To say that progressives are disappointed in Obama’s rah rah, policy free State of the Union speech last night is an understatement. Aside from omitting all mention of climate change, Guantanamo Bay or human rights, gun control or financial regulation, Obama lumped nuclear energy in with wind as a “clean” energy source. While setting a goal of obtaining 80% of America’s energy from “clean” energies sounds laudable, there was no mention of how to achieve it by 2035.

Obama also recommended a spending freeze to go along with an existing federal wage freeze to help reduce the budget defecit.

We are living with a legacy of deficit spending that began almost a decade ago. And in the wake of the financial crisis, some of that was necessary to keep credit flowing, save jobs, and put money in people’s pockets.

But now that the worst of the recession is over, we have to confront the fact that our government spends more than it takes in. That is not sustainable. Every day, families sacrifice to live within their means. They deserve a government that does the same.

So tonight, I am proposing that starting this year, we freeze annual domestic spending for the next five years. (Applause.) Now, this would reduce the deficit by more than $400 billion over the next decade, and will bring discretionary spending to the lowest share of our economy since Dwight Eisenhower was President.

This freeze will require painful cuts. Already, we’ve frozen the salaries of hardworking federal employees for the next two years. I’ve proposed cuts to things I care deeply about, like community action programs. The Secretary of Defense has also agreed to cut tens of billions of dollars in spending that he and his generals believe our military can do without.

By way of comparison, I thought it might be worth comparing spending habits, not just volume but substance, between areas with low unemployment rates and high unemployment rates such as Coos and Curry counties in Oregon.

Chittendon County, Vermont, enjoys one of the lowest unemployment rates, 4.5%, in the nation helping pull the statewide average to 5.7% four point below the national average. Chittendon received $197 million in stimulus money from 2008 to 2010 and invested it in electricity delivery and reliability, transportation and public health to the tune of about $1,293 per capita.

Hood River County, Oregon, has one of the lowest unemployment rates, 8.2%, in the state and spent $57 million of stimulus money on waste water systems for rural communities and fishing and treaty obligations, enhancing clean water access and infrastructure and low income housing assistance. The investment works out to about $2612 per person.

Chittendon and Hood River spent money on projects that benefited a wide portion of the population.

Two independent studies commissioned by the Port of Coos Bay found that in order for a new cargo dock to be economically feasible, an investment of more than $160 million dollars would be necessary to upgrade the rail line to a class 1 railroad as well as for highway improvements. Even if this investment was made, the study found, competition from the ports of Portland and Tacoma would prevent any return on the investment to improving the infrastructure. These findings have not deterred the Port in its determination to invest millions in dredging and infrastructure to develop a new cargo dock.

Coos County, Oregon, spent $58 million with $22 million, the equivalent of $350 per person, going toward what appear to be port related activities that have limited immediate benefit to the population as a whole. Unemployment stands at 12.7% and while lower than neighboring Curry and Douglas counties, the poverty rate of 15.6% is two points higher. Is the Port of Coos Bay keeping everyone poor?

For more information go to ProPublica.org

Obviously, there are many contributing factors to economic condition but how taxpayer funds are invested, is certainly a big part of it.

Reducing waste is always a good idea but reducing spending is never stimulative. Democracy Now dissects the president’s speech even further.