Stan Geiger

The Union Steamer

KOTV’s Oklahoma Impact series continues to expose the shortcomings of Obama’s Folly. A recent report noted the expenditure of $18,000 in “stimulus” money for a new food steamer that was installed in the cafeteria of a school in the Union Public School District.

Oh, where to begin?

I guess I could start with that word, “stimulus.” Tell me, what does steaming vegetables in a school cafeteria have to do with economic stimulus?

The anticipated standard reply would be, well, Uncle Sam borrowing $18,000 to pay for a steamer in a Union school provides jobs for people that manufacture steamers. Ergo, such a move stimulates the economy.

I’ve never seen the steamer in question, but I’d bet a c-note it’s an import.

And then there’s Union. So you’ve got federal cabbage to disperse to schools, and, with some 540 to choose from, you hand a check to one of the most affluent districts in the state? Are you telling me Union, with all the tens of millions that flow through that district every year, can’t come up with a lousy 18 grand for a food steamer without Uncle Sam’s help?

I live next to Union High School. I have, therefore, on many occasions, driven by what has to be one of the most impressive high school sports complexes in the entire nation. There is the state-of-the-art UMAC---an arena/workout facility/whatever else is in there---attached to a massive football stadium. Correct me if I’m wrong, because I’m drawing on memory from past news reports, but I believe the stadium holds 15,000. It was renovated a few years ago. The scoreboard cost 200 grand; the turf cost nearly half a million dollars. I wouldn't care to venture a guess as to the annual maintenance and upkeep costs of the complex.

Yet this poor, downtrodden, school district couldn’t find a way to come up with $18,000 for what it would no doubt claim was a critical need.

Unbelievable.

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