report. 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.
The total cost of all the projects submitted by Danbury is $82,645,000
UPDATE: As a supplement to this post, in a meeting with mayors today President Obama gave municipal leaders a VERY stern warning.
Invoking his own name-and-shame policy, President Barack Obama warned the nation's mayors on Friday that he will "call them out" if they waste the money from his massive economic stimulus plan.
"The American people are watching," Obama told a gathering of mayors at the White House. "They need this plan to work. They expect to see the money that they've earned — they've worked so hard to earn — spent in its intended purposes without waste, without inefficiency, without fraud."
[...]
Using his presidential pulpit, Obama demanded accountability, from his friends in local government as well as his own agencies. He said the new legislation gives him tools to "watch the taxpayers' money with more rigor and transparency than ever," and that he will use them.
"If a federal agency proposes a project that will waste that money, I will not hesitate to call them out on it, and put a stop to it," he said. "I want everyone here to be on notice that if a local government does the same, I will call them out on it, and use the full power of my office and our administration to stop it."
04.25.22 (RADIO): WSHU Latino group call on Connecticut lawmakers to open a Danbury charter school
06.03.22 (OP-ED): KUSHNER: "Career Academy ‘a great deal for Danbury"
On September 26, 2007, ten plaintiffs filed suit in response to an arrest of aday laborers at a public park in Danbury, Connecticut. Plaintiffs amended their complaint on November 26, 2007.
The amended complaint states that plaintiffs sought to remedy the continued discriminatory and unauthorized enforcement of federal immigration laws against the Latino residents of the City of Danbury by Danbury's mayor and its police department.
Plaintiffs allege that the arrests violated their Fourth Amendment rights and the Connecticut Constitution because defendants conducted the arrests without valid warrants, in the absence of exigent circumstances, and without probable cause to believe that plaintiffs were engaged in unlawful activity. In addition, plaintiffs allege that defendants improperly stopped, detained, investigated, searched and arrested plaintiffs. Plaintiffs also allege that defendants violated their Fourteenth Amendment rights when they intentionally targeted plaintiffs, and arrested and detained them on the basis of their race, ethnicity and perceived national origin. Plaintiffs raise First Amendment, Due Process and tort claims.
Plaintiffs request declaratory relief, damages and attorneys fees.
As you know, President Obama signed the stimulus package which will hopefully aid the economy. Since it's passage, a number of websites were launched that are created to keep an eye on where the money is spent.
UPDATE: As a supplement to this post, in a meeting with mayors today President Obama gave municipal leaders a VERY stern warning.
On September 26, 2007, ten plaintiffs filed suit in response to an arrest of aday laborers at a public park in Danbury, Connecticut. Plaintiffs amended their complaint on November 26, 2007.
