From Jordan Schrader of the Asheville Citizen-Times:
Mayors of the 26 largest North Carolina cities Friday released a $2.8 billion list of projects they said could be ready to go if any federal stimulus package includes them. . . . The most expensive item on Asheville’s list is a solar-power project expected to cost $10 million. “Our goal in releasing this list is not to advocate for individual projects, but to show cities’ ability to deploy the stimulus money quickly on important local infrastructure projects,†Rocky Mount Mayor David Combs said in a statement.
Asheville also wants $6.3 million for buses. Anecdotally, while I sat in the maelstrom of holiday traffic in front of the Asheville Mall this evening, three of three city buses rolled by empty.
This is an oldie but a goodie primer on how government voodoo creates wealth.
