“Stimulus” Funds Weatherizing Homes In South Dakota At A Cost Of About $11,000 Each
I’ve long argued that, in a bill filled with stupid spending, the “stimulus” money used for weatherizing homes was perhaps the stupidest spending. How does paying to weatherize homes stimulate the economy? Can’t people do their own weatherizing?
But beyond the obvious stupidity of the bill is the amount we’re spending on it. In South Dakota they got $25 million to weatherize homes, and they’re “hoping” to do about 2,300 homes with it.
Which works out to almost $11,000 per home.
MITCHELL, S.D. (AP) Thanks to the economic stimulus legislation, South Dakota has more than 12 times the money it usually receives for getting homes ready for the winter, and officials say the goal this season is to weatherize 2,327 homes with the enhanced funding.
Before this year, the state usually got less than $2 million.
This year, it’s getting $25 million.
Last year, 565 homes were weatherized in the state.
Living in North Dakota, weatherizing the house for the winter is an annual tradition to go along with putting up the Christmas lights and eating Turkey on Thanksgiving. But I can tell you that weatherizing even a big house doesn’t cost anywhere near $11,000.
And one would think that people getting government aid aren’t living in mansions.
