Giant Purple People Movers Invade Akron

Akron METRO had unleashed new purple buses on the highways traversing the Akron-Cleveland highway corridor. The local transit authority has revamped the express bus fleet with newer more colorful rides.

Not only was the nearly $3 million cost of new buses covered with ARRA dollars but the purple machines come with bike drawers and will soon be WiFi equipped. Yet another move towards public internet connectivity in Akron. An email sent by METRO announced the rollout of Molly and her purple friends:

New NCX Buses Are Here

Six new buses are being put into service on the NCX express routes. The new buses have a vastly different look to them and will be eye catching, to say the least. Eventually they will be WiFi enabled. The bike racks are in a "drawer" under the bus and the operator will be able to show you how to use it.

If you haven't seen one yet and would like to see a photo of the bus email Molly at communications@akronmetro.org

Thank you for your patience with our current fleet and we hope you enjoy the new buses. Each bus cost $497,000 and was purchased with stimulus funds.

The use of stimulus dollars is good in a couple of ways. The purchase of new buses demonstrates how the dollars are finding their way down to the local level. And with $3 million freed up METRO can think about dialing back the rate they charge for riding the North Coast Express.

That wold be the rate that was increased even after voters approved a sales tax increase. Did you think we forgot?

Whiteguys and Wingers and Birthers, Oh My

I surveyed the attendees assembling for the Cleveland Tea Bag Festival from my fourth floor perch on Lakeside Avenue.   From this vantage point I could surmise some basic themes emerging in the gathering crowd pf proto-revolutionaries. From the signs people where carrying there was a definitive animus towards the federal government, Obama, taxes of any kind and liberals.

Here are some things I didn't see:

Crispus Attucks - Let's face it, this is a white man's movement.

Non Partisans - The whole tea party theme is a cover for the ant-Obama / Democratic party slant on display at every location I've seen coverage of.

The Independently Wealthy - Let the middle class do the work of shilling for the rich guys.

NPR - Can't imagine the anti-Fox News will do to much to acknowledge today's rallies.

History Majors - The original Tea Party was to protest the actions of a large corporation, this one intends to do their bidding.

Empty Hands - Flags or poster board signs with witty or paranoid sounding slogans were mandatory to gain entrance.

CoExist Bumper Stickers - Doubtful this was a crowd willing to embrace people of all backgrounds.

The Ability to Detect Irony

TARP Prognosis

The first of several assessments of the TARP program by the Congressional Oversight Panel has been released . The take away number is available without even clicking on the report link:

The total value of all direct spending, loans and guarantees provided to date in conjunction with the financial stability efforts (including those of the FDIC as well as the Treasury and the Federal Reserve) now exceeds $4 trillion. 

You want fries with that?   That represents about 28% of current GDP. We are throwing a monumental amount of resources at the financial crisis. Keep in mind that 4 large doesn't even include the dollars allocated to ARRA spending ($787 billion) which would bring the total effort to a third of GDP. 

One can only hope that Bernanke's green shoots are the real thing.

Taylor Launches Stimulus Watch

State Auditor Mary Taylor wants everyone to know she's watching over the Federal Stimulus dollars destined for local projects and programs.  The AOS has launched a basic reporting portal on the web to be used by local governments to report some basic information on how ARRA dollars are being spent.  The technical bulletin (2009-005) describing the MARY TAYLOR'S FEDERAL STIMULUS TRACKER!!! is here.

The website has a secure portal for reporting stimulus spending at the local level where users are greeted with the following admonisment from Taylor:

As Auditor of the State of Ohio, I am committed to a high level of transparency and accountability over all public funds in the state.  Therefore, as part of our responsibility in completing Single Audits over federal funds, the AOS will be collecting information on the federal stimulus dollars received in Ohio.  All state and local government agencies will be required to report any ARRA dollars they receive and the expenditure of those funds.

The front end of the site is being maintained for public consumption and promises to eventually provide how stimulus dollars are being spent state-wide. 

More transparency and accountability aimed at any use of taxpayer money is always a net benefit in my humble opinion.  I'm fine with any additional avenues of tracking ARRA dollars being offered to the public by the AOS.  What is curious to me is the way Taylor's office is linking the new reporting requirement to the single audit process. 

