$825B Stimulus Plan to Take Forever to Implement

Stimulus Spending by the Federal Government Might be a Tad Slow

Obama is doing his best to drum up bipartisan support for this monstrous stimulus package, and some of the sharpest conservative criticism has been regarding the family planning portion of the spending. I'm very supportive of contraception, as America is fast becoming a country where only stupid people breed and the rest of us have to pick up the tab through tax credits and Medicaid. Mike Judge wasn't just a director, he was a prophet. But the best criticism of the government boondoggle from Hades is from the CBO director, who just released a detailed analysis of the package. From the official Congressional Budget Office blog:

Frequently in the past, in all types of federal programs, a noticeable lag has occurred between sharp increases in funding and resulting increases in outlays. Based on such experiences, CBO expects that federal agencies, states, and other recipients of funding would find it difficult to properly manage and oversee a rapid expansion of existing programs so as to spend added funds quickly as they expend their normal resources. The seasonal nature of some spending also affects the speed at which activities can be conducted; for example, major school repairs are generally scheduled during the summer to avoid disrupting classes.

So, money authorized by the feds to spend on "shovel-ready" projects will get tied up in paperwork at various echelons of government offices. This unseen cost of administration probably explains why the VA has a budget of $90 Billion a year, but vets have to wait 8 months to see a dentist. The Washington Post takes note of this even though they are a bit more optimistic than me. No matter how awesome you may think The Obama is as president, he is no match for the Kafka-esque foe of federal bureaucracy.