When President Obama signed the $831 billion stimulus into law in 2009, he stated that “tough choices and smart investments” needed to be made. So what were some of the smart investments? Prepare yourself:

15. $250 sent to a woman in Maryland who died in 1967.

14. $840 spent to disassemble and assemble three desks.

13. The Lincoln Center in New York City was paid to host a “tango salon.”

12. $10,000 spent replacing light fixtures at a fish hatchery.

11. $425,000 spent in $250 increments to 1,700 prisons inmates for social security checks.

10. $426,000 to rebuild a bridge that is used by a average of ten cars a day.

9. $500,000 spent in subsidies for rain barrel installation.

8. $600,000 sent to a school district in Kansas …that no longer exists.

7. $1 million spent in New York on road signs advertising stimulus projects.

6. $1 million used to build 250 bike lockers.

5. $1.25 million to use electric fish to study animal sensory information.

4. $1.75 million spent on energy-efficient garage doors.

3. $2.2 million spent to install skylights for a liquor store in Montana.

2.  $2.8 million spent installing toilets in New Mexico’s national forests.

1. $15 million spent to build an airport in Ouizinkie, Alaska …a town of 165 people.

[CLICK HERE to read Four Years Later: More Debt, Fewer Jobs]

Mistakes happen, but seriously?

Statistics via National Republican Congressional Committee