Cities and counties receive federal and state grant dollars every year.  Maintaining records of how those dollars are spent has always been required in order to pass single audit muster.  Of course the anticipated scale and speed of how the ARRA dollars will pass though to the local level is unprecedented this year. Taylor is going even further by planning to have interim audits of above and beyond the normal annual audit process.

I don't blame Taylor for wanting to be in the mix when it comes to joining the effort to monitor federal recovery dollars.  As State Auditor and lone Republican in the mix of State officers she has an important role in being the overseer of these resources.  This being said, I can't shake the feeling that this Stimulus Tracker is a bit gimmicky.  Color me skeptical.

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Bridge Fencing And Berea Sandstone

The first round of federal stimulus dollars for local infrastructure projects have been announced and the complaints about government waste are already materializing. One of those projects, The Akron Y Bridge rehabilitation, includes installation of safety fencing along the bridge. The decision to fence the bridge has been batted around since several citizens have decided to jump to their deaths from the span. The cost has always been prohibitive until now.

Needed as it may be may be there is an undertone of criticism swirling around the inclusion of the fencing within the bridge project. Tim over at the Chief Source has some misgivings about the waste aspect of spending money on the fence. I Think he's mad about the diminution of the view. Grumpy Abe points out that the ABJ headline on the project implies there is a groundswell of dissatisfaction over the fence even though none really exists. To not be outdone I found a story on Topix from the International Herald Tribune that refers to federal stimulus dollars being spent on "anti-suicide fencing" to keep people from jumping to their deaths.

I can already see where these complaints are going. The Tea Party crowd will get a hold of these project names and individual components and turn them into anti-government invectives. All of this misses the point of the federal program. The dollars are being dedicated to local projects and those projects are being designed and planned by local governments. The overarching goals being to invest in infrastructure and employ people. This isn't a contest to see who can create the most spartan bridge deck.

The current federal funding program for roads and bridges is very similar to the Depression era programs of the 1930's that also had this dual purpose. The evidence of those historical initiatives can be seen all over the Cuyahoga Valley in the form of sandstone blocks that ring the parking lots and mark the park roads. All of these blocks were harvested from the local quarries as part of a program to improve the amenities of the park and keep your grandfather employed. Consider this passage describing a popular location in the Cuyahoga Valley National Park that benefited from the Depression era jobs program:

The Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) accomplished much of the early work of transforming the private retreat into a public park. Structures in the park built by the CCC in the 1930s include Kendall Lake itself, completed in 1935 and built primarily for swimming, toboggan chutes in 1936 (later removed by the National Park Service), the Lake Shelter in 1937, originally used as a swimmers bathhouse and concession, and the unique chestnut wood privies.

That description was from the Trail Guide Cuyahoga Valley National Park, 3rd Edition. A critic of Roosevelt CCC's work could have been inclined to doubt the need for fancy wood outhouses and a swimming lake. Sure, the country was facing economic collapse and the government was paying men to build recreational digs out out of expensive materials.

The point back then was the same as it is with today's stimulus program spending. The country is facing a great economic decline, one that is chiefly demand driven. The point of infrastructure spending in 2009 is to employee people, drive up demand and get the national economy back on its feet. Not much different than in the 1930's.

Bridge fencing as part of an overall project to rehab an elevated roadway is not a far cry from those sandstone blocks that ring the parking lots or adorn the shelters in the CVNP. Why quarry large chunks of sandstone only to bury them halfway in the ground near park roadways? Why install unsightly fencing along the entire length of Akron's most notable bridge? The answer for both questions is the same. These projects were sanctioned to employ Ohioans and improve our infrastructure in the process. Whether it be park roads or city thoroughfares.

Some critics will be hanging on the the name and intent of every infrastructure project that gets tapped for stimulus funding. In the case of the Y Bridge the image of government waste will be intimated because the $1.5 million spent on the fencing will be puffed up to hyperbolic levels by every libertarian or anti-taxer in throwing distance.

I'd argue that the view was not the driving force (get it) behind the funding of the Y Bridge project. The City of Akron had a duel need of investing in infrastructure and uplifting the economic well being of the region. Directing the federal dollars towards a comprehensive design for revamping the bridge happens to include the maligned "suicide fencing" among other improvements.

