First, let’s get this out of the way: the stimulus is huge.
It’s huge not only because it costs a lot of money, but also because it shows a political shift that was a long time coming in this country. It is a democratic (as in the democratic party) bill, that’s undeniable. Instead of investing in military increases and tax decreases like the Republicans may have, it invests in infrastructure and health care. As Obama pointed out himself, “We have done more in 30 days to advance the cause of health care reform than this country has done in an entire decade and that’s something we should be proud of.” Whether this will work more or less than the Republican plan would have in fixing Wall Street, I’m going to shrug in ambivalence. But, with the risk of sounding like Pelosi, the fact that the democrats wrote a bill that reflects their politics isn’t surprising. And as a liberal, with all the moaning about fixing up the national mall and fixing the alternative minimum tax, I’m happy to see where most of this stimulus package went. I’m also happy that the republicans didn’t write it while I’m still hoping we elected a president who is able to hold the more pork-friendly congressional democrats’ feet to the fire a little more.
On Monday, the main tool to fight waste in the stimulus package, recovery.gov, went live. The website, another attempt by the Obama administration to bring the US government into the 21st century, also promises more transparency on where our $787 billion go and how effective they are.
Right now, the graphic on the website that breaks down the stimulus bill has the biggest part of the package, $288 billion, going towards tax relief, with the smallest, $8 billion, going towards “other.” These numbers are both vague and misleading. The Wall Street Journal published a better breakdown.
Hopefully, by March 3rd when federal agencies begin reporting their use of funds from the stimulus bill, this breakdown will be more specific. If not, recovery.gov will prove itself to be little more than presidential propaganda. Will I see how much money the government gives to a particular state and how much that state gave to a local government and how much that government gave to a contracting company and a receipt of what that company did? That might be stretching it, but here is to hoping. But there is no doubt recovery.gov is Obama’s unique stamp on the stimulus package, and it is refreshing to see some change (not to steal the president’s word…) in Washington.
–AnitaProg
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