Research

Remember when Vice President Joe Biden pledged that money from President Obama’s $787 billion stimulus package would not go to projects that “have failed to meet our merit-based” standards?

According to a New York Times special report published yesterday, stimulus funds are going instead going to (1) small projects that would have been done regardless of the stimulus, (2) other projects that have been slow in getting started, and (3) projects with no merit at all:

The administration gives priority to “shovel-ready” projects … But despite the rush, public works projects cannot get going fast enough to help the economy, experts say …

Because state officials are eager to win federal stimulus money and begin work as soon as possible, less worthy projects move to the front of the line.

Of course, this is a fact that we’ve pointed out before. The Associated Press also made this point in August, stating that stimulus funds were being handed out under a process that is “both secretive and susceptible to political influence.” 

The larger and more important point is that the stimulus has done nothing to stimulate the economy or prevent the near double digit unemployment situation that we’re in. When Christina Romer’s announced yesterday that the stimulus has already had its “biggest impact” on the economy, she also said that the “rebound in jobs” could be slower than the White House had previously predicted. The New York Times points out: “That was a sharp contrast to the Obama administration’s forecast at the start of the year, which predicted that unemployment would not climb much above 8 percent …”

Unfortunately, that won’t prevent the White House from publishing its third fantasy stimulus job count in the last 2 months next Friday.