You can argue that the views from the Y Bridge will be diminished once the fences go up, but don't tell me that it's a waste of money. Losing the unobstructed view from the bridge is a small price for building a safe and structurally sound piece of Akron's infrastructure. If you want to take in a vista of the surrounding terrain I would suggest the outlook trail at Kendall Ledges. While you're in the area stop by Kendall Lake and check out the Berea sandstone road markers and the stone lodge that sits alongside that lake.

Summit Stimulus, Color and Shape

As the requests for stimulus dollars stack up the State of Ohio is already announcing some of the first project awards. More on that Akron Y Bridge Fencing later.

I wanted to take a basic high level look at the requests originating from the localities in Summit County. I think the color and shape of what locals are asking for points to the dire need for infrastructure revitalization. So I grabbed the latest download from the State and set off to flesh out some of the major trends.

The data is available as an excel file, still no true mash-up from the State or any other entity.

Presently there are $1.33 billion in requests from local governments in Summit County. This number does not include the Akron Public Schools, the University of Akron or non profits. The real meat and potatoes so far has been infrastructure projects. As can be seen from this handy pie chart I conjured from the Recovery.Ohio data.

A full two thirds of the requests are for good old fashioned roads, bridges, water, sewer and other main line infrastructure. What does this mean? Probably that there is great need to rebuild the decaying mess that we have depended on to support civilized society. If the Romans had functioning sewers shouldn't we?

I also wanted to see what some specific locals have requested. The next table is a brief look at some select areas of Summit County have asked for in federal stimulus dollars.

Local Government	$'s Requested	$'s Per Capita
Summit County	1,333,056,220	2,453
Akron	679,664,346	3,089
Cuyahoga Falls	139,257,132	2,785
Green	51,100,031	2,222
Stow	11,960,312	374

The requests for Summit County include the County government and all other local governments. Akron takes up more than half of all requests in the county. Akron's requests include some behemoths like the central interchange improvement project that could top $50 million. Adding the APS requests to Akron would push that per capita number up.

The per capita numbers were based on the 2007 Census Bureau population estimates. I'd say political leanings do not make a discernible difference when it comes to requesting ARRA dollars. If your name is Don you'll take the money.

If I have the time I'll try to do some more slicing and dicing of the actual approved dollars as they roll in.

Demon Inflation

One thing the Pizza Riots of 2008 made clear is that times are tough. Crowds standing in line for hours for a 23 cent pizza demonstrates the squeeze rising food prices are having on ordinary people. It may also be that they are just suckers for a promotion.

Anyway the crunch at the grocery store and the gas pump and elsewhere is indicative of the strains inflation is placing on middle and working class folks. There seems to be a disconnect though between the pinch consumers are feeling and the haughty economic indicators that are released periodically. Despite the constant talk of recession and stimulus plans inflationary stress as divined from CPI and GDP doesn't appear to be echoing the hard facts we see on the ground. It has always seemed out of place that food and fuel prices are excluded from CPI when we are paying record prices at the pump and at the grocery store. The official definition of a recession has been described as two consecutive quarterly drops in GDP but that indicator actually increased by 0.6% at last release. So what is really going on?

The numbers are all based on lies is one answer being offered up. According to Kevin Phillips in an article published in this month's Harper's the CPI and other mainstream economic indicators are a numbers racket. In his piece titled Why the Economy Is Worse Than We Know Phillips puts forth a convincing case for what he terms the "Opacity" crisis in America. Basically over the past two decades the goal posts have been moved to make these key indicators more palatable for investors in the U.S dollar. The actual numbers if based on prior methods would look much more grim today:

The real numbers, to most economically minded Americans, would be a face full of cold water. Based on the criteria in place a quarter century ago, today's U.S. unemployment rate is somewhere between 9 percent and 12 percent; the inflation rate is as high as 7 or even 10 percent; economic growth since the recession of 2001 has been mediocre, despite a huge surge in the wealth and incomes of the superrich, and we are falling back into recession.

There hasn' t been a lot scary talk on inflation because it's kind of been swept under the rug. To the average person it's much more pervasive than the rigged numbers we keep seeing each month. The article is meant to serve as primer to his latest book, Bad Money: Reckless Finance, Failed Politics, and the Global Crisis of American Capitalism. The title sounds kind of gloomy but I think it will be worth the read. The notion that our economic system and method of wealth creation is built on a house of cards is more apparent now than it has been in years.