Want to get mad? Here’s a good one for you:
A USA Today analysis of where stimulus money has gone so far, compared to unemployment rates, shows North Carolina (jobless rate 10.8 percent, among the nation’s highest), is getting way below its per capita share of stimulus money. Here’s a link to the article.
Here’s the telling paragraph: ” … the first contracts [for spending stimulus money] have amounted to only about $7.42 per person on average in the eight states with unemployment rates higher than 10% last month. By comparison, government records show it has awarded about $26 worth of contracts per person in North Dakota, whose unemployment rate is the nation’s lowest.”
The nationwide average is $13 per person, the story says. In North Carolina, the figure was only $1.56 per capita.
No wonder we’re laying off teachers and gutting our colleges and universities. You’d think President Obama would be a tad more grateful for his much-touted victory here last November.
Even South Carolina, where Gov. Mark Sanford is trying his best to stop incoming stimulus money despite its 11.5 percent jobless rate, got $81.34 per capita. Sanford must not be trying hard enough.