Ever since Liberal MP Gerard Kennedy accused the Conservative government of using the stimulus funds to reward some ridings in the country for electing Conservatives, I've been watching to see if the news media would follow up. It seems a much better use of the airwaves or newspaper column inches than endless speculation based on the whisperings of anonymous party strategists. And it takes the accusation of partisan spin out of the story when it can be reported as independent analysis rather than the usual he said/she said. So credit where credit's due to The Chronicle Herald:
Nova Scotians in Conservative ridings should be feeling a little action in their economic plan by now, because an analysis of federal stimulus spending in the province shows blue ridings are awash in pork.
In fact, more money -- $162 million -- is being spent in those three Tory ridings than in Nova Scotia's other eight ridings put together.
...
The analysis by The Chronicle Herald supports the conclusions reached by a federal Liberal party report, which found that Conservative ridings across the country have been getting more federal economic stimulus funding than opposition-held ridings have.
More like this please.
So, someone at the newspaper went and found out some facts of public interest and then told us about them? That's bizarre. Didn't we used to have a word for that? Don't tell me, it's on the tip of my tongue . . . Oh, right. Didn't they call that "News"?
Sssh! Are you crazy! Why the next thing you know, you'll be talking about journalism. Then where will we be?
An article I have managed to lose, relates the Auditor General, Sheila Fraser, is looking to see if the stimulus package is really doing anything that would not have happened anyway.
Like being in Afghanistan and winning or losing the battle/war/action/whatever, there are no clear benchmarks or objectives to gauge if the package is working or not.
Check out this photo in the Winnipeg Free Press; http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/opinion/blogs/rabson/Just-whose-money-is-it-anyway-64146722.html
Which was posted in comments here: http://www2.macleans.ca/2009/10/13/whats-new-at-the-public-opinion-research-depository-so-glad-you-asked/
(where I already posted the link to this post here).
(where I already posted the link to this post here)
Yes, thanks. I saw on the Sitemeter listing that a few referrals came in from that.