Comments on: Wasteful US Government Earmarks in 2008 http://visualeconomics.creditloan.com/wasteful-us-government-earmarks-in-2008/ Thu, 27 May 2010 10:10:43 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.2.1 By: Luca Masters http://visualeconomics.creditloan.com/wasteful-us-government-earmarks-in-2008/#comment-555 Luca Masters Sat, 25 Jul 2009 16:36:48 +0000 http://www.visualeconomics.com/?p=36#comment-555 Spending money on energy efficient streetlights is wasteful because Detroit has bigger problems? Why should we trust this graphic to know what's worthwhile and what isn't? McCain listed science education (esp. astronomy) spending as wasteful earmarks, which is ridiculous. This graphic also considers energy efficiency wasteful, it repeatedly criticizes historic (and "historic"--why the quotation marks?) preservation as wasteful. Spending money protecting lakes (what does 'already thriving' mean?) and supplying water that's 'not needed' (citation needed) might be wasteful, but I'm not going to take their word for it. And the formatting is all about emotional impact. They clearly don't want you thinking rationally about the subject. There are a lot of BIG BOLD buzzwords and scary adjectives considering we're discussing 0.0067% of the 2008 Federal budget (which excludes war spending). Spending money on energy efficient streetlights is wasteful because Detroit has bigger problems? Why should we trust this graphic to know what’s worthwhile and what isn’t? McCain listed science education (esp. astronomy) spending as wasteful earmarks, which is ridiculous. This graphic also considers energy efficiency wasteful, it repeatedly criticizes historic (and “historic”–why the quotation marks?) preservation as wasteful. Spending money protecting lakes (what does ‘already thriving’ mean?) and supplying water that’s ‘not needed’ (citation needed) might be wasteful, but I’m not going to take their word for it.

And the formatting is all about emotional impact. They clearly don’t want you thinking rationally about the subject. There are a lot of BIG BOLD buzzwords and scary adjectives considering we’re discussing 0.0067% of the 2008 Federal budget (which excludes war spending).

]]> By: Chris Curran http://visualeconomics.creditloan.com/wasteful-us-government-earmarks-in-2008/#comment-376 Chris Curran Mon, 13 Jul 2009 15:58:15 +0000 http://www.visualeconomics.com/?p=36#comment-376 I'm happy to see you mention the States and Representatives involved in the spending. It is clearly not one political party taking control and spending. This is Republicans and Democrats, Red States and Blue States. Every representative says don't spend on waste full projects but then when it comes down to their state or their interestes it's spend spend spend. I’m happy to see you mention the States and Representatives involved in the spending. It is clearly not one political party taking control and spending. This is Republicans and Democrats, Red States and Blue States.

Every representative says don’t spend on waste full projects but then when it comes down to their state or their interestes it’s spend spend spend.

]]> By: Tony http://visualeconomics.creditloan.com/wasteful-us-government-earmarks-in-2008/#comment-352 Tony Mon, 13 Jul 2009 03:01:32 +0000 http://www.visualeconomics.com/?p=36#comment-352 This is a terrible infographic because it doesn't do the one thing that an infographic is good for: make numbers clear using visual representations! After staring at it for several minutes, I still don't have a good grasp on how the pork is distributed. This is a terrible infographic because it doesn’t do the one thing that an infographic is good for: make numbers clear using visual representations! After staring at it for several minutes, I still don’t have a good grasp on how the pork is distributed.

]]> By: Sovereignty of the Individual » Visual Economics http://visualeconomics.creditloan.com/wasteful-us-government-earmarks-in-2008/#comment-283 Sovereignty of the Individual » Visual Economics Sat, 11 Jul 2009 08:55:59 +0000 http://www.visualeconomics.com/?p=36#comment-283 [...] mcginnispm: What a shame! And we are paying for this?? Whats wrong with … [...] [...] mcginnispm: What a shame! And we are paying for this?? Whats wrong with … [...]

]]> By: Rob http://visualeconomics.creditloan.com/wasteful-us-government-earmarks-in-2008/#comment-107 Rob Mon, 29 Jun 2009 00:35:54 +0000 http://www.visualeconomics.com/?p=36#comment-107 Nicely presented Nicely presented

]]> By: mcginnispm http://visualeconomics.creditloan.com/wasteful-us-government-earmarks-in-2008/#comment-83 mcginnispm Wed, 10 Jun 2009 15:08:17 +0000 http://www.visualeconomics.com/?p=36#comment-83 What a shame! And we are paying for this?? Whats wrong with this picture? What a shame! And we are paying for this?? Whats wrong with this picture?

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