Your Stimulus Dollars at Work

If you thought the "stimulus" plan was a colossal waste of money, you haven't seen anything yet.

In their haste to push stimulus funds out the door, the feds earmarked more than a half-million dollars for the upstate New York town of Union to combat a homelessness problem it doesn't have -- one of 100 projects coming under new scrutiny.

The boondoggle projects are the subject of a scathing report by Republican Sen. Tom Coburn of Oklahoma, listing rural bridges, parking lots and even a turtle crossing that got stimulus cash.

"The American people have a right to know how their stimulus dollars are being spent. In too many cases stimulus projects are wasting money we don't have on things we don't need," Coburn said.

The Department of Housing and Urban Development told officials in Union -- 70 miles from Binghamton -- in March that the funds were "directly available . . . in your community" as part of a homelessness-prevention fund, according to documents provided to The Post.

But Union didn't have a pressing homelessness problem, town Supervisor John Bernardo said.

"Union did not request the money and does not currently have homeless programs in place in the town to administer such funds," Bernardo told the Binghamton Press & Sun Bulletin.

After learning the feds had earmarked the cash, Union came up with a proposal to prevent homelessness -- by helping senior citizens repair or replace furnaces.

Even residents of the town were taken aback by their windfall.

"Its kind of ridiculous," said Desiree Depersiis,18. "Maybe if we had a problem with homeless people, but I've lived here all my life and never seen a homeless person here."

John Tomasky, 72, said "there's no apparent homeless problem here. Absolutely no problem. "It shows how the stimulus package is flawed."

Just remember, the Democrats didn't read this bill before they rushed it through.

Oh, and also don't forget when the midterm elections come around in 2010: No Republicans voted for this mess.