Big Wish List in Livingston County for Stimulus Package

I haven't seen such a Christmas wish list since my daughter was 5.

Check out the list of requests for Michigan's share of the Obama stimulus package (via the link first put up by Michigan Liberal.)

Livingston County, which of course is solely represented by Republicans in the state Legislature and by Mike Rogers in the U.S. House, has requests for hundreds of projects even though its Republican representatives wouldn't stoop to voting for the measure because it was just "spending."

So now the Republicans on our township boards, county commission, and county road commission will get busy spending the money that they didn't want.

Start with the $1.5 million request for a new "broadband network" from the Livingston County Commission. Sounds suspiciously like that new dispatching system they've been trying to find the money for.

And the airport has got its eyes on some pretty big prizes, too -- three projects totaling $3.45 million for runway expansion, sewers and a new terminal building. Seems like an awful lot of money for the small number of people who use that facility compared to the thousands who use our roads.

While the county commission seems to be looking at this as their own personal pot of money to spend on their priorities, other agencies in the county are more down-to-earth.

The road commission has some 50 projects, mostly crushing asphalt on roads and putting down a new overlay. Local schools have dozens of energy-efficiency upgrade projects, the kinds of things that need to be done and will save taxpayers money but schools don't have the up-front money to invest in saving money.

What's eye-opening is how many times these projects are described as "deferred maintenance."

The city of Brighton has some strange priorities -- surveillance cameras for downtown. Big Brother is watching you shop?

One intriguing project is a center proposed by The MIX (Michigan Information Exchange) in an old industrial building at I-96 and U.S. 23 that would highlight Michigan resources.

It'll be spring before these projects can start, but when you drive down a newly re-surfaced road, remember one thing -- Mike Rogers didn't want you to have this.