On the surface, it appears Grapevine taxpayers should be elated: A Web site tracking federal stimulus funding shows $514.7 million worth of work being brought to the city.

If correct, that would be the third-highest among Texas cities, after Austin and Houston.

But from the beginning, watchdogs have identified bits of stimulus information as flaky: In Arizona and in Iowa, millions of dollars were shown as going to several nonexistent congressional districts.

So is Grapevine really getting all that money?

A closer look at the numbers shows that the Texas Department of Transportation has received $250 million to expand Grapevine-area highways for a project known as the DFW Connector.

“The $250 million is ours,” agency spokesman Tony Hartzel confirmed.

Then there’s a second $250 million stimulus award, with the same details as the first but a different federal ID number. State and local officials couldn’t explain it. Apparently, it’s phantom cash.

Read Entire Story in Star Telegram

Connector, stimulus award, phantom cash.

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4. China alarmed by US money printing

Tags: DFW, Grapvine TX, Texas, Texas Department of Transportation

On the surface, it appears Grapevine taxpayers should be elated: A Web site tracking federal stimulus funding shows $514.7 million worth of work being brought to the city.

If correct, that would be the third-highest among Texas cities, after Austin and Houston.

But from the beginning, watchdogs have identified bits of stimulus information as flaky: In Arizona and in Iowa, millions of dollars were shown as going to several nonexistent congressional districts.

So is Grapevine really getting all that money?

A closer look at the numbers shows that the Texas Department of Transportation has received $250 million to expand Grapevine-area highways for a project known as the DFW Connector.

“The $250 million is ours,” agency spokesman Tony Hartzel confirmed.

Then there’s a second $250 million stimulus award, with the same details as the first but a different federal ID number. State and local officials couldn’t explain it. Apparently, it’s phantom cash.

Read Entire Story in Star Telegram http://www.star-telegram.com/804/story/1811216.html

Connector, stimulus award, phantom cash.

Related posts:

1. How the ex-PM has become a one-man multinational money-making machine.
2. China alarmed by US money printing
3. Obamacare threatens U.S. medical education system

Tags: DFW, Grapvine TX, Texas, Texas Department of Transportation