Michelle Malkin » Wasteful pork in the porkulus bill? You don’t say!

Wasteful pork in the porkulus bill? You don’t say!

By Michelle Malkin • March 31, 2009 11:59 AM

Now, they tell us, Part 1,001:

Should a bridge that would connect two campuses at Microsoft’s headquarters be funded with $11 million from the federal stimulus package?

Critics of using stimulus money for the bridge say it would give the software giant a break on a pet project. They also say it serves as a warning sign of how some stimulus money is not being used to finance new projects but is being diverted to public works already under way…

…”This is $11 million where we are substituting public money for private money, and that means there’s some other project that would have a greater benefit than a bridge to Microsoft that’s not being built,” says Steve Ellis, vice president of Taxpayers for Common Sense.

But without the stimulus money, Marchione counters, the bridge may not have been built. Microsoft had “capped out” its contribution to the project, he explains. And the economic tough times have affected even the biggest companies. “Microsoft laid off 5,000 people in January,” Marchione points out.

Ellis doesn’t buy it.

“Let’s face it. Microsoft is one of the most lucrative companies in the country,” Ellis says. “They could have easily funded this out of pocket change. This is really about getting while the getting is good. Uncle Sam has a big wallet that’s there for the taking, and Redmond wanted to take it — and Microsoft was happy to let them pick up that part of the tab.”

(link)

Posted in: fiscal stimulus

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#1

On March 31st, 2009 at 12:06 pm, tiredofit08 said:

congress is the pork….send them all packing with rare exception!!!
#2

On March 31st, 2009 at 12:06 pm, verogolfer said:

Yes, wasteful spending. Boy, who would have guessed? Could have knocked me over with a feather.
#3

On March 31st, 2009 at 12:09 pm, WarTip said:

Hehehe I wrote about this last week. I was absolutely amazed when I found out. I honestly believe that Microsoft was initially targeted because they were one of the very few large corporations WITHOUT lobbyists in DC before the lawsuits. Seems maybe they are now getting some return for their “lobbyist” investments.

Coming Soon:

“Gramma, can you tell me again what the USA used to be like when it was still a Constitutional Republic?”
#4

On March 31st, 2009 at 12:19 pm, Zippy_Slug said:

Wait.. Chucky Shoemaker said we don’t care!
#5

On March 31st, 2009 at 12:26 pm, shooter said:

100 to 1200 pages of unread spendulus???
I think we will be finding these ‘barrywastes’ for years to come.
Obapork?
Obamaturds?

what do we call them?
#6

On March 31st, 2009 at 12:26 pm, drjohn said:

We should fund the company of the richest man on Earth?
#7

On March 31st, 2009 at 12:28 pm, RedDog said:

Absent ANY Republican leadership, the American people need to file a massive class-action lawsuit against the federal government and force a constitutional crisis now! Get it to the Supreme Court ASAP while we still have real jurists there, and decide what the bounds of these Stalinist politicians really are. Clearly Congress is out of their depth on the issue.

This government has to be hamstrung immediately if not sooner. They don’t have any contitutional authority to do any of this stuff! Where are the do-nothing Republicans? Anyone?
#8

On March 31st, 2009 at 12:37 pm, WarTip said:

I have been trying to find a hungry Conservative lawyer to do this for a while RedDog but to no avail thus far.
#9

On March 31st, 2009 at 12:38 pm, Rogue Cheddar said:

I say let Bill Gates eat a light lunch and let him spend the money on the bridges. Fer crying out loud, if you let the gimmint get their meathooks on Microsoft, the Blue Screen Of Death, will be a minor inconveniance compared to the havoc some clerk will render upon the Windows OS.
#10

On March 31st, 2009 at 12:38 pm, Ron said:

Hey, whose earmark was this? Let’s take a few names and kick some virtual butt…
#11

On March 31st, 2009 at 12:44 pm, Hangfire said:

Wow! Microsoft laid off 5,000 workers????

Time for Obama to take over……
#12

On March 31st, 2009 at 12:46 pm, corona said:

This is why newspapers are going bankrupt. Nothing in the “story” states what traffic will use the bridge – pedestrian, private/commercial/transit motor vehicles, or bicycles (which 1 person quoted uses).
#13

On March 31st, 2009 at 12:46 pm, walterc said:

Would this qualify as receiving funds from the Government and subject Microsoft to Barny Franks salary review bill? Just a thought.
#14

On March 31st, 2009 at 12:46 pm, On-my-soap-box said:

You are missing the point.

The $11 million from the federal stimulus package was originally $22 million and Obama cut it in half. It is way of reducing the deficit by 50%.
#15

On March 31st, 2009 at 12:49 pm, englishqueen01 said:

Isn’t Bill Gates worth, like, millions (if not billions)? Wouldn’t $11 million be nothing for him to spend on his company and, more important, isn’t Bill Gates one of those non-existent self-made wealthy people that we’re supposed to hate and punish now?
#16

On March 31st, 2009 at 1:00 pm, SPCOlympics said:

Why isn’t Microsoft using MS Live Meeting to connect the two campuses?

I thought that was the point of all that tech. It’s not like they can’t afford the licenses…
#17

On March 31st, 2009 at 1:00 pm, huhwhat said:

With over two thirds of the federal budget already un-constitutional, most federal spending is pork, even under the best of times and administrations.
#19

On March 31st, 2009 at 1:18 pm, DesertLover said:

All that “swine odor” isn’t in Iowa … it’s in the Halls of Congress …
#20

On March 31st, 2009 at 1:45 pm, Flyoverman said:

$11 Million for Microsoft to build a bridge and not one penny for small business.

Follow the money coming back to D.C. from Seattle.
#21

On March 31st, 2009 at 1:59 pm, Joy said:

With all due respect, this could not be pork… after all, we were assured by Obama, Reid and Pelosi-the-most-ethical-congress-eh-vah, that there is no pork or earmarks in these bills… and if you can’t believe THEM…

Oh wait…
#22

On March 31st, 2009 at 2:00 pm, cheapseat said:

i wonder if the wide eyed senator from washington got her chris dodd type campaign donation from the gates foundation? it shows just what a liberal bill gates really is. the richest guy in the world, one of the richest corporations in the u.s. and he builds his bridge to nowhere with opm.
#23

On March 31st, 2009 at 2:35 pm, RabbidSquirrel said:

Why isn’t Microsoft using MS Live Meeting to connect the two campuses?

Oh, you should see the size of their OC lines (optical carrier… ahem… phone lines). You could probably use the OC’s as the cable stays in the bridge. recycle ya know
—-
$11 mil? Thats cheaper than the lawyers for the states/feds to sue MS for ONE lawsuit where they have been screwing us over for more than 20 years. Why werent you all complaining in 1990?????

It was years ago that someone researched Bill Gates wealth and calculated that he actually loses money if he bends down to pick up a $100 bill.
#24

On March 31st, 2009 at 2:44 pm, RabbidSquirrel said:

You could probably use the ~~OC’s~~ Fiber cables as the cable stays

my bad, maybe we should use RFC 793’s as the bridge supports and the OSI model for wind tunnel tests too…
#26

On March 31st, 2009 at 5:30 pm, Papa Louie said:

So the Democrats in charge want to take from the poor taxpayer and give to Bill Gates. That’s rich! Both Marx and Reagan must be turning in their graves on this one.

It just goes to show that no matter how much politicians say they want to help the poor, political favors always go to the rich and powerful.
#28

On March 31st, 2009 at 8:42 pm, DanVanSmak said:

And, remember this, Microsoft will need to upgrade the bridge to add additional features every 18 months, so I’m sure they’ll look to Washington for the upgrade cash another year and a half from now.

*out*