With the promise of unlimited spending, lobbyists and politicians are lining up for their share of the windfall. The good people of Edwardsville, Alabama do not intend to be left out. While only 194 living in the town, they are asking for $375 million, the equivalent of $2 million per resident.

Just this week, the nation learned that Alabama allows sheriffs to skimp on food for inmates and keep the savings, here. The town of Edwardsville, however, like to get its money off the top. It wants a renewable energy museum, scenic railroad, and vineyards among other stimulating projects.

E. D. Phillips, the town’s representative to the U.S. Conference of Mayors, says “I know we look like some little Podunk town, and by the census, we are. But we really think we’ve done some amazingly progressive things in the past two years.” At $2 million a resident, no one will call the town Podunk again. (The town insists that thousands of others in the area can benefit from their development)

The museum alone will cost an initial payout of $32.1 million, making it the fourth most expensive museum proposed on the U.S. Conference of Mayors list—following Miami, Las Vegas, and Scottsdale, Ariz.

The fact is that the stimulus package will constitute one of the greatest transfers of wealth in this nation’s history — controlled by a Congress that has been criticized for years over earmark abuse and corruption.

In the meantime, some majors are not waiting for the federal stimulus packages to arrive. Gary, Indiana mayor Rudy Clay is defending his decision to give himself a new Hummer in a city crippled by debt, here.
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