Today is Friday the 13th. It has been nearly four weeks since the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act was signed into law, and nearly two months since President Obama was sworn in and his administration began officially asking state and local government agencies for lists of "shovel ready" public construction projects which could speed billions of dollars into the hands of contractors and construction tradespeople to help get the American economy back on its feet.
In spite of all the emphasis in the press and the city halls, county buildings, and state agencies around the country on the importance of getting this money flowing quickly, there are still 17 states and the District of Columbia which do not yet have websites linked to Recovery.gov for reporting on how this money is being spent. No one is trying to keep secrets as far as I can tell, it's just that these officials were not properly prepared for handling this much cash and information all at once. Seems like the purportedly "shovel ready" projects were not even "pencil ready" at the state and local government level. California, one of the largest, most populous, and financially neediest states, is on the list of 17 which are not even up and running in the IT department as of 7:00 a.m. California time this morning.
If you think the taxpayers who want to know where their money is being invested are frustrated by these facts, imagine how the contractors and construction workers who are depending on these projects for their continued livelihoods must feel at the snail's pace with which everything stimulus related is proceeding. If only the bureaucrats responsible for awarding these contracts and cutting these checks were as highly motivated as the Representatives and Senators who rammed the legislation through Congress at what can only be described as a breakneck pace for that deliberative body.
Recognizing the reality that the bureaucratic bottlenecks make it way too early to judge whether actually spending the first bolus of $787 billion will or will not work to stimulate the economy in any significant manner, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has backed off her advocacy of a second stimulus package of appropriations at this juncture. Just two days after enlisting House Appropriations Chairman David Obey and House Minority Whip Eric Cantor behind her comments that a second round of stimulus appropriations may be a good idea, Pelosi said yesterday at her weekly news conference that such legislation "is just not something that, right now, is in the cards."
In spite of all the emphasis in the press and the city halls, county buildings, and state agencies around the country on the importance of getting this money flowing quickly, there are still 17 states and the District of Columbia which do not yet have websites linked to Recovery.gov for reporting on how this money is being spent. No one is trying to keep secrets as far as I can tell, it's just that these officials were not properly prepared for handling this much cash and information all at once. Seems like the purportedly "shovel ready" projects were not even "pencil ready" at the state and local government level. California, one of the largest, most populous, and financially neediest states, is on the list of 17 which are not even up and running in the IT department as of 7:00 a.m. California time this morning.
If you think the taxpayers who want to know where their money is being invested are frustrated by these facts, imagine how the contractors and construction workers who are depending on these projects for their continued livelihoods must feel at the snail's pace with which everything stimulus related is proceeding. If only the bureaucrats responsible for awarding these contracts and cutting these checks were as highly motivated as the Representatives and Senators who rammed the legislation through Congress at what can only be described as a breakneck pace for that deliberative body.
Recognizing the reality that the bureaucratic bottlenecks make it way too early to judge whether actually spending the first bolus of $787 billion will or will not work to stimulate the economy in any significant manner, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has backed off her advocacy of a second stimulus package of appropriations at this juncture. Just two days after enlisting House Appropriations Chairman David Obey and House Minority Whip Eric Cantor behind her comments that a second round of stimulus appropriations may be a good idea, Pelosi said yesterday at her weekly news conference that such legislation "is just not something that, right now, is in the cards